Designing services to improve sexual education in Norway.
University: Umeå Institute of Design. Project: MA thesis.
There is a story behind every action and, by nature I am interested in that particular story. Why do adults avoid talking about sex to their children? Sex is still a topic that is considered as a social taboo. Adolescents are curious about sex. If we don't provide them with information about sex and sexual health, they will figure it out one way or another. I approached this project with an open mind exploring how to educate teenagers about sex and how to enable them to speak about sex with people they trust.
The body and mind grows and changes in the years of adolescence. New thoughts, attitudes and relations develop and changes. It is is a vulnerable period of life. It's is the time adolescents define who they are with influence from their family, surrondings and friends. Most importantly last mentioned. Youth peer pressure is considered to be the greatest influence during the adolescence. It is particularly common because most youth spend large amounts of time in "fixed” groups, regardless of their point of views in those groups. I decided to go out and just ask them what they think about sex, being in love and sexual education.
I talked with adolescents, doctors, children psychologists, teachers, and NGO’s to hear what they thought about sexual education in Norway. The findings got translated into design principles: coherence, fun, and educational.
The researched shaped the output wich is a service that brings together information from trusted sexual health services in Norway. The content is presented as a 'sexicon' and as audio stories where to discuss and reflect together with peers on the morals of the story. There is also a digital/physical game to enable teenagers to talk about sex with their friends and family in a playful and fun way. If you're curious of the design process take a look at the full report.