Improving the campus experience at the University of Toronto through student-led design
Written by Jeanne Polochansky, Digital Content Writer, Psychology Specialist
Despite how daunting writing may seem, everyone has the skills to do it well. Jeanne shares how she overcomes her anxiety about the writing process through a set routine of reflecting, selecting, and revising.
Written by Eli Rose, Design Research Team Lead, Food Services
The Innovation Hub has allowed me to continue my design thinking journey, and I am excited to apply my experiences to design problems in the future.
Written by Anchana Kuganesan – Design Research Team Lead Transforming the Instructional Landscape
After joining the design research leadership team at the Innovation Hub, I had the chance to learn more about my colleagues during our team retreat day on August 8th. In the morning we took turns taking the team to different spots on campus that were memorable to us. We shared stories about how these places evoked emotions and memories about our time on campus, and how we are all connected through these feelings. We used design thinking methods to ask one another questions that probe more deeply into each other’s experiences and build empathy and we had great conversations as a team throughout the tour. Not only did this make us pay closer attention to our team members, but it also evoked new ways of thinking when we revisit these spaces on campus in the future.
This blog post is the first installment of What’s Your Why, a new blog series aimed at highlighting the importance of connecting back to the “why” that drives you and the work you are involved in. Each post is a written reflection from our team members, who took the time to graciously share their passions and purposes that drove them to their particular work at the Innovation Hub. We hope these stories inspire you to take a moment to reflect on your own individual “why”.
Written by Kaitlyn Corlett, Senior Project Assistant
When we think about superpowers our minds usually go to magical abilities or the supernatural. However, I believe that we all have superpowers and they’re our unique strengths we bring to this world. We might not know what they are at first, and it takes moments like navigating failure, overcoming obstacles, or facing uncertainty to begin learning what they might be. This requires learning from these experiences to gain a deeper sense of self, and a process that supports embracing uncertainty.
This blog post is part of Researchers Reflect, a series where we embark on the journey of a design researcher at the Innovation Hub. Each post will spotlight a different design researcher’s experience, stories, and learning moments throughout the course of their research.
Written by Sabrina Wu, Senior Research Assistant
In the past, I often associated research with substantial findings and grand theories. But the key to needs-finding and design thinking research can actually lie in what is ordinary and familiar – small daily interactions. My work at the Innovation Hub allowed me to closely experience and hear the impact small interactions have on students and researchers.
Written by Betelehem Gulilat, Content Writer
Illustrated by Nikhil Parwar, Digital Storyteller
Why do we as humans feel uncomfortable being in a space of silence? Whether it’s in the middle of a conversation, a work meeting, a stroll outdoors, or staying indoors in solitude, most of us feel unsettled by the absence of sound in almost every aspect of our lives. When silence is used with the right intentions, it can bring a world of meaning to our lives. It leaves us no other choice but to express empathy towards ourselves and others around us.
Written By Sofia Callaghan, Izzy Friesen, Serena Singh – Design Research Assistants for the Trans and Nonbinary Student Experiences Project
Trans Awareness Week (November 13th-19th), and Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20th) is approaching, and so we’d like to share some research that the Innovation Hub is working on with the Sexual and Gender Diversity Office (SGDO).
Students are often queried by the University for their name and gender, which they can change using the change of name and gender request form; we wanted to learn more about the experiences of trans, nonbinary and/or otherwise gender nonconforming students navigating this form and other gender queries made by the University.
Written by Betelehem Gulilat, Content Writer
Illustrated by Anna Tram, Digital Storyteller
We are two months into the fall semester. Classes have picked up, we are in the heart of midterm season and students are establishing a routine across their academic, work and social lives. Yet similar to last year, this school year is not quite like the rest. After spending the past year and a half at Zoom University, UofT students are returning to campus with mixed emotions from excitement, frustration, joy, anxiousness, more and everything in between.
Fragments of normalcy can be seen walking through St. George Street, while waiting in line at the bookstore, or finding a seat at the library. But despite this ‘normalcy’, we cannot deny the gaps that endured in pre-pandemic student life as much as the ones emerging post-pandemically. A recent poll conducted by KPMG surveyed more than a thousand Canadian postsecondary students and discovered that 78 percent of students agree the pandemic has “fundamentally changed” their expectations of their higher education experience.
