Sacred Roots
Uniting families, sharing stories, and staying connected.
PROJECT TYPE:
CONCEPTUAL UX DESIGN
NAME:
SACRED ROOTS
TIMELINE:
AUG. 2024 - DEC. 2025
TOOLS:
FIGMA, BEZI, DOVETAIL, QUALTRICS, PHOTOSHOP, MURAL
Challenge
The invaluable knowledge and wisdom possessed by older Indigenous individuals has been fading with time, and because of this, we are in danger of having a less unique United States. .
Solution & Impact
There are stories that still need to be told, recipes that still need to be shared, and identities that still need to be shaped - we aimed to create an experience that could help do these things.
Due dates can change.
situation
Bridgecrest, who provides loans to DriveTime and Carvana customers, is migrating their legacy systems to Pega, a low-code CRM tool. It will function as the primary workflow management platform for call agents. Customers can call an agent who can help change their payment due date - a situation that required migration to our new system.
Understanding our users and their culture.
task
Lives are unpredictable and circumstances change – customers need flexibility when paying auto loans. I researched loan processes, ideated solutions, created prototypes to test with users, and delivered final screens to our stakeholders.
~60,000
hours were spent on changing customer's due dates in 2024
Bridgecrest call centers spent 60,000 hours changing customer due dates in 2024.
This process should be 5-10 minutes, but was often taking 15+ minutes.
Changing a due date requires customers to meet certain criteria, which caused extra time for our agents because our legacy system did not tell the agents if the customer qualified.
Initial Findings
54%
of the world's cultures are endangered
Scientific American
78%
of AIAN people have located off-reservation, making it increasingly harder to foster inter-generational cultural communication
Harvard International Review
25%
of America's seniors face social isolation
BMC Public Health
Task
54%
25%
78%
The National Indian Council on Aging
“We know that elders who are socially connected live longer, have less health problems and can have some protection from mental health issues such as Dementia and Alzheimer’s.”
“It’s hard to find data specific to American Indians and Alaska Natives. However, we did a focus group in New Mexico and we found that many of our elders and caregivers were dealing with stress from isolation.”
#ConnectedIndigenousElders persuades youth, who will also be encouraged to enter into an online contest on how they engage with their elders, to learn from and help take care of tribal knowledge keepers.
University of North Texas NASA - Native American Student Association
We attended the Native American Student Association meeting on September 9th, 2024 and learned a lot.
The importance of dancing and learning to dance
UNT’s removal of the Grandmother tree
Indigenous peoples day 2024
28 Muscogee Creek students 1890
Disrespectful statements made toward them
All try to connect with their tribal affiliations
AIAN cultures emphasize community involvement
Survey and Interview Results
We conducted a Qualtrics survey exploring technological barriers, technological preferences, and interest in learning from seniors that acquired 52 responses that we used to further define our solution and locate solid ground among ambiguity.
We also conducted several interviews with indigenous individuals (born and reconnecting alike). Exploring their wants and needs would define our use cases and viable users.
Personas, Journey Mapping, and HMW Statement
How might we empower indigenous seniors to leverage technology to preserve and share their memories and cultural knowledge with today’s youth, decreasing senior loneliness and reducing the loss of vital cultural practices?
Sarah Brave Woman & Fred Little Turtle
Sarah Brave Woman (Fred's Grandmother)
Fred Little Turtle (Sarah's Grandson)
Solution Exploration
Comparative Analyses and Cognitive Walkthrough
Our team knew we wanted to incorporate virtual reality, three-dimensional scanners, and some form of sandbox game into our solution. Not only would this encourage creativity, but it would facilitate the exchange of knowledge through a variety of unique story-telling methods. We conducted several cognitive walkthroughs of VR technology and lidar scanners, as well as competitive analyses of sandbox applications that allow users to build their worlds, environments, games, and stories.
We settled on coming up with a solution that utilizes both a screen-based application paired with a VR environment to connect Indigenous elders and youth.
3.0 Ideate
System Mapping and Information Architecture
System Mapping
We created a system map that separated our ideas into five main groups: end user, community, technology, collaboration, and preservation.
Screen Based Information Architecture
This IA informed us of how we wanted our Sacred Roots app to function.
Screen Based Information Architecture
This IA informed us of how we wanted our Sacred Roots VR environment to function.
4.0 Prototype
Messaging
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System Mapping
System Mapping
System Mapping
News
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