The Design Sprint is a two-day event under The SDOH & Place Project, sponsored by the Healthy Regions & Policies Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with funding in part from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In this sprint, participants will create experiences for the data discovery platform under the project. Using design principles and guidance from mentors, participants will brainstorm various solutions in teams and come up with one final solution along with a short demo presentation.
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💼 The Program

The goal of the weekend design sprint is to facilitate connections between Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and Place with communities, researchers, policymakers, and health practitioners. The primary focus will be on developing the data discovery aspect of the project, enabling multiple user personas to access valuable data within the SDOH and Place context.

The sprint will commence with participants and mentors receiving a briefing from subject matter experts, who will clarify the significance of Social Determinants of Health and Place in the realm of health equity. Subsequently, participants will identify areas for enhancing the data discovery platform by brainstorming diverse solutions. Throughout this process, participants will contribute to prioritizing features crucial for the success of the user personas involved in the project.

Mentors will regularly engage with both in-person and online teams, offering guidance and assisting in the selection of a solution for further exploration. Teams will then proceed to prototype the chosen solution, receiving valuable feedback from mentors to enhance the quality and viability of their prototypes.

In the final stages, teams will present their work through demo presentations, aiming to make substantial improvements to the SDOH and Place Project. These contributions will undergo review by subject matter experts to ensure their alignment with the project's objectives.
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🔎 Who We’re Looking For

For participants:

We are seeking current design students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and/or UIUC alumni with any level of college education. We are looking for you to pick your area of interest in design and help brainstorm and develop innovative solutions and prototypes by working in teams. Some key design avenues you have specialization in are:

1. Aesthetics / UI: The visual appeal of a design that contribute to the emotional response and perception of design. The visual and interactive elements through which users interact with a product or system.
2. User Experience (UX): The overall experience and satisfaction that a user derives from interacting with a product, system, or service focusing on understanding users' needs, behaviors, and emotions to create meaningful and enjoyable experiences.
3. Usability: The ease of use and efficiency with which users can interact with a product or interface to achieve their goals. Usability involves factors such as intuitiveness, learnability, efficiency, and error prevention.
4. Functionality: Ensuring that a design effectively serves its intended purpose and meets the needs of its users. Functionality encompasses features, capabilities, and performance.
5. Future proofing, competitor analysis, and market research: Designing with flexibility and adaptability to accommodate future changes, advancements, or trends by also comparing with other similar market offerings. Involves anticipating challenges or opportunities to design solutions that can evolve and scale over time.

For mentors:

We are looking for UIUC graduate students/alumni pursuing a degree relevant to design. You would regularly guide design teams as they brainstorm various solutions to a problem statement and enhance the quality and viability of the prototypes they make. You are expected to have a working knowledge of both the theoretical and practical sides of design.
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🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Who We Are

The Healthy Regions and Policies Lab, located at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is a dynamic research hub that employs cutting-edge techniques in GIScience, public health, and statistics to investigate, comprehend, and advocate for healthier communities. We’re experts in measuring the social determinants of health as community context and developing open resources. Recent initiatives include:

• The US Covid Atlas: a comprehensive map that monitors the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diverse communities throughout the United States.
• The ChiVes Project: an innovative tool designed for mapping and accessing data on environmental metrics in Chicago, developed with a research coalition.
• We also spearhead the Opioid Environment Policy Scan & lead the Geospatial Program at the JCOIN Methodology and Advanced Analytics Resource Center at the University of Chicago to improve understanding of the community context of the opioid epidemic and access to medications for opioid use disorder.

Our latest undertaking, The SDOH & Place project, reinforces our commitment to enhancing health equity and adds to our growing portfolio of projects.
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🗓️ Time Commitment

Date and time: April 6th and 7th from 10 AM to 3 PM CST*

Location: Siebel Center for Design (SCD),
1208 S. Fourth St., Champaign, IL 61820 (preferred), or Zoom

*Mentors would additionally participate in 2 to 3 hours of virtual planning meetings over Zoom before the event.
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👛 Stipend

For participants:
Get a $50 Amazon Gift Card after participating on both days. Lunch will be provided to all who attend in person.

For mentors:
Be paid $19/hr during the design sprint + planning hours
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✉️ How to Apply:

The Design Sprint Application can be accessed here: go.illinois.edu/design-sprint-apply

The following items are required and can be shared by filling out the application form using the link provided:

1. The role you are applying to, participant or mentor.
2. Identify the areas of design are you well-versed in.
3. A resume/CV highlighting design-related experience.
4. A Cover letter (500 words MAX) expressing why this design sprint interests you.
5. Optionally, you may provide 1 letter of recommendation.

Applications are due on Friday, March 29th at 11:59 PM CST. If you have any additional questions, please contact Marc Astacio-Palmer (mastacio@illinois.edu).
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Learn more:

• Keep up with the project
• Meet our Stakeholders
• Learn more about the SDOH & Place Project
• Learn more about our team