Project Report Together Aalto. Design your experience in Otaniemi.
MA Service Design, RCA Giulio Ferrato | Yi-Tzu Chang | Kenjiro Taniguchi
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â&#x20AC;?
The mental wellbeing of students is a serious issue for Aalto University. More than twice as many students as the national average are at high risk of study-related burnout, which also affects their academic performance. The university has made health and wellbeing a central part of its campus development strategy and is taking steps to address this. But given the complexity of the issue, improvements at the university level alone have its limitations.
For three months since October 2020, we have been working on a service design project to address this issue. As part of Aalto University's campus development, the project aims to co-design a service, together with the Aalto community, that serves as a platform for improving student mental wellbeing and creating new campus experience. This project is in collaboration with the Service Design programme at the Royal College of Art and the Architecture programme at Aalto University. This report showcases how a place-based service design project such as campus development can work in a human-centred and collaborative way under the difficult time, as well as provides rich insights for the future campus development of Aalto University.
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Content List
I.
About Us
04
II. Project Brief
06
III. Our Journey
10
IV. Student Wellbeing
12
V. Resource Identification
16
VI. Design Direction
20
VII. Prototyping 22 VIII. Service Proposition
24
IX. Summary 30 X. Key Takeaways
32
XI. Appendices 34
Photo: Aalto University
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Introduction About Us
Together Aalto Team is the team that is aimed at creating a service Together with Aalto community. The team is composed of three students from MA Service Design programme at the Royal College of Art. We are rich in the diversity of backgrounds, and carried out the project by integrating the different disciplines of strategic thinking, communication and visual design.
Giulio Ferrato
Yi-Tzu Chang
Kenjiro Taniguchi
A service and product designer with
A UX researcher and design strategist.
A Deputy Director at the Ministry of
a
design.
With the background in public relations
Internal Affairs and Communication of
Passionate to deliver impact through
and advertising, Yi-Tzu co-founded and
the Government of Japan. He has worked
human-centred design methodologies,
played a managing role in BASED DESIGN
on a number of government projects
using technology as a tool at society's
(https://based.design/), a digital design
including regional revitalisation and
service. He is interested in exploring the
studio in Taipei. She is interested in
government digital transformation with
role service design could have to help
using the skills in UX research and
a background of legislation and public
shape innovation within both social and
service design to make impactful social
management. He is interested in public
systemic levels.
innovation.
sector innovation through design.
In this project, he worked mainly as
In this project, she worked mainly as
In this project, he worked mainly as
researcher, service and graphic designer
UX researcher, workshop facilitator and
analyst, strategy designer and project
and social communication manager.
stakeholder relationship manager.
manager.
background
in
graphic
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Collaborative
Creative
Bold
Collaboration is an indispensable
We believe creativity is the result of
We try everything we can to maximise
element of design process. We are
teamwork. It is not something that
the outcome of the project. Especially
committed to good and friendly
a talented person comes up with
under the pandemic, it is not easy to
relationships with our customers and
a brilliant idea, on which everyone
understand the real site and people,
stakeholders. With structured and
relies. We keen to create and maintain
to enrich problem space, to get
well communicated facilitation, our
an atmosphere that allows free and
meaningful insights, and to test out
co-design workshops have a high
creative thinking and is open to all
the assumptions. We make the most of
reputation for having a very welcoming
ideas, consequently leading us to an
digital tools and actively engage with
atmosphere.
innovative service ideas.
stakeholders involved.
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Introduction Project Brief
Project aim Aalto University is a university established in 2010 as a merger of three major universities in Finland: the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economics, and the University of Art and Design Helsinki. The campus is located in Espoo, very close to Helsinki, the capital city of Finland, and it enjoys a very convenient transportation access, full of nature, and a set of historical buildings designed by renowned architect Alvar Aalto. As part of its campus development, Aalto University aims to realise the transformation of Otakaari road, the main road of Aalto Campus, into a street during the forthcoming years. Otakaari Road runs through the heart of the campus, but in the current state, many people do not prefer staying on this main street. Many say that it is very quiet, way far from a lively highstreet. They even do not recognise Otakaari Road as the 'main street' of the campus. One of the biggest reason it that this road is designed for vehicular traffic. Even though the traffic volume is quite low, approximately 1 in 15 minutes, this main street is dominated by traffic roads. People only use it as a thoroughfare, and there is no reason for people to stay there. The overall aim of the project is to redesign the whole Otakaari area in such a way that this road is expected to be revitalised. We collaborated with students from Aalto University to tackle this challenge. The Aalto students designed the indoor and outdoor architecture, the roads and the layout of the structures from an architectural point of view, while we, the RCA students, designed the necessary services from a service design point of view. Specifically, the brief requests us to design services that can serve as platforms for co-creating value, opening the Aalto campus to the city and turning a road into a lively street and community.
