ROLE
UX Researcher
COLLABORATORS
Tram Bui
Goldie Chu
Deepika Vuppala
Mandy Wu
SKILLS
UX Research
Card Sorting
Field Studies
Storytelling
THE OUTCOME
This project laid the groundwork for UCSD's Center4Health's groundbreaking study on diabetes and health within San Diego County. Our research yielded compelling insights into how individuals prioritize their health.
As a result, we successfully developed a health survey, adaptable to diverse communities for UCSD's Medical School, which would serve as a catalyst for generating tailored and effective health solutions.
THE INTRODUCTION
What is Earth 2.0: Defining Health?
This project focused on the formative design and media research on how everyday people living in San Diego define health, how their daily lives benefit or harm their health, what influences health choices, and what ideas people have to bring health into daily living.
The stakeholders involved were from UCSD's Design Lab & UCSD's School of Medicine.
How might we lower the everyday barriers to living healthy lives and, conversely, promote attractors that facilitate health?
UX RESEARCH
All about Barrio Logan, CA
In order to understand the Barrio Logan community's perception of health, I led the team in conducting research and familiarized ourselves with its history and community via online and secondary research for our initial round of research.
Barrio Logan is an important cultural and historical hub to San Diego. Residents value preserving their rich cultural traditions & fighting for their socioeconomic and environmental rights.
Walkabouts
After conducting the walkabout, each team member created individual mood boards by organizing our photographs into five thematic categories that reflected our shared observations: industrialization, disparities, community, cultural pride, and art as expression.
Through these mood boards, we developed visual contrasts between gentrified areas and Chicano Park, documenting the stark differences and examining community responses to ongoing urban transformation.
USER INTERVIEWS
Methodology
We conducted 11 interviews by approaching residents in Barrio Logan with a set of questions I had written, recording their insights about daily life in the neighborhood.
The biggest takeaways helped us learn that health is not a uniform concept—physical, emotional, and sociopolitical factors all influence individual definitions.
Health is multi-factored—some factors like politics and air pollution are beyond our control
Heavy industrialization and freeways in Barrio Logan created air pollution that threatens respiratory health and generates political tensions leading to long-time resident displacement.
Literacy and access to resources influence people's ability to advocate for their health
"This is an information desert. And so a bookstore like this is a water well where people can come and … get that water in order to nourish themselves"
- R
Intergenerational traditions shape daily health habits and values
Residents' parents emphasized home cooking over eating out or using premade meals—a tradition they passed to their children.
During the pandemic, people became overly invested in work, blurring work-life boundaries
Pandemic conditions made it difficult to separate work and personal life. People had constant access to work, leading to burnout and anxiety.
Mobile devices create anxiety through their constant presence, making it difficult to disconnect
“I tried to stay away from my phone a lot … not ‘tryna stay away from social media, but … it’s kind of hard because you can make money off your social media, [like] Instagram.”
- J
People find health through purpose—in Barrio Logan, this means serving their community
Residents explained that Barrio Logan lacks resources like youth programs and housing compared to other communities. Contributing and helping others provides them with purpose and motivation.
After our interviews, I led the team in consolidating our insights, identifying bright spots within the community such as the community-focused bookstore, cultural awareness initiatives, Barrio Station (community center), and the local health clinic.
However, significant barriers remain. We observed increasing sedentary lifestyles due to technology growth and limited youth support despite Barrio Station's presence, particularly impacting homeless students.
The community lacks space for fresh produce and political influence, resulting in insufficient access to housing, services, jobs, education, and clean air. Rapid gentrification and industrial growth increase rent and displacement risk, while environmental racism persists through the I-5 Freeway and Coronado Bridge, which split the community and harm respiratory health. Development continues without meaningful resident input.
FINAL SOLUTION
The final deliverable for UCSD's School of Medicine
Our final deliverable had two parts: health surveys for use in other communities and identified opportunities for continued work in Barrio Logan. Key opportunities include supporting the ongoing Community Plan Update fight (last overturned in 2013) by partnering with the Environmental Health Coalition.
For UCSD engagement, we suggested supporting the Barrio Logan College Institute, partnering with the post-pandemic recovery efforts at the Chicano Clinic, and collaborating with the Chicano Federation on crucial childcare programs. Creating a consolidated space for community conversations would also benefit Barrio Logan's future.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
My foray into UX Research
This project laid the groundwork for UCSD's Center4Health study on diabetes and health in the San Diego area. Our research provided insights into how individuals prioritize their health, leading to the development of an adaptable survey that can generate tailored health solutions for diverse communities.