OVERVIEW
SUMMARY
SURKL is a platform which addresses the pervasive issue of school burnout among college students. Providing a dedicated space for like-minded individuals, SURKL offers opportunities for them to be heard and take essential breaks within the demanding academic environment.
Its goal is to create a supportive community that helps individuals overcome school burnout and thrive in their college journey. Students are invited to join SURKL to prioritize mental well-being and transform their college experience.
COLLABORATORS
Nicole Tay Jia Shuen
Ganais Rave
Syakirah
TIME
SEPTEMBER- NOVEMBER 2023
TOOLS
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premier Pro, Wix, Procreate
METHODS
Storyboarding, root cause analysis, persona
DAILY LIFE OF ALEXIS LOOKS LIKE,
PAINFUL JOURNEY
CHALLENGES
ACADEMIC BURNOUT is a never-ending cycle of feeling lonely, tired, anxious, and like you can't stay focused at all. It is a negative emotional, physical, and mental reaction to prolonged study that results in exhaustion, frustration, lack of motivation, and reduced ability in school.
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES?
The most typical answer would be "stress lor so much assignments" or "my prof's expectations are always so high sia". You're not wrong, but these are only the symptomatic causes.
TARGET
DEMOGRAPHIC
Polytechnic and University students in Singapore.
7 in 10 undergrad students
face burnout
Through various interviews and surveys we found that,
1. 53% said academic = high stressor
2. 82.9% saoid social interactions help cope w/ stress
3. 78.9% said friends are their biggest motivator
College students clearly tend to rely on their friends to talk to them about your emotions + a way of de- stressing.
BIOGRAPHY
- 22 years old
- Degree in Design
- Student in NTU
Alexis is a 2nd-year student at NTU, she's an introvert who finds it hard making friends. With the overwhelming academic workload and loneliness, she has no stable social support which causes her to burn out even more. This has not only taken a toll on her academic life but also on her mental well-being.
DIFFICULTIES
- always feeling tired and unmotivated for school
- no one to open up to
- can't enjoy college life to the fullest
NEEDS
- social outlet/ support
- assistance to reorganize herself
- a better school experience.
PERSONA- ALEXIS
HOW COMMON IS BURNOUT AMONGST UNDERGRADS?
1. Researchers found that there is an increase in students facing burnout over the past year.
2. Undergraduates said that work and study were their greatest source of stress.
Reassessing school burnout reveals two key factors: LACK OF SOCIAL SUPPORT and LOW SELF-REGULATION.
Subjective burnout, influenced by individual workload perceptions, is significant, while objective factors like credit systems lack predictive power.
This underscores the personalized nature of burnout, urging attention to social support and self-regulation for effective mitigation.
SPATIAL ZONING IDEATION WITH NAFA’S STUDENT LOUNGE SPACE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL SUPPORT AND BURNOUT
Social support has been associated with lower rates of burnout.
Specifically, higher social support from friends was associated with lower levels of de-personalization and higher levels of personal accomplishment.
SOLUTION
SURKL has two components to it, the physical space- SURKLGROUND and SURKL app. It acts as a catalyst to form friendship and bonds to help manage and reduce burnout among students by grouping
them based on their interests or MBTI.
This video explains the user experience journey and how it helps Alexis- a burntout student.
USER JOURNEY OF APP AND SURKLGROUND
SURKL- APP
Academic features :
Time- manage using a shared calendar where students can get updated on deadlines and milestones of their academic matters. Collaborative learning where students can share learning materials/ information of different modules and join study sessions either online or physically.
Social features:
Join group chats based from their interests online.
SERVICE BLUEPRINT
By dividing the room into an active zone—which is conducive to social interaction—and a passive zone—which is conducive to relaxation and calm time, Surklground customises student spaces to be more student-friendly and serve as a stimulus for social connections.
SURKLGROUND