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Basic degree students 2019
Number of Students (2019)
Bachelor’s and master’s degrees
d master’s degrees Research funding and articles
Rankings in key research areas
Ranking in key research areas ICT and digitalisation
ShanghaiRanking: Telecommunication Engineering 22 (2018: 28) US News: Computer Science 33 (2018: 43)
Global business dynamics
ShanghaiRanking: Business Administration 29 (2018: 34) Management 32 (2018: 36)
Advanced energy solutions
ShanghaiRanking: Electrical & Electronic Engineering 76-100 (2018: 51–75)
Human-centred living environments
QS: Architecture/Built Environment 2020: 41 (2019: 42)
Arts and design knowledge building
QS: Art & Design 2020: 7 (2019: 7)
Health and wellbeing
ShanghaiRanking: Medical Technology 101–150 (2018: 101–150)
Materials and sustainable use of natural resources
ShanghaiRanking: Mining and Mineral Engineering 76–100 (2018: 51–75)
(Source: Aalto University 2020a)
Photo: Aalto University
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Student wellbeing In a project to help Aalto University develop its campus, it
that are easily disturbed by, for example, sleep deprivation,
is very important to understand its existing development
depression, poor study conditions, or conflict situations.
strategy. Through the analysis of the campus vision and strategies, including CAMPUS+, Campus Strategy 2020-30,
The mental wellbeing of students is a serious issue for Aalto
and Roadmap 2020-30, we have identified five themes to be
University as well. More than twice as many students as the
addressed through the project, which are "Health & Wellbeing",
national average are at high risk of study-related burnout,
"Diversity & Inclusion", "Social, Community & Cultural Life",
which also correlates with their academic performance. Aalto
"Economic & Business Renewal", and "Sustainability".
University has a very unique campus development strategy that puts health and wellbeing, especially student mental
Of these themes, we have chosen Health & Wellbeing as
wellbeing, as the central concept of its campus development.
our starting point. Studying is a demanding work. It requires
For example, Campus Vision emphasises the rising stress
the exercising of mental skills, as well as the assumption of
and health issues, and sets their strategy as to utilise green
responsibility for one’s choices, the planning of one’s studies
spaces in the campus as an irreplaceable resource to support
and the use of time. It requires cognitive skills, creative
the quality of life to realise a healthy campus.
thinking and information processing. All these are factors
Aalto Campus Vision Since 2018, Aalto University's task force has worked on updating its campus strategy. The task force conducted desktop research on various areas including global trends, future universities and campus development, did benchmarking through comparative analysis of other university campuses, and organised workshops and discussion sessions, all of which resulted in three vision options for the Aalto Campus 2050: "Community Works", "Information Resort", and "Health Wave". With the feedback from the partners and students, "Health Wave", which put wellbeing as central concept, was selected. While this vision was modified to "CAMPUS+" by including other supported perspectives from the other areas of the strategy process, this unique wellbeing-focused nature of the vision has been retained.
Health Wave Vision of 2050 Otaniemi’s renowned well-being campus has grown to become part of
lifestyle which seeks out a good balance between work and free time.
the urban tapestry of Helsinki and Espoo, but has also succeeded in
These factors attract the best from around the world to come to study
retaining its village feel. Familiar faces greet passers-by, and the area
and work on the campus. The well-being campus boasts creativity
is imbibed with an accepting and lively culture which supports quality-
and quality-of-life. Otaniemi’s natural qualities are supplemented by
of-life and well-being. The student culture is very active and gives the
luscious gardens, parks, courtyards and walkways. There is a wider
area its own unique identity.
variety of natural habitats than before, ranging from wetlands to meadows, and the most significant effects of climate change have
The campus’s harmonious and beautiful surroundings bring wholeness
been dealt with by combining cost-effective natural alternatives with
to both a human mind torn by digitalisation and to people’s fragmented
innovative but expensive technological methods.
timetables. The campus also has digital-free areas where visitors can focus on their thoughts without being distracted. The architecture and
People get around the campus using either automatic transport or on
outside areas have retained their traditional, clear features. Together
foot, and trips outside of the campus are made by rail. Otaniemi has a
with its partners and students, the university develops the campus’
comprehensive and diverse network of recreational routes which help
new and innovative residential areas that support meaningful social
to tackle the health problems caused by automation and also attract
and private life for different groups.
visitors from different parts of the metropolitan area. Along these routes can be found sports areas, play areas and other recreational
In the Otaniemi campus area, well-being is central, and the area is known for its splendid outdoor spaces, clean-air and human-centred
areas for all different ages. (Source: Aalto University, 2018a)
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"City as a platform" model
Relationships
Service layer
Foster ineraction Create ecosystem value
Other resources
(people, knowledge, data)
Infrastructure
Orchestrate resources
Photo: Aalto University
Platformization Another part of the brief was to think about the service which
the multi-stakeholder interaction in order to create the
serves as a platform. The idea of platformization is composed
identified ecosystem value.
of three elements, which is (1) harnessing the resources, (2) facilitating the multi-stakeholder interaction, and (3) creating ecosystem values.
With this framework in mind, the following sections describe: » How our overall design process looks like (p.10-11)
The model of the “city as a platform” we have developed
» What value we identified to be realised in order to
from this is shown in the diagram above. At the lowest level,
address the problem of student wellbeing (p.12-15)
there are physical and non-physical resources, which are to be harnessed in the service that facilitates stakeholder interaction at the highest layer, then as a consequence creates socio-economic, cultural and environmental values. From this strategic perspective, the project can be summarised as to explore and understand the resources that we can utilise in Aalto University, to identify what kinds of value we can create in the context of student mental wellbeing, and to design a service that can harness the resources and facilitate
» What resources we identified as the assets to be harnessed in the service (p.16-19) » How we came up with the service ideas and how we validated them (p.20-23) » What is the service proposition that incorporates all the learnings we got through the process (p.24-31).
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Introduction Our Journey
Our design journey can be summarised as being strategically experimental, fully collaborative, and enthusiastically ambitious. Through the online co-design workshops and rigorous prototype testing, combined with digital marketing methodologies, we could ensure the whole service proposition be built with the set of wellvalidated service building blocks.
Internal workshop As a kick-off of the project,
Interviews
we first held an internal sprint session to have an overview of the process.
