Making sex education more inclusive, accessible, and free of shame and stigma for LGBTQ+ youth and their allies

Business Context

Healthy Futures of Texas is a nonprofit organization that works to reduce unplanned and teen pregnancies through science-based education and advocacy efforts.

As of the project conception, no sex education curriculum in Texas that is specifically designed for LGBTQ+ youth exists. Not only will this curriculum address a crucial gap in sex education for youth in Texas, it will serve as a nationwide example of making sex education more inclusive and accessible.

SOCIAL CONTEXT

“Research shows that when young people fail to receive high-quality, inclusive sex education, they are more likely to experience negative sexual health outcomes, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unintended pregnancies, and sexual violence.” - Jennifer Driver, vice president of policy and strategic partnerships at SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change.

Overview

Timeline

ROLE

TEAM

6 months
Lead concept, design, and development as sole product designer
Youth co-developers, health educators, program directors, illustrator

Process

To make sure we met our deadlines, I drafted a project roadmap to visualize our process and reviewed it with core staff members to ensure it was realistic and attainable.

Understand

- Design strategy workshop to align stakeholders
Define

-
Content Inventory

- Site Map

- user Flow
Develop

-
Wireframe + User Testing

- Mid Fidelity Prototype + User Testing

- Hi Fidelity Prototype + User Testing
Deliver

-
Responsive Website Implementation

- Live Website User Testing

Design Strategy Workshop

To kick off the project, I facilitated a group brainstorming workshop to capture a wide breadth of understanding. I invited core members working on the project, as well as a variety of staff in lateral departments who all had their own individual expertise in curriculum building and sex health education.

We created a collaborative empathy map and user needs statements before diving into a group brainstorm.

From the most popular brainstorming topics, I helped narrowed down big ideas based off of "What fits with the co-developers original spirit" and "What do we have time for?” Now we had a clearer design direction to work with.

Content Inventory

Working off of a Google Doc that consisted of a loose storyline, which was crafted by youth co-developers, I developed a Site Map and User Flow. This helped determine potential requirements for illustrations, as well as allowed our program director to begin to draft copy for the curriculum.

As curriculum copy was worked on, our team brought on a local illustrator to co-design with, as well as an intern to develop the public health evaluation elements of the project. Their continuous input and review of the content inventory allowed me to begin creating wireframes for the curriculum website.

Initial Sketches

Preliminary sketches created in tandem with content inventory, user flow, and site map

Wireframes

I presented the first set of wireframes in a video call with the team. We viewed the file together and discussed where we could make improvements to the storyline, provide clearer details for illustrations, and ask important questions, such as:

  • Does the wireframe address the goals of the project?
  • Does the navigation represent all the appropriate pages?
  • Is the primary purpose of each page clear?
  • Is it clear how the user will interact with the page?

Wireframe Feedback

  • Address inconsistencies in storyline, and word choice to avoid stigma or shame, etc.
  • Add pre and post curriculum surveys to measure efficacy.

These updates were made to improve the content and flow of the curriculum, before adding visual elements and interactive features in the mid-fidelity prototype.

Mid-Fidelity Prototype

Updates:

  • Introduction of color styles in collaboration with our illustrator
  • Clickable elements
  • Incorporated feedback from wireframe testing
  • Began incorporating illustrations

Usability Testing

To allow for greater feedback flexibility and anonymity, I solicited asynchronous feedback by emailing the Figma prototype with a Google Form. Nine people in total filled out the form, consisting of staff as well as youth co-developers. Insights were consolidated and placed on a feasibility matrix so we could quickly and easily evaluate tasks.

During this time, we ran into some unexpected delays that led to pushing back the creation of hi-fidelity prototypes, which pushed back the ship date of the project by one month. This was immediately communicated with stakeholders, and I took the time to make as many changes as possible from the feasibility matrix.

Hi-Fidelity Prototype Testing

With staff support, I was able to virtually facilitate 1:1 user testing with actual target users, most of whom were seeing the project for the very first time. I met with each participant on Google Meet, then asked them to screenshare while using the prototype.

What needed to change:

- Give users more incentive to complete surveys

- Simplify text blocks for ease of reading

- Certain elements needed clearer explanations
Unanswered user questions:

-These were forwarded to staff to uncover answers
New user ideas:

- These were forwarded to staff to discuss feasibility

Approved changes were made, questions were answered, and major updates were made to the prototype before we began building in Webflow.

Live Website User Testing

Once the prototype was transferred to a live website, a final 1:1 user test was performed with 1 staff member and 1 target user, which provided sufficient feedback to go forward with launch.

Test Feedback

  • Basic information on STIs was missing and should be included
  • Double check all resources for broken links
  • Add more local resources and online community resources
  • Decide on a survey “freebie” incentive and be more clear about what they are on the website.

Shipped Product

This curriculum highlights Healthy Futures of Texas as a continual leader in empowering youth to make healthy decisions, as well as serving as a proof-of-concept to further attract stakeholders and opportunities for funding.

You can view the live website at: prideguidetostis.org.

Feedback

"Mi has been a major asset to our nonprofit. Her expertise in UX design helped bring a major project, The Pride Guide to STIs, to life for us. She blends skill, savvy, and style effortlessly in her work." - Anthony Betori, Director of Curriculum and Innovation at Healthy Futures of Texas

How It Will Evolve

potential Future Updates

  • The curriculum will be translated into a physical zine format in many languages to address equity in digital access.
  • An audio version will be created to assist people who are blind or who have low vision, as well as give people an extra way to learn from the curriculum.
  • Develop a safe community space to chat, ask questions, and connect with trusted experts.

Learnings

Sometimes, the client doesn't know what they don't know.

  • As the sole designer, it was important to clearly explain my design process to every team member I worked with. If I could clearly explain the scope of work and help them understand all the design jargon in their own terms, they'll be able to give their most valuable input. In return, this builds trust among team members, allows the designer more creative freedom, and makes the most effective design in the end.

Designing for survey effectiveness is a highly iterative process.

  • Gathering data is crucial to measuring curriculum efficacy, but online surveys often need to be incentivized for users to fill them out. Combined with the challenges of individual preferences for type of incentive (e.g. stickers, gift cards, etc.), I also have to consider the financial impact of incentives, as well as the added workload to the staff member who will be responsible for distributing incentives. This is an aspect of the curriculum that will need to be monitored and adjusted as it is released out into the world.

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