Point of Decision Design: Healthy Choice. Healthy Campus.

Research Question: How can design influence college student health choices by targeting the critical points-of-decision?

Project Objectives:
- To understand the chronic problem of obesity on college campuses and the link to diet and activity decisions
- To discern how and “where” college students make decisions about physical activity and nutrition
- To synthesize design strategies implemented at these points-of-decision to prompt healthy decisions amongst the myriad choices on typical college campuses
- To generate a design guide for practitioners to aid point-of-decision design for college students
- To develop a research concept for future research bringing together the fields of public health and architecture around point-of-decision design

Process:
- Literature scan
- Cross-disciplinary Ideation Session, inviting 36 participants from all over the US, including: campus facilities planners, architects, designers, public health and student health experts, and undergraduate and graduate students
- Follow-up survey to attendees to clarify themes from the session
- Set of visual design guidelines, generated through an integration of prior research and the session results

Key Findings:
1. Current literature on designing healthy campuses is more biased towards movement and physical activity than diet. A gap exists that is an opportunity for future design research.
2. Using design for better decision-making is not a very well understood construct. Literature focuses on how a healthy context can be created, but not as much on how design can be a catalyst for healthier decisions.
3. Current thinking on healthy colleges focuses on urban design and campus planning strategies, whereas our findings show that decisions about activity/ diet could be made by students before ever stepping into campus. Leveraging technology/ smartphones as part of the design solution is imperative.
4. Point-of-decision is a person-centric– not a place-centric, construct across settings. Understanding diverse user personas and mapping their journeys can aid in determining points of decision. Key points of decision emergent from this literature review include: the smartphone, path, home, dining facility, courtyard, bed, car, corridor, recreation center, classroom, parking location, public space, workstation and online.
5. Behavioral decisions students make are often influenced by a range of factors; such factors can be sorted into 4 key constructs: Availability, Access, Affordability, and Appeal.
6. Design strategies to address a person-centered framework that can respond to a myriad of dynamic influences can be considered along a design continuum ranging from information and product design to interior, architecture and urban design. Some strategies emergent from the lit review and ideation include: farmers’ markets, communal kitchens, healthy food offerings and placement, hydration stations, recharge zones, open flex spaces, mixed use buildings, lighting strategies, street trees, bike parking systems, and street furnishings.