Zoe Torrealba Marin

An inviting and friendly responsive web experience that assists students in the food pantry process and resources at SMC.

Since the start of COVID, over 50% of current Santa Monica College students struggle with food insecurity. Out of 25,000 + students enrolled only an estimated 300-400 students visit the food pantry on a weekly basis. We identified through our research that students are unaware of the drive-thru food pantry process and that they often don’t know what to do with the food they are given. For that reason, we wondered how we can educate and inform food insecure students more about the resources and process of the food pantry.

After conducting research we identified 3 key insights. We interview students to get a perspective from their end and we recognized a pattern that students don’t know what The Drive-Thru Food Pantry process entails. Another finding was that students don’t know what food they are picking up and what to do with it. Food pantry stakeholders stated that they only know what food they receive on the day of the drive-thru pantry. Therefore, we decided to focus on what students can do with the food they receive. Lastly, Food pick-up and selection require a long wait time. Although we were unable to redesign the system in place instead we brought transparency to the process so students can plan ahead.

A responsive website for the SMC Food Pantry to guide students to better understand the drive-thru/walk-thru process with instructions on what to expect, what to do with their picked-up goodies, and resources for the food insecure.

A pop-up featuring a LA neighborhood themed scavenger hunt for parents and children to co-create and connect with grand park in the heart of LA.

In collaboration with Grand Park in Downtown LA we were asked to enhance the guest experience to encourage visitors to co-create the story of Grand Park so that they can have a slice of the park wherever they go. Through our research, we observed a lack of play between parents and their children. Many parents watched their kids playing but rarely played along with them, so we wondered how we can reconnect parents with their inner child while playing along with their children.

Build generational memories: During one of our interviews, we spoke with a woman and her daughter who are long-time visitors to Grand Park. She shared how her mom would take her around DTLA before grand park was established, and once she became a mother herself she made sure to expose her daughter to explore LA. After speaking to this woman, we realized we want to build generational memories at Grand Park and to create a sense of belonging in community spaces. Create Your Own LA will continue this cycle of building memories you can pass down. Reimagine community belonging in LA: We realized how strong the desire for community is and a big part of Create Your Own La is the ability to reimagine belonging in your local community. Grand Park is the meeting point that can facilitate this connection to the heart of LA. Co-create the story of Grand Park: Grand Park wants guests to take a slice of the park wherever they go. The act of playing together will co-create the story of Grand Park in both the parent and child's memories.

An interactive physical installation encouraging parents and children to be present while engaging in play and exploring the historical Angeleno building replicas with a scavenger hunt.

An individualized hub for patients to access information at the right place and time

The problem we identified is that there is no streamlined platform for patients to access information, but rather it’s scattered across different platforms. Planned parenthood offers various platforms such as their website, patient portal, and apps. Although they offer all these services, patients are not engaging with the online content.

[Organized information] Patients need to access information when it is the right time. To avoid information overload, we tailored the content to be personally useful and relevant to the patients journey. [Wait Times] Patients are experiencing long wait times, but we cant change wait times due to the demand for pp services. Instead, we can make the perceived wait time shorter. [Privacy] Planned parenthood is known for their patient confidentiality due to the nature of their services. Through our user testing, we realized that patients want to leave a minimal digital trail.

A personalized hub for patients to access transparent information so they can be informed on their procedures, access resources provided by planned parenthood, and connect with their health providers. Patients will receive text reminders with a link to learn more about their appointment with personalized information based on their health services.