Throughout
This led us to start a short
we consistently conducted
survey to narrow down the
interviews with students
focus.
from
the
project,
different
teachers, student
majors,
and
various
associations,
as
well as professionals who work on wellbeing services around It
the
helped
campus. understand
students themselves, their
Initial survey We started our project with a simple survey to Aalto students
to
understand
student
wellbeing
and
narrow down our focus. This led us to focus more on the daily routine of the students.
campus wellbeing
lives,
student
from
different
perspectives.
We
got
a
number of service ideas through We
also
the get
interviews. numerous
feedback on our ideas and assumptions.
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18 22
+200 Social media followers since Oct. 2020
In-depth interviews
266 +1,500
workshop participants would like to recommend our co-design workshop to a friend or classmates
Service ideas
6
Including crowd-sourced service ideas from students, faculty members, service providers
Organisation
36
Excellent
prototypes tested with
survey response with
people in Aalto
95% students, 5% faculty
Validation
We organised two online
We created prototypes to
co-creation workshops to
test out the hypotheses.
co-learn student lifestyle
We
and
levels
wellbeing
validated of
source
learned from the feedback,
of
service
and
to
reflected
fidelity
in
different
ideas
back
Good
Excellent
different
hypothesis
more in depth, to crowdinterventions,
Facilitation
Good
Workshops
their
Workshop participants
100%
Social media post engagement
level, to
the
validate and upgrade the
hypothesis and prototype,
service ideas together.
and tested again.
Co-creation Our process was based on the concept of co-design, but we did not simply make a proposal and be done with it. We co-designed a
Social media We created social media accounts
in
Instagram,
Twitter and Facebook, as our channel not only to get attention but also to communicate and collect the information from the students â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Instagram account has more than 150 followers so far.
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platform service that could also be
co-implemented
and co-operated.
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Research Student Wellbeing
To get a brief overview of the student perception of mental wellbeing, we started our research with a simple survey, asking Aalto students what makes them feel good. The result shows that students are more likely to understand their wellbeing as being rooted in their daily lives, such as studying, having a good breakfast, cooking, having exercise and so on. This leads us to focus more on daily routine rather than curing or dealing with mental illnesses. Then we started to reach out to people through interviews, social media interactions, and a workshop to get a deeper understanding. In the interviews and workshop, we came across various kinds of comments that formed our understanding of the landscape of student wellbeing in Aalto University. Among them, we identified that there are two areas that come up again and again, which are (1) study-related stress and (2) social connections.
Study-related stress First, students have high level of interested in study success,
on watching videos or scrolling social media that they feel
and think that managing their time and stress is important to
lazy to go back to work.
achieve that goal. We heard many similar comments that a lot of the
â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lot of students want to get high grades and
students would like to take as many courses as
do many things at the same time,
possible in Aalto University seem to have a high
and graduate on time.â&#x20AC;?
standard of study success to themselves and want to have a high engagement to their academic works.
â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Interviewee, BA student
However, although students want to take time to focus on their studies, it is not going to be as easy as they
Some students are good at dealing with this stress by setting
would like, which leads to further stress. Some students
small goals and deadlines to focus. One of the interviewees
honestly told us in the workshop that they feel themselves as
showed us the detailed daily task list that is aimed at discipline
being lazy, having too much break or spending too much time
herself. She said it works to reduce being anxious about the
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Students with high-risk study-related burn-out
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Top 2 difficulties encountered during studies
20 Sleep
University students (%)
18%
Eating Time management Stress
10
Economy
8%
Procrastination Friendship Romance
Aalto 0
University
Finland 0
20
40
60
Response rate (%) (Source: Aalto University 2018c)
(Source: Nyyti ry 2019)
Photo: Aalto University
things to do, and focus on
small
goals
that
she set, making herself feel things to be under
â&#x20AC;&#x153;I plan my day very detailed, set small goals and deadlines to focus, and check to feel better.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Interviewee, MA student
control.
assignments often
due
are
concentrated
at similar times. This indicates that not only the
daily-basis
time
management but also the long-term and short-term planning We also learned from the students and the teachers that one
is an essential part of study productivity.
of the most frequently observed behavioural patterns among the students is that they do not plan much at the beginning
A manager of a non-profit organisation providing student
of the period, taking a lot of courses assuming that they
mental health service in Finland told us that time management
can manage to complete them, but nothing gets done until
and stress management are the most discussed topics during
halfway of the period when they start panicking and finally
the chat and talk sessions it holds. The campus survey also
get to work. This pattern can cause unimaginable workload
shows that 39.8 % of the students say time management is
during the final few weeks of the period, because tests and
one of the difficulties they faced during the study period.
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Social connections Second area that came up a lot in the research is the importance of social connection for their campus life and students' mental wellbeing, which is the relationships people have with the people around them.
mapping exercise, many of these places overlapped with places where they spend time with their friends. Interestingly, we also found that the link between social
We heard a lot of stories from interviewee students
Students who study with their friends or have
that they hang out with their friends to walk around
good relationships with their teachers are likely
or cook and eat together at the dormitory. We also found that many students take advantage of the very wide variety of opportunities for interaction
to manage their stress better. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Interviewee, Manager at Aalto University
with other students, including events organised by student associations. connections and wellbeing exists not only through direct The significance of human relationships in campus life was
routes, but also through indirect routes. According to a
evident from the exercise we had in the workshop. When asked
university team conducting student wellbeing surveys for
to describe their ideal day, almost all students would like to
promoting reform of curriculum and teaching methodology,
spend lunch or dinner with a friend or roommate. When asked
students who are more likely to study with their friends tend
about their favourite places on campus in the participatory
to be more successful in their studies, reducing study-related
Favourite place Place to hang out Place to eat Place to self-study Place to relax
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stress. Also, it is said that students who have Social deficiencies among university students (%)
teachers who are more encouraging and trying to keep good relationship with students are also more likely to be positive in studying.
