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Research
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Discover the research that helped us re-invent public awareness campaigns.
Initial Research
Occupational Violence Research
Understanding and analysing the fundamental aspects of occupational violence was critical in our initial development process as it allowed us to gain a sense of the nuances and complexities of the many varying types and degrees of OV and more specifically, what sort of behavior commonly associated with OV affects our target audience.
By conducting research into occupational violence, we were able to attain valuable insight into what OV is and what places, situations and industries OV most commonly occurs in, especially during a pandemic, such as the hospitality industry, retail (including supermarkets) and health.
Campaign Research
Analysing and investigating three public awareness campaigns relating to occupational violence that have similar campaign goals to the campaign we are seeking to create, enabled us to gain valuable insights into each campaign's strengths and weaknesses in both effectiveness and strategy. All three campaigns aimed to stop healthcare workers from continuing to be hurt by occupational violence by educating workers on how to protect themselves and improve workplace safety.
Critically, the biggest strength that we identified was that one of the campaigns promoted the harm of occupational violence to workers through the media and reduced the occurrence of occupational violence successfully compared to the other two.
However, we noted that all three campaigns focused on teaching the workers to protect themselves instead of aiming to inform and teach the public about OV.
Technology Research
Whilst continuing to ideate different potential solutions, we engaged in technology research as gaining an insight into the features and design of successful mobile games and awareness campaign games as well as summarizing the common features of the most downloaded games on the App Store last decade, would be beneficial to the design and development of a potential solution.
Additionally, we researched a successful example of a public awareness campaign mobile game; Dumb Ways to Die, that we found, critically possessed all of the main features of a popular/viral game. Furthermore, we discovered that COVID-19 has had a profound impact on the popularity of gaming around the world.
Key insights from initial research
- Although occupational violence is more commonplace than ever in Australia due to COVID-19, the general public is unaware of OV and its impact on front line staff due to a lack of awareness and exposure to it as well as a broad misunderstanding of what OV actually means.
- Existing campaigns targeting occupational violence have failed to target the fundamental reasons behind why OV occurs and have failed to raise substantial public awareness of occupational violence due to a limited targeting approach.
- Designing a public awareness campaign game is a powerful, effective and popular platform especially in such extraordinary times as it can be exploited to create an addictive and easy to spread public awareness campaign.
How did it influence the next stage?
Based on our key insights that were gained from all 3 research topics, we determined that the best and most effective response to the design challenge would be to design a public awareness campaign game.
We chose to directly target the game at a broad target audience consisting of a diverse cross-section of the general public, aiming to raise their awareness of OV and help people develop empathy and understanding for the front-line staff working through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Surveys
As part of our user research, we conducted both qualitative and quantitative surveys through Google Forms and social media respectively, allowing us to gain valuable insights from a diverse group of 30 respondents about their thoughts, grievances and behaviour regarding occupational violence affecting front-line staff and living under lockdown.
Key insights from surveys
- While awareness and exposure to incidents of occupational violence is generally mixed, people's attitudes and behaivour can change with increased awareness and/or exposure to OV in a familiar setting such as a supermarket.
- As people generally don't visit the supermarket or pharmacy on a daily basis, their knowledge of how to respond to an unlikely incident is greatly diminished by their lack of exposure to OV, which can occur sporadically and without warning in both settings.
- Incidents that can be classified as occupational violence are not uncommon but are not exactly frequent. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a sharp increase in OV incidents.
How did it influence the next stage?
Employing the key insights that we gained from conducting the surveys, we were able to further reflect on and analyse the raw data we had collected and use it in a substantive and strategic manner in the form of multiple personas, journey maps and other usability tools.
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Additionally, the data and insights we collected through the surveys about our target audience and their behaviors and feelings towards OV was instrumental in the scripting and development process for what would eventually become Through Other Eyes.
Interviews
In order to gain further insight into our target audience's thoughts, grievances and behaviour regarding occupational violence affecting front-line staff and living under lockdown, we conducted multiple interviews with members of the general public as well as front-line staff to understand how occupational violence impacts both groups.
Key insights from interviews
- Awareness of the recent surge in COVID-19 related OV incidents has not resulted in any radical changes to people's normally mundane experiences at essential services such as supermarkets.
- The shopping experience during a pandemic has been stressful, but the people’s behaviour towards front-line staff had not dramatically changed.
- People are generally uncomfortable discussing the topic of occupational violence in a time of crisis.
- Front-line staff have noticed that an increase in the sense of panic has dramatically affected the behaviour of people engaging staff at essential services.
How did it influence the next stage?
Analysing the key insights that we gained from conducting interviews with both members of the general public and front-line staff, enabled us to consolidate and build on the insights we gained from our initial research and surveys and consequently allowed us to use our findings to create multiple personas, journey maps and other usability tools which in term were beneficial in the development stage of the project.
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Additionally, the data and insights we collected through the interviews about our target audience's thoughts and feelings about experiencing or becoming aware of OV during the COVID-19 pandemic was a valuable asset that was utilized throughout the scripting and development process for what would eventually become Through Other Eyes.
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