Syracuse University research
Having a connection with SU services
In recent years, college students who feel lonely account for a large percentage in American universities. In a 2017 survey of nearly 48,000 college students, 64% said they had felt “very lonely” in the previous 12 months, while only 19% reported they never felt lonely, according to the American College Health Association. Students also reported feeling “overwhelming anxiety" (62%) or “very sad” (69%), and that “things were hopeless” (53%). Nearly 12% seriously considered suicide.
It is a large group that needs our attention. In 2019, Syracuse University had 22,000 students (“Facts, Figures, and Rankings”). Tracy Zappola at the Syracuse office of the Admission Department reports that there are approximately 3,600 freshmen at Syracuse University, of whom 10% are international students, and 65% are not from New York state.
My team
JiaYu Kang & me
The purpose of this project is to reduce loneliness among SU students and to improve their real-life relationships. Our previous survey revealed that college students are dealing with loneliness due to a variety of factors. The main reasons for this are inability to adapt to a new environment, reliance on social media, ethnic issues, and failure to make true friends. After analyzing the information, we decided to create an SU service application to help students connect with each other.
I was primarily responsible for the preliminary research and development of a UI design prototype for SU service application during the project.
Problem Statement
Lack of physical and real-life connections, loneliness
Despite Syracuse University's great services and activities for freshmen and its help to them, there are still many students who feel lonely at Syracuse University. Loneliness is caused by a variety of factors, but they appear related to the lack of physical social connections and finding people with whom you have common interests. Social media demonstrates this problem: people have social connections, but these connections aren't physical - they are remote.
After reviewing these results, we decided to investigate which SU services may encourage students to participate in more social activities to reduce their sense of loneliness.
Our Design
Make a friend at SU
To do this, we interview college students over the age of 18 both male and female. Includes international, non-New York State, local, and off-campus students. Furthermore, we identified the most significant factors in determining loneliness among these students. By combining these factors, we were able to develop solutions for SU service items. In the process of making the final plan (figure 2), we also found the service loopholes in the service project for students at SU.
Figure 2 The application process
Solution
SU's service application
After analyzing the content of interviews and surveys, we concluded the application process. To add more vibrant colors to the campus service program, we combined the SU color (orange) with green (figure 3).
The goal is to reduce loneliness among Syracuse students and increase connections among them. We have made the following changes:
- Increase offline activities and ways of connecting.
- Reduce social media usage.
- Finding suitable participation partners for users.
Figure 3 Prototype of Make Friends at SU
View more about this project