Rarely together with friends
At the same time, through the interviews, we students' difficulties in their relationships. Some international students said that because of the culture and language barrier, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard for them to make local friends and stay involved in the
University students (%)
were able to learn about the realities of the
Often feel loneliness
7
community. So they try to be accompanied with
No dialogical support from family, kin or friends
6
5
4
friends in their own community.
2000
The report of the National Student Wellbeing
2004
2008
2012
2016
Survey shows the biggest trends in the rise of wellbeing deficiencies of socialisation. It points
(Source: Kunttu et al. 2017)
out that among three well-being deficiencies,
Due to the language and cultural barrier, I don't even have a Finnish Friend. [...] I know I should and could make more friends, but it's also stressful." â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Interviewee, MA student which are study-related, social, and subsistence deficiency, the frequency of social deficiency observed is the lowest (3.8%). However, highest
Psychological symptoms in different wellbeing deficiency
proportion (more than 30%) of respondents report
concludes that the most alarming trend is related to deficiencies in social well-being among students, with growing proportion of university students lacked close social relationships or experienced loneliness or lack of dialogical support from family, kin or friends. The
difficulty
with
the
problem
of
45
3.0
30
2.0
15
1.0
0.0
social
connections is that it is not so easy to solve. One of the students we interviewed pointed out that
No
ne
(2
) 7% 6. Su
bs
is
n te
ce
(3
) 2% 6.
St
ud
y-
l re
at
ed
.0 (8
%) So
c ia
l(
3.8
%)
0
Proportion of respondents (%)
most severe with highest GHQ-12 symptom index. It
Estimated Marginal Means GHQ-12
psychological symptoms, and are psychologically
developing social connections is something that requires energy, adding more stress on their shoulder. We learned that we need to enrich their social connections in a natural way, that would not put additional stress.
= Symptomatic
= Severely Symptomatic
= GHQ-12 (Source: Kunttu et al. 2017)
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Research Resource Identification
The second part of our research was to understand the resource that can be harnessed to create ecosystem value. Through the interviews and workshop, we identified three key resources, which are (1) students and student associations, (2) existing wellbeing services, and (3) natural environment of Otaniemi Campus.
Students as an asset In Aalto University, there are 11,205 students from countries
In order to understand their needs in a clearer way to be
all over the world. Throughout the interviews and workshops,
potentially matched mutually among students, we identified
we observed a wide variety of students in terms not only of
four types of students along the issues identified in the
programme, nationality or gender, but also of stress-level,
research, and named them: “Wondering students”, “Engaged
campus lifestyles and social activities.
students”, “Social students” and “Balanced students”.
There are a lot of student run associations, running very efficiently and quite rigorously on our campus. - Interviewee, Alumni and tutor
We also found out that, in Aalto University, the students association has been playing an important role in connecting students together. There are two large student associations, which is AYY and KY, under whose umbrella a number of student associations are organised. These student associations not only include hobby-based groups, but also are organised
We find that bridging these different types of students by
based on the programme and study-field. Many students
facilitating interaction is a great opportunity. Comments from
mentioned that these study-related student associations
students and teachers suggested that students were more
play a central role for community-building at Aalto University.
likely to value the exchange of information among students
There are a wide range of opportunities that we can work
than being taught. We realised that this diversity of students
together to design and deliver the service by utilising their
itself is the resource that we may be able to make use of by
knowledge and enthusiasm.
harnessing the skills and experience among students.
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Engaged students
Balanced students
They have high engagement in the study, but they
They manage to balance their engagement with
feel they do not have enough social connections
study and social life, having relatively strong
and need some social connections. They organise
connections within and outside of campus with
their time and energy into study and self-care,
relatively productive study-life.
rather than stressing themselves by socialising. Needs: » To develop social connections » More opportunities to share their ways of
Lower study-
Needs:
related stress
» More opportunities for community
managing their study
» To help out students in need engagement
Highly
Loneliness
Wondering students
socialise
Higher studyrelated stress
Social students
They are typically a new-comer to the university,
They are likely to have strong friendships in the
facing a sense of loneliness and being worried
campus, feeling comfortable in the inner circle of
about how to cope with their workloads as
the community. Although they enjoy their campus
students. They want to know the know-how of how
life, it is sometimes difficult for them to manage
to manage their time for study, and their personal
their stress of balancing time and energy for
and social life.
studying and socialising.
Needs:
Needs:
» To get support from people around
» To balance social life and study
» Clues to manage their study-related stress
» More engagement in study
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National level
Amazon Prime
Come-back Support Community level
Sekasin-chat
Cure ill-being
Prevention (Raise wellbeing)
Therapy Appointment Groups activities
University level
MentalHub
Nature trails Other Entertainment
Online chat Starting Point of Wellbeing
Course structure adjustment
Online therapies Self-improvement courses
Study & career planning psychologist
Psychiatrist Well-being group
AllWell? Questionnaire
Aalto University
Local health station
Online cooking recipe site Mental health event
Mentoring service
Nyyti ry (NPO; student mental health) FSHS (Finnish Student Health Service)) ESPOO ESBO
Town hall meeting
Others
City events
Mental health week
mieli
National mental health day
Raising awareness
Existing wellbeing services Based on our interview and desk-research, there are a lot
and prevent people from falling into mental illness. We think
of clinical and psychological mental health services, and
this is an interesting opportunity area for a new service
services that are to raise awareness of mental health issues.
intervention.
