My views on Homelessness changed when I created a website and got educated
Maybe it was because I have a brother missing who was homeless in Israel. Maybe I knew I needed to open my eyes and help others. Whatever it was, I left that class changed and searching for answers.
It all started with a Website assignment
For a class, we had to find a non-profit to help with a website. I chose the organization “Shelter the homeless.” I did not know then that I would spend the next two years researching and educating people on this topic. I felt a pull to do something about this problem.
Let the research begin
Understanding the main causes and actual solutions to homelessness were fascinating to me. After much research, I was creating papers, iBooks, and powerpoints to share the information I was receiving. I felt I needed to educate others because there is a lot of misunderstanding out there.
Here is a slide show I made to help educate on the truth of homelessness.
I loved this video clip below, explaining the virtues of providing free housing for the homeless as a solution, but it is believed that the homeless from other states started flocking to Utah and it caused many problems.
Moral of this story, don’t advertise free housing on national news.
Using my UX skills to start the Website
- Research homelessness and research the user needs.
- Research and survey what people really thought about the homeless.
- Dig deep to really understand the problem.
- Create content that is compelling and honest.
- Create content to pull people in.
- Make it easy to navigate.
- Create parallax effects to draw attention.
- Find images that can touch the soul.
I created a mood board trying to give a welcoming feel of a safe place. I wanted to play with a complimentary color to draw attention where needed.
Then I started the wireframe process.
Below is the home page of my website. The hero image had a parallax effect. This was to help welcome the user to the website.
Organizations like this rely on donations. Coming up with ways to encourage help is what I was striving for. This girl looks just like my niece. It got me.
I simplified the information and tried to make it easy to interact with.
I would like to add some real success stories told by those who were once in this position. Maybe for phase two.
Class ended, I kept going
After the website was built and the class ended, I went further. I chose it as a research topic for an English class. I used it as a topic in my speech class. I found articles that were saying that VR can help people have empathy toward those who are homeless. That started my next passion. VR as a means for healing.
Started my deep dive into VR as a means of healing our world
More research led me to the capabilities of VR. I started creating research papers and argumentative essays. That led to an immersive iBook, and hype projects that I can use as a platform for VR and it's healing potential.
VR to help us feel Empathy
It is fascinating. Stanford did a study on the long-lasting empathy caused by being virtually homeless. Walking in someone else's shoes might be our solution. Many studies are showing that when we can be immersed in other people's lives with platforms like VR, we start to really understand.
I guess this is what they mean by lifelong learning?
Now I am working on articles and other projects that are showing the healing potential of VR. What started as an assignment during my first semester of school has turned into a desire to help solve some of our world's biggest problems. I feel fortunate that I have learned many skills that are allowing me to have a voice and to educate others on these topics.
Check out my other medium articles on VR as a tool to heal our world.
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Derek Balkman is a student in the Web Design and Development program at Utah Valley University, Orem Utah, studying Interaction & Design. The following article relates to (Interaction Design) in the (DGM 1230 course) and representative of the skills learned.
