Connected. Coordinated. Coherent.
Campus Direct
CampusDirect is an interactive role-playing game blending digital and physical experiences. It engages young men through campus-based clue hunts, stories for awareness, character-building, mentorship, networking, and rewards like free trials and discounts to foster understanding and future success.
Roles
UX Researcher
UX Designer
Teams
10 members around the globe
Duration
2 weeks
Interaction Designer
What was the challenge?
UN Women Asia Pacific and World Design Organization (WDO) virtually organised the Gender Equality Asia Pacific design challenge on the persistent issue of violence against women and girls (VAWG). This collaboration aims to address VAWG through the lens of design, with thoughtful, human-centric, solution-based initiatives that will contribute to achieving development outcomes such as inclusion and awareness of diversity, community and global engagement, personal and social responsibilities, etc.
Project Roadmap
Orientation
Aug 10 - 13
Define & Explore
Aug 14 - 17
Materialize
Aug 18 - 21
Understand
Frame
Empathize
Persona
Ideate
Story Boarding
Prototype
Materializing
Project Outline
Project Brief
How can we promote behavioral change to reduce VAW by changing the mindset that VAW is normal?
Team
The team has 20 selected participants and four facilitators to guide us through the challenge. The team had participants from India, United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, Nepal and United States
Key Deliverable
- User Research, Empathy Mapping, Building Persona
- Scenario Mapping, Concept generation, Storyboarding
- Concept sketch
UNDERSTAND AND EMPATHIZE
Thoughts of Normalize VAW
Challenge Statement
Empathy Mapping
Persona
Scenario Mapping
‘NORMAL’ ways of thinking about VAW & underlying norms, beliefs, and biases
(using socio-economic model
Deconstructing the problem statement
Different mindsets that normalize VAW
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Where do these mindsets exist?
What kind of behaviors perpetuate these mindsets?
What new behaviors should we replace these with?
Defining the target user
We drew the persona of a young man as a key user.
Often during college days, students think, reflect, and are influenced by their surroundings to maintain a good image among peers; hence, the target group was considered college students, and the goals, challenges, and needs were noted accordingly.
Scenario Mapping
Considering the scenario of a young man and tracing his journey from bystander to ally helped us ideate our final concept. We considered steps in the process of being an ally from a bystander and drew out the journey and thoughts, feelings, and a young man, in our case, our user Kabir, would have.
Design Goal
We are designing an experience that will help Kabir evolve from being a bystander to an active ally
IDEATION
Brainstorming
Final Concept
A mix of games, stories, public art, and tools designed to help people understand, feel, and respond to violence against women and girls.The goal is to move beyond discomfort and toward informed, everyday action.More UN / systems framing
Final Concept
Gamify the experience for Kabir to understand VAW by using QR codes around the campus.
MATERIALIZE
Concept Brief
Plan of Action
Screens
CAMPUSDIRECT
CampusDirect is a comprehensive digital and physical experience that will meet the needs and goals of the young men (bystanders) as an interactive role-playing game and the physical discovery of hidden clues within the campus, stories to generate awareness, plus understanding, building character, future-proofing for success with mentorship, networking, and rewards like free trials/ discounts.
Registering and Onboarding
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Giving users the freedom to log in through their phone number, social accounts, or Google accounts.
Since we have gamified the entire process for their consistent engagement, there is a set of rules they need to follow, which they will be guided through during the onboarding process.
Scanning the QR Code and Maps​
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As soon as they are onboard on the application, they would see options for scanning the QR code and checking the map. The Main page also has access to their profile and earned rewards, which they can check and utilize accordingly.
The Maps help them to navigate through the campus to find
more QR codes to earn more rewards.
Game and Incentives
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After scanning a QR code, they would be redirected to the page where they have to answer a question or two. There will be a short scenario/ story/ case in visual format (either be in Video or JPEG format). After watching the video, the students are expected to answer the scenario-based/ learning based question.
Depending on their answers, they would be rewarded with incentives which they can redeem for on-campus facilities, and at times these can be in the form of academic credits.
Multiple Choice Questions and Rewards​
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Some questions would also be related to the responsibilities
and privileges they have. Through this we aim at making them
realize about the unfair division of responsibilities at home and
society.
Depending on the answer they’d be provided with statistics or the other relevant information depending on which country they belong or are from.
Potential options to ensure the user continues to use the app beyond the first day
01
Continue giving incentive the user by offering a reward program throughout the school semester.
02
Use gamification to turn the app into a fun continued experience like, where the user searches around the campus for new clues.
03
Evolve the app into an everyday necessity, blending the QR codes also into campus markers for navigation to classrooms and facilities throughout the campus.
04
Turn the app into a type of virtual classroom with course credit.
Synthesis & Reflection
A research-led, behavior-focused initiative exploring how global frameworks turn into everyday action, moving from awareness to accountability and sustained impact.
This project explored how strategic design, systems thinking, and collaborative governance can surface behavioral gaps within large-scale social challenges and transform intention into action. By working across institutions, communities, and lived experiences, the work emphasized clarity, shared responsibility, and feedback loops, ensuring interventions are not just well-intentioned but usable, trusted, and adopted on the ground.
The Power of Behavioral Design for Social Change
I learned how design can address societal issues like VAW, gaining valuable insights into young men's behaviors and perspectives.
Collaboration Across Disciplines
Collaborating with diverse professionals highlighted the value of interdisciplinary teamwork, enriching ideas and driving impactful solutions.
Adaptability and Remote Design
The sprint showed me that design and research can thrive remotely, emphasizing flexibility, communication, and creative problem-solving.