Also, the university offers some preventative service. For example, the university faculties have been adjusting their
That said, based on our interviews with some of the service
curriculum not to put too much stress on the students, and
providers, they are very keen to collaborate with us to design
also developed some courses of time management or stress
new services. We found it is a huge opportunity for us to
management for students.
take their expertise and information as resources, and try to collaborate with them in support of our service.
On the other hand, we found that there is still a gap especially at the community level that is to improve mental wellbeing
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Key Insights
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01.
Students are stressed by their ambition of study success, and want to improve their productivity with better planning and routine.
02.
Developing social connection is a crucial part of student wellbeing, but is also stressful to put effort on.
03.
Diversity of the students is the biggest asset, and can be harnessed through the channels of the student associations.
04.
Natural environment and existing services provide an opportunity for being imtegrated through the service intervention.
Natural environment A lot of students we talked identified the most unique and valuable asset that the Aalto University holds is the affluence of the natural environment in the campus. 36.5% of the total site is covered with forest, which is twice as large as central Helsinki. The workshop exercise also showed that people prefer
(Source: SLA 2018)
being in the coastline surrounding the campus from east to north and west, the many forests to the north and west, and
identity of Otaniemi Campus. Integrating natural aspects into
grassland in the centre of the campus, where they relax and
the service is an opportunity in order to blend it in with the
hangout with their friends. A green campus can be said as the
Aalto campus lifestyle..
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Project Report
Design Design Direction
"How might we create a healthy campus community with reduced study-related stress and richer social connections, through harnessing the diversity of the students and natural resources of Otaniemi campus?"
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Nudge students towards better productivity
Create easy access to social connections
Develop skills useful throughout the life
Service should not add new stress on
It is important to note that developing
The achievements through the designed
students by mandating a particular
social connections requires energy.
service should not merely the success in
behaviour, but rather encourage them.
Service should be design that fosters
study periods or temporary happiness,
It should be designed to naturally
social connection, where students can
but a process of learning skills how to
improve productivity skills through
meet and share their experience with
learn that would be useful throughout
what makes theme want to join without
each other. Student associations can
life.
being forced.
and should be a key enabler.
Photo: Aalto University
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Project Report
Design Prototyping
Prototyping Strategy Based on the above "how might we" question and design
It was of course not possible to plan this process entirely in a
principles, we crowd-sourced a very wide variety of service
strategic way. The actual process was never a linear process,
ideas from Aalto University students, teachers and service
it went back and forth, and there were many unexpected by-
providers. This pool of ideas became the rich source of our
products revealed during the process. The key of the strategy
prototypes.
was to formulate small hypotheses in different levels, put them into prototypes, test them on real users, and reflect
Our prototyping strategy was to test out as many small bits
the feedback back into the service so that the whole service
and pieces as possible, of all levels from the strategy and
proposition could be built with the set of
mechanism to function and interface. We did not hesitate to
building blocks. The prototypes we built and tested are
show it to users and test it even if the fidelity was not high to
summarised below, according to the level of hypothesis and
get useful feedback. In this way we planned to ensure that our
the level of integrity. The following page summarise the key
service proposal was validated down to the smallest detail.
hypotheses in and feedback to each prototype.
well-validated
Higher fidelity Manual Us Sports
Productivity
Community
Camp
Strategy
Interface Virtual
Blackbook
Productivity
Lower fidelity
Room
Alife!
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Prototypes Prototype
Description
Key hypothesis
Main feedback
Productivity
A one-day session on every
A sense of authority with guided time
"I like the idea of having a higher authority, or
Saturday for students to improve
structure will improve productivity.
guidance, giving you control."
One-day-session will be good to fully
"Need flexibility to jump in/out."
experience productive study.
"One day in the weekend may be too challenging."
Natural environment helps
"Does this consider the winter weather? Not as good
people relax and hence improve
when weather is bad."
Camp
study productively. By joining the programme, students can focus on work and have relaxing time at the same time. By completing the hardwork together with other students, it creates a sense of belongings. Students can also enjoy 1-day free use of gym that help develop a healthy work-life balance.
productivity. Study activity itself will be a trojan
"Student-run service would work better for me."
horse inviting people to learn how to improve productivity.
Sports
Community
Working together the whole day
"Doubtful that this will 'build community.'"
creates the sense of comrade,
"Community-building usually happens through
creating community.
student associations (based on study field)."
Free use of university gym as a
"Not attractive for both of those who use the
reward will be an incentive to join as
gym regularly because they already have the
well as help develop a healthy work-
membership, and those who don't use the gym
life balance.
because they will not be interested."
A daily workout sessions that
Sports activity will help students
"The connections between study/work and sport-
welcomes students to a community
manage stress.
relaxing is not as relevant."
Sports activity will help create a
"Connecting people with similar schedule can be
community.
helpful."
to stay active and social. The app guides and tracks the daily activity as a game, awarding the best performer
"Not everyone feels comfortable working out with
of the week. It also suggests a
new people or even people around."
workout buddy by schedule and sports performance, helping stay on track and create more connection. Virtual
Productivity Room
Manual Us
Gamification will help people
"Reward doesn't seem motivating enough"
motivated and join sports easily.
An online group study session to do
Working with friends will help people
"Chatting with friends during break was nice. And
their individual tasks with the help of
focus on work, even in virtual space.
then, everyone starts working after break." "Virtually feeling people around forced me to focus."
