Problem Space

Caring attachments between adults and children are fundamental to human development.

Homeless episodes involving mothers and their young children are typically part of a long period of residential instability. This instability can affect the mother and child's attachment and their mental and physical wellbeing.

Key Problems

• Homelessness is not one single state of being
  
• Mothers experiencing homelessness often have limited parenting autonomy and control over their environment
• Mothers experiencing homelessness have limited ability to provide developmentally appropriate materials and support for their children
  
• Permanent solutions to homelessness are needed, not just temporary ones
  

Mothers with young children experiencing homelessness often lack control over their environment, consistency, privacy, and safety, all while often dealing with immense stress and personal trauma. They also often face barriers accessing resources and services.

My Solution

A public playroom service that is easily accessible, safe, and private, designed for the needs of mothers with young children experiencing homelessness.

Competitive Analysis & Opportunity Map

There is a gap in play space services, as there are none or very few options that offer free access as well as private rooms in Vancouver.

Why is this Needed?

Based on the insights from my primary and secondary research, these are the reasons why public playrooms are needed and would benefit mothers with young children experiencing homelessness:

• Provide safety, privacy, and consistency so they can focus on getting back on their feet
  
• Prioritize mental wellbeing and secure attachments to improve life and developmental outcomes for the mother and children
• Create a permanent and easily accessible service to support and care for people without the need to jump through hoops in order access it

Who am I Designing For?

Persona

While I designed this service with mothers and their young children experiencing homelessness as the target users, I want this service to be available for everyone.

Initial Scenario

Early Concept Sketch

The service will be much like booking a study room at a library, and will be available in local libraries with existing rental rooms.

Users will sign up for a free library card (if they don’t already have one), which they will use to access playrooms, book rooms online, and access other services and support.

Testing the Storyboard

A/B Testing

I showed two users a version of the flats with the classic Vancouver Public Library (VPL) colour scheme (Colour Scheme A) and a version with lighter colour scheme (Colour Scheme B). Both users preferred Colour Scheme B over Colour Scheme A.

Colour Scheme A

Colour Scheme B

Deliverables

Storyboard

The service provides:

• Free private playroom that can be booked for 1-2 hours at a time with a library card
• Educational and developmental children's toys, games, books, and movies
• Table, chairs, TV and DVD player
• Snacks and drinks
• Resource and information pamphlets for additional services that may be helpful

Customer Journey Map

Pain point: If a user is booking a playroom in-person the day of their visit, there may not be any available time slots, which could be a waste of time and resources.

This journey map shows Samantha booking a playroom in-person, however users do have the option to book online or by phone in advance. If they book in advance then users can guarantee that they will be able to use a playroom during their library visit.

Service Blueprint

The steps coloured in blue are those visible to the customer and those coloured in orange are not visible to the customer.

There are three critical moments:

• Not being able to book a time slot the same day as the user’s visit if they book in-person.
  This can be mitigated by booking online or by phone in advance.
• The playrooms may need a deep clean in-between visits.
  ‍This is largely out of the control of the service providers and would be done if necessary. If it is necessary, the next guests should be notified and given the same amount of time they booked even if their start time is delayed.
  
• Toys and items in the room might become damaged and need to be replaced.
  If this happens a similar item should be used to replace it, so that the next guests have access to similar resources. An order should also be put in to purchase a replacement for the damaged item.

Website Clickable Prototype

The main user flow I designed for was a user finding information about the public playrooms service and booking a playroom.

VPL Homepage

Public Playrooms Login

Public Playrooms Homepage

Account Navigation

Library Information

Account

Playrooms

These are the screens someone would see when booking a playroom.

Reflection

What I learned:

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing cost of housing, finding and being able to afford a home is becoming increasingly more challenging for people.

While I understand that homelessness is greatly nuanced and that there are many factors that contribute to a person becoming homeless, it is important to try to fix the systems we can, and create more easily accessible public services that can help address some of these factors, and help support people when they need it the most.

Given more time I would:

• Conduct onsite user testing at VPL
• Add a community aspect to the service such as group playtime so mothers and children can socialize
• Add marketing and branding components