This report aims to present an overview of the design thesis based on Centering Your Story, presenting the research and design activities conducted during the course of the thesis project and how it helped shape decisions and final design.
The project started with a literature review exploring the field of psychiatric care and youth with severe and enduring mental health problems as well as learning about the meaning, causes and impact of stagnation in treatment.
Firstly, characteristics of youth with Severe and Enduring Mental Health Problems were identified in order to gain insights into the challenges they face, their vulnerability and factors that influence them.
Secondly, the phenomenon of stagnation was examined with the focus on causes for stagnation and treatment failure in order to understand the root of the problem.
Additionally, literature on collaboration in therapeutic settings was reviewed to gain insights into the lack of collaboration, what might help facilitate open communication and better collaboration.
Since The Story is a crucial part of the design thesis and the final design, there is a section reflecting on what it should consist of and what the different existing definitions of narratives contain that could contribute to the story in the design.
A selection of the research done by Curium was analysed and insights were gathered. Youth and parents emphasize the importance of considering background and environmental factors. Additionally, a personal vision from the youth is needed for creating the story as well as giving youth a voice and autonomy.
Subsequently, design directions were defined, and refined with the Curium project group. After being translated into conceptual directions, they were presented at co-creation I to the project group. Then, ideas were generated, based on criteria and inspired by suggestions from the co-creation. Three elaborate ideas were chosen to conceptualise.
The concepts were presented to the Curium project group, and feedback was used for refining concepts and designing mock-ups. The concepts and mock-ups were then presented and tested with the target group in co-creation II. The feedback given by the target group was used to combine concepts and design the final prototype for the design thesis.
Finally, the prototype was designed: Verbonden. Verbonden is a playful and creative way of mapping personal stories and the shared story of youth, parents and practitioners who are experiencing stagnation in treatment. The goal is to break tension, empower youth and help users gain a better understanding of each other by mapping their stories.