Pomodoro Technique. Showing the timer of Pomodoro cycle
"By seeing there's only short time left, I push myself
will help people focus.
to finish the task I was working on."
A calendar book that includes
A notebook will be better for
"People have very different specific preference for
yearly, periodically, weekly and daily
students to bring with themselves.
notebooks. If not fitting my taste, I'm not going to use."
planning tools, supporting students to plan their academic journey.
Physical interface can be a better
"If you have digital version that should be better."
touch-point for students to plan. It can be integrated into the
"There's numerous discussion on that book every
student notebook that the student
year. Only a slight chance."
association publishes every year. Blackbook
Alife!
An online student-run platform
Students helping each other through
"It would be a huge help to get peersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; advice before
where students share information,
sharing information of the courses
planning to prevent last-minute-rush scenario."
feelings and feedback of courses and
will help them plan their academic
teachers with each other.
journey wisely.
An integrated app that through
An one-stop app is an efficient way to
"A bit too complicated. The function of information
gamification supports study
bring about students' virtuous circle
sharing doesn't seem to be interconnected with
activities from choosing the course,
of planning and studying.
other functions."
Gamification will be an attraction for
"I have my doubts about how attractive gamification
students to enjoy being in the loop.
is to students. I personally don't attach much
planning long- and short-term schedule, to daily work.
importance to it."
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Solution Service Proposition
Overview We provide an integrated physical and digital working platform that boosts your study performance, together with your peers. "Aha! Space" is the place to learn how to learn. It has the rooms to dramatically improve your productivity with a unique time structure, and also comes with organised workshops by the student associations that you can go to with your teammates to learn soft skills. With "Aha! App" you can do the productivity sessions by yourself, and with your friends, virtually, anywhere and anytime you want.
Photo: Aalto University
Achieve your study success through boosting your productivity.
Free up your mind from study-stress by getting things done.
Learn what you don't learn from lectures.
Upgrade campus life together with your peers.
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Aha! Space â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aha! Spaceâ&#x20AC;? is located at the heart of redesigned Otakaari Street, and provides two modes of services to guide students learn how to learn: one is to help develop productive working routine, and the other is to support student-led co-learning activities. Designed for your study success. In Aha! Space, you will experience a very unique
"I think this sense of authority or guidance is the most attractive part."
yet effective study environment where everyone
- Interviewee, Alumni and tutor
in the room following the Pomodoro Technique of 25-minute work and 5-minute break repeatedly. There is a big stop watch on the wall, and the faint
sharing sessions that help students choose courses and plan
natural sounds help students focus on the work during the
better based on real voices of the senior students, and more
working time, and relaxing musics during the break time inform
soft skills that are not being taught in or able to learn from
students to take a break. This happens in both the individual-
the regular course works.
work space and group-work space. Having everyone around you concentrating helps to discipline yourself, and having
The contents and the structure of the workshops and sessions
everyone take a break at the same time also works to study
are designed in collaboration with the organiser such as
without getting tired. This time structure shared with people
student associations and university faculties. By being based on the specific working modes and needs of each
"By seeing there's only 7 minutes left, I could push myself to finish the task in front of me." - Interviewee, MA student
programme, the workshops are customised to be relevant to the participating students. We also provide the expertise of workshop facilitation for the student associations and faculty members to successfully organise their workshops.
around creates a sense of belonging and an environment for
Surrounded by nature.
spontaneous interactions among students.
People can enjoy the full benefit of nature that characterises the Otaniemi Campus. In collaboration with the Aalto
Through a very simple mechanism of providing time-based
architecture students, we redesigned Otakaari Road from a
guidance and a little bit of social pressure, the service has
traffic road into a pedestrian street with different kinds of
the effect of a productive learning experience and social
devices to keep people stay on, including a forest dining,
connection.
grasslands, an outdoor cafe, and pop-up street markets. Aha! Space is on the ground floor of Otakaari 4 building located
Workshops to learn soft skills.
at the heart of this new Otakaari Street. It is the place where
Aha! Space provides not only the space to study and work,
this nature-rich lively street meets the "green corridor" that
but also collaborates with different student associations and
connects the forest area in the west with the coastline area
university faculties to run a series of workshops and sessions
in the east.
on various topics. This will include time management workshops to help students plan better preventing them
Not only the outside green but also the indoor green we
from falling into the vicious cycle of non-plan, concentrated
implement also plays an important role to keep students'
workload and burn-out, stress management sessions to learn
mental wellbeing. Being located on the ground floor helps
how to control and relieve stress, team building workshop
build up the sense of indoor-outdoor connection, which can
to help improve interdisciplinary collaboration, experience
also support students' activity during winter time.
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Aha! space
Aha! space
Aha! Space plan
Design: Qiu Yanxia
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Aha! App Aha! App enables you to study in a similar environment as in Aha! Space, virtually at home. It connects you with your fellow students and maximises your productivity. Boost your productivity together. Through Aha! App, you can do your own Pomodoro cycles with
Share the time, virtually together.
your selected background sounds. The app gives you different types of tips before you start working and during the break time that help you keep focused as well as to relieve your stress and relax. The app not only allows you to use the Pomodoro Technique on your own, but you can also synchronize the time with the physical Aha! Space. Then you can see how many people are woking in the physical and virtual Aha! space using this single timer at the moment. You can also add your friends within
Add your friends and share your work.
the app and open a virtual study room to do the work with them. These functions make you feel like you are working in the same space together with your fellow students, creating a sense of belongings even in virtual space.
