The Open Room
Design Brief:
Pick a brand to reimagine or reposition in a post-COVID context.
Course & Timeline:
[Re]Vision/[Re]brand, Summer 2020 | 6 weeks
Team members:
Ankitha Vasudev & Emily Ding
My team chose to focus on Planned Parenthood as our client, in hopes of making their services clearer, more accessible, and less stigmatized to the general public. In the end, we proposed our intervention, “The Open Room”, as an extension of current Planned Parenthood outreach programs.
The Open Room would be an allocated safe space within community centers across the country for people to learn and engage with Planned Parenthood services through interactive activities, both independently and collaboratively.
Service overview
Through the implementation of “Open Rooms” across local community centers, we aimed to meet three primary goals:
Inform, educate, and empower community members on Planned Parenthood and the services they offer
Provide the opportunity to engage not only with a younger audience, but also with adults who may need Planned Parenthood’s services
Create a safe space to share experiences and generate open discussion surrounding the organization and/or sexual and reproductive health topics
Walkthrough
Entrance: what is The Open Room?
Outside of The Open Room, visitors would first be greeted with a short introduction to the space.
Upon entering, visitors would see that the space is somewhat split to encourage more independent exploration and learning on the left side, and more discussion and collaboration of the right.
“Did you know” board: getting to know Parenthood
The first interactive activity within the space is a simple “Did you know” board, in which visitors can learn fast facts about Planned Parenthood and get a glimpse of how their community members perceive the organization.
Services: exploring the range of Planned Parenthood services
Visitors can also independently familiarize themselves with the wide range of services Planned Parenthood offers, and take home interactive info cards.
Share your story: sharing experiences with Planned Parenthood
In this section of the space, community members can anonymously share experiences they have had with Planned Parenthood to de-mystify and de-stigmatize these experiences.
Consult booth: one-on-one consultations
Twice a week, there would also be a Planned Parenthood representative or volunteer in the space to answer more specific questions about clinical services.
Collaboration area: facilitating conversations
In the collaborative area, community members can engage in weekly discussions and guest talks surrounding topics such as sexual and reproductive health.
Question wall: anonymous discussion board
Lastly, before leaving the space, visitors can anonymously post questions regarding sexual and reproductive health, or Planned Parenthood, on the question wall and receive answers from both community members and experts.
Promoting the space
In order to promote The Open Room, we envisioned promotional materials within community centers, as well as at a larger scale on the Planned Parenthood site.
