The 5C Collective is an outdoor, semi-permanent, space where students can hangout, meditate in an enclosed "quiet space," and practice mindfulness through wellbeing workshops.
The 5C Collective was envisioned as a pop-up event outside the Honnold-Mudd Library that met a variety of user needs. Following Q's POV we established a workshop space, using Jasmine's POV we designed the quiet space in the middle (similar to the initial idea of a Mynd Space), and following other POVs we created a hangout space and information/welcome table for socialization and access to additional resources, especially for new students. Some workshops we had in mind included breath-work exercises, art, yoga, meditation, and more. We planned for the event/space to be held every other weekend, allowing students to engage with mental health resources for that time.
We originally included many more aspects to the space, but after speaking with Shannon, Natalie, and Q, we decided to simplify the design and really focus on the elements that were more important to us: workshop space, hangout space, quiet space, and an information table.
Some key insights from testing the 5C Collective with our users were that the maintenance of the space would be difficult and the location of the space was not optimal. Nevertheless, the overall feedback was positive with potential users liking the idea of having a quiet space on campus as well as a centralized wellbeing information platform where they could learn about future wellbeing workshops. Ultimately, people were attracted to the simplicity of the design, the ability to engage in various activities, as well as the experience of going to a new space on campus.
Many users, such as Audrey, told us they want social interaction along with mindfulness support, so we ended up narrowing our vision further and solely focused on the workshops in this group space, especially given we have basically 3 first year classes this fall.
After our midpoint presentation, the feedback we received overwhelmingly reinforced our users' feedback. Audience members were excited about having a new location on campus to hangout, giving purpose to an unused space, being in nature, learning mindfulness tools, and focusing on solitude and healing. They also shared how our prototype really meets the mental health needs that Monsour currently does not through workshops and a joint space. They too were hesitant about the location, hoping for a quieter, cooler space in which to practice mindfulness so we pivoted our design to an indoor, more permanent area in the Hive called the Vault. We were given permission to remodel the space for mindfulness and design it to facilitate wellbeing workshops. Our new design is the "Mindfulness Space."
Our new prototype, the Mindfulness Space, is located in an often unused space in the Hive, called the Vault. We are in the process of redesigning this space and making it an internal refuge for wellbeing. We are meeting the needs of our POV, creating a space to breathe and a place where workshops can be held.