Physical and digital integration. Aha! Space and App work together in an integrated way. For example, when entering the Aha! Space, you will scan the QR code in the app, so the app starts track your working efforts. You will be able to look back later on and see how great you
Book a place at Aha! Space.
have worked on your study. Also, you can see how many people are using the space as well as the vacancy through the app and book a group work space. By scanning the QR code at the entrance of the Aha! Space, you can share with your group members that you are in the Space to invite them to work together. This can be a small nudge, improving study productivity together with your peers.
Achieve lifelong skills. With Aha! Space and app, our service builds a strong circulation in the community, by giving all types of students the flexibility to choose what suits them the best. By utilizing the physical and virtual spaces can bring about the best outcome and support system for the student in their campus life. We would like to inspire and encourage students to use these spaces to self-learn and co-learn the skills they can carry on even after their graduation.
Scan you in at the campus.
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Scan the QR code at Aha! Space.
2
Share with your friends and teammates to work together.
3
Work together at Aha! Space :)
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Project Report
Solution Summary
The diagram shows the summary of the concepts included
through prototyping, that became six main functions of our
in the service proposition. From the research findings, we
service: planning support, time structure with Pomodoro
identified the core objectives of the service are (1) to reduce
Technique, social pressure, working with peers, and two types
study-related stress through improving study productivity,
of workshop â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one is the utilisation of existing time- and
and (2) to enrich social connections. We figured out the
stress-management
mechanisms to achieve these goals, that is a better planning
and the other is the workshops to be organised by student
and working routine for productivity, and peer support for
associations. The experience can be categorised into physical
social connections. We tested how the mechanisms work
and virtual productivity sessions, and on-site workshops.
workshops offered by the university,
& Group Productivity ual Ses d i iv sio Ind ns at
So
or t
c ture - Pomo dor e stru o
su pp
Plan
ter planning
i e nd rt
wi
ac
k
ul
or W
or
Wo s rksh ion ciat op by s tudent asso
pa
t" Ah
yo ur fr
f by
po
th
h op
Peer sup
s
Social Connection
Bet
s Work
W
ho
sure
e in
Study Productivity
ty
ks
res
ut
nin g
lp c ia
king / stud y in Wor gr o
a! S
pace"
"Aha! App" and ce" pa !S ha "A
Tim
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Photo: Aalto University
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Project Report
Conclusion Key takeaways
There has been a number of achievements and learnings through the project that can inform the future works in Aalto University. The main takeaways from these achievements and learnings that can inform the future service development in Aalto University can be categorised into those related to process, research finding and service concept. Process: The power of online co-creation. First of all, we learned so much of the power of co-design process. From the identification of the problems to the design of service details, the input from the students debunked many of our hypotheses, pushed us to reconsider, and provided a lot of learning. Their ideas were a rich source of inspiration for the construction of the service proposal. Aalto University has the privilege of enjoying the collaboration with students in designing services and strategies, for example by organising student workshops through student associations to develop a future campus vision. This is great, but it sometimes seems to be the case that collaboration only happens as a form
co-design workshops we held made it clear that the online
of consultation. This project highlights the effectiveness
workshops have the potential of providing more insight than
of working with students from the beginning of the project
the physical workshops in that the workshop facilitators are
throughout to the actual design and delivery.
able to follow individual moves.
As a space-based project, the situation under pandemic that
Research: Students for student wellbeing.
has inevitably led to a predominance of online activities, was
When we think of mental health, we tend to think of people
a challenge. However, we believe that this rather expanded
who are depressed or suffering from mental illnesses. It is
the possibilities of the co-creation process. Online marketing,
true that treatment for these people is very important and
including social networking interactions, has enabled us to
should not be neglected. However, what has become more
reach people who would otherwise be difficult to reach. The
apparent through the research is the importance of taking
fact that people have become accustomed to communicating
preventative measures to avoid such serious situations. In this
through online tools such as Zoom has contributed to gaining
respect, we were fortunate to discover early on in the design
more insights in a more efficient way. Of course it was difficult
process that mental health is deeply rooted in the everyday
to get a sense of the atmosphere on the project site, but we
lives of students. The students themselves recognise that it
were able to get a glimpse of the nuances by asking local
is not something special that they do, but the small successes
students to take and share videos. In addition, the two online
that they build up in their daily lives that have a significant
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Âť Online interactions under pandemic have broadened the opportunity for collaboration and co-design. Âť Students themselves will be the key enebler for dealing with student mental wellbeing on campus. Âť A simple service that harnesses resource on campus can be an effective solution for student wellbeing issue.
impact on their mental health. It was also very useful to see
is it in a large scale. Some people may feel that this is not
where the difficulties lie in realising these desirable routines,
enough. But there is a big lesson that tiny intervention of
despite being aware of them.
mere time guidance, small social pressures and the support for spontaneous connections can have an impact on mental
Another important finding from the research that can inform
wellbeing. We believe that it is valuable to keep this learning
the future service development at Aalto University is the
into consideration when implementing a health and wellbeing
students' willingness to try new things. The students we met
service, especially if it requires huge complexities and cost.
through this project were not simply waiting for someone else to provide them with a service. Throughout our conversations
Lastly, the proposed service provides a platform for students
with the teachers, we could also sense that the students were
to connect, learn and develop together. It harnesses the
willing to try new things. We believe that this finding is a very
diversity of the student and foster interactions between them
important asset for creating and developing new services in
in an effective way because they share the common goal of
university settings.
study success. By looking very closely with students, we are convinced that this model of platformization that utilises the
Service concept: Simple, and effective.
common interest of students could be an useful reference for
The service we have designed together with Aalto community
the future development of university strategies and services.
is not something that requires a complicated system, nor
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Appendix 1 Workshop: Asset Safari
Favourite place Place to hang out Place to eat Place to self-study Place to relax
Objective: Asset Safari was aimed at identifying the assets of the campus through participatory mapping. Also, it was designed to identify what students usually do at the place they liked the most.
Process: Participant students were first asked to put yellow stickers on the place they like the most. Then, they were told to put blue stickers on the place where they hang out with their friends, green stickers where they eat, purple stickers where they study alone, and red stickers where they relax.
Key results: 1.
Students showed no interest on Otakaari Road, which was our main project site.
2.
Many students identified Väre building, coastlines and forests as their favourite places.
3.
Their favourite places generally overlap with the place where they hang out with their friends, or where they relax.
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Appendix 2 Workshop: Ideal Monday
Student
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
10 x
B
11
12
13
x x
14
15
16
17
x
19
20
21
22
23
x x x
x x
C
18
x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x
D
x x
E F G H I
x x x x
= Sleep
= Workout
= Eat
x x x x
= Work/study
= Relax
Objective: Ideal Monday was aimed at understanding the desirable daily routine of the students, and identifying the gap between the ideal and the reality.
Process: Participant students were first asked to think realistically about what they would do on next Monday. Then, they were asked to individually design an ideal time-line of that day identifying their activities using sticky-notes. After that, they were told to share their ideal Monday with the group and identify the barriers or challenges for them to make it a reality.
Key results: 1.
Students are willing to balance work/study, social life (represented in "x" in the above time-line), and private life.
2.
Barriers and challenges commonly identified by students include: procrastination, wrong prioritisation, forgetting to take breaks, too much time spending on social media, unplanned social gathering, etc.
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Bibliography
Aalto University. 2018a. ‘Aalto University Campus 2050’, Aalto University Website <https://www.aalto.fi/en/campus/aalto-universitycampus-2050> [accessed 22 January 2021] ———. 2018b. ‘History’, Aalto University Website <https://www.aalto.fi/en/aalto-university/history> [accessed 22 January 2021] ———. 2018c. ‘Study Well-Being Questionnaire AllWell? And the Development of Teaching at Aalto University’, Aalto University Website <https://www.aalto.fi/en/study-at-aalto/study-well-being-questionnaire-allwell-and-the-development-of-teaching-ataalto> [accessed 22 January 2021] ———. 2020a. ‘Key Figures of 2019 and Reports’, Aalto University Website <https://www.aalto.fi/en/aalto-university/key-figures-of2019-and-reports> [accessed 22 January 2021] ———. 2020b. ‘Strategy Materials’, Aalto University Website <https://www.aalto.fi/en/our-strategy/strategy-materials> [accessed 22 January 2021] Aceijas, Carmen, Sabrina Waldhäusl, Nicky Lambert, Simon Cassar, and Rafael Bello-Corassa. 2017. ‘Determinants of Health-Related Lifestyles among University Students’, Perspectives in Public Health, 137.4: 227–36 Anttiroiko, Ari-Veikko. 2016. ‘City-as-a-Platform: The Rise of Participatory Innovation Platforms in Finnish Cities’, Sustainability: Science Practice and Policy, Innovation in Public Governance, 8.9: 922 [accessed 20 July 2020] Borghys, Koen, Shenja van der Graaf, Nils Walravens, and Mathias Van Compernolle. 2020. ‘Multi-Stakeholder Innovation in Smart City Discourse: Quadruple Helix Thinking in the Age of “Platforms”’, Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 2: 77 [accessed 20 July 2020] Kunttu, Kristina, Tommi Pesonen, and Juhani Saari. 2017. ‘Student Health Survey 2016: A National Survey among’ <https://1285112865. rsc.cdn77.org/app/uploads/2020/03/KOTT_2016_ENG.pdf> [accessed 22 January 2021] Moazed, Alex. 2016. ‘Platform Business Model - Definition’, APPLICO <https://www.applicoinc.com/blog/what-is-a-platformbusiness-model/> [accessed 5 August 2020] Nyyti ry. 2019. ‘Survey on the Mental Wellbeing and Needs of International Freshers at the University of Helsinki’ Salmela-Aro, Katariina, and Sanna Read. 2017. ‘Study Engagement and Burnout Profiles among Finnish Higher Education Students’, Burnout Research, 7: 21–28 Van Alstyne, Marshall W., Geoffrey G. Parker, and Sangeet Paul Choudary. 2016. ‘Pipelines, Platforms, and the New Rules of Strategy’, Harvard Business Review <https://hbr.org/2016/04/pipelines-platforms-and-the-new-rules-of-strategy> [accessed 5 August 2020] Walravens, Nils. 2013. ‘The City as a Service Platform: A Typology of City Platform Roles in Mobile Service Provision’ <https://www. semanticscholar.org/paper/669aece9dc72ca8b560c61e5be19b2fe5a49a594> [accessed 20 July 2020]
Project Report
Together Aalto
Thank you. We would like to show our appreciation to everyone who supported our project, especially to Aalto Architecture programme, Aalto students, student union AYY, AllWell? team, and Nyyti ry. Despite in the challenging time, we were able to get all the information from research to design phases and enrich our final outcome with your support. We are inspired by the resilience and collaborative spirit in the Aalto community when working with the students. And we hope this project contributes to being an applied reference for the Aalto community and campus strategy in the future. As service designers, we would like to take this memorable experience to make a better community service.
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