Paper Bag Mask Foundation User Research Project

Danielle Annecston, Cathleen Cusachs, Danilo Martinez, Xiner Zhang, Yanling Zhao

EM 757: User-Producers 2.0: Developing Interactivity

Dr. Lei Guo

Oct 21, 2021

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Project Statement

The goal of Paper Bag Mask Foundation’s new website is to excite the user to try a variety

of activities that could help them in their mental wellness journey while also providing them with

the necessary mental wellness tools. In addition, the website will focus on providing relevant

information to those interested in volunteering at events. To create a new website that will attract

young adult users, user research was conducted by gathering insights from five ethnographic

interviews within the website’s target demographic age. Through these findings, two personas are

formed. The key takeaways from the interview and persona creation lead to refining the website in

order to become more coherent, dynamic, and easier to read.

Persona Hypothesis

Based on previous research, several user variables have been identified in understanding

the Paper Bag Mask Foundation’s primary target market. It is expected that if the user is on the

Paper Bag Mask Foundation website, the user wants to learn about the organization. The user

could also be seeking mental health resources, possibly for the first time. Focusing in on

hypothesized demographics of these users, Paper Bag Mask Foundation focuses on Boston-based

students or recent graduates of all genders that are between the ages of 14 to 25 and may live on a

tight financial budget. People in this key demographic are often subjected to transitional periods in

life and sometimes need mental health support. Due to this age range, it is hypothesized that users

will be very familiar with technology and have high quality standards for websites. It is expected

that they have grown up in an environment that required quick, constant technological connection.

Side effects of living in this involved technological society lead to hypothesized behavior

variables. Users in the target demographic are expected to have low attention span, which means

they skim content for they quickly want information. They will possibly not know much about
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mental health, or be less open about mental health since life transitions are a new experience in this

age group. Also, looking at Paper Bag Mask Foundation’s website could be the first time users

have looked into mental health resources. Moreover, students or recent graduates often live hectic

lives with busy schedules. This means that there needs to be motivation to continue interacting

with the website since the user already has limited time for searching the website.

User Research Method

To better understand the behaviors and rituals of users interacting with the Paper Bag Mask

Foundation website, ethnographic interviews were conducted. The research team selected five

people from close connections to interview. The principals to choose interviewees lie in: 1. Ages

are within the 14 to 25 range, for this age group is usually going through transitional periods in life;

2. Covering the gender spectrum for male, female, and nonbinary; 3. Living in the Boston area or

surrounding districts.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, all five interviews were conducted remotely with

online meeting software - Zoom. All interviews were conducted from Oct 15, 2021 to Oct 19,

2021. Two group members were assigned to each interview, each taking on the role of either

leading the interview or taking notes of answers and observations. Each interview lasted at least for

40 minutes. At the beginning of each interview, the interviewer read a consent form and got

permission to record. After that, the interviewees took the first 6 to 10 minutes to explore the

website of Paper Bag Mask Foundation because it already has its own official website. The

interviewees browsing the website may lead to valuable improvement suggestions. During the web

exploring process, the assigned interviewers kept silent and observed interviewee’s browsing

behaviors and habits.

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After the website exploration, the team member in charge of leading the interview stepped

in to ask the prepared questions. Most of the interview questions ask about interviewees’ opinions

toward contents, color palette, themes, imagery, clarity, and navigation feeling of the website. The

team member also asked for refinement suggestions. (For specific questions, see Appendix A).

After finishing each of the interviews, the research team transcribed the interviews and analyzed

the data for creating the personas to influence the website design plan.

User Personas

The interview analysis determined three important user variables to focus on: reading

types, previous knowledge level, and age. Based on these three user variables, two personas (see

Appendix B) are developed to represent the target audience.

The first persona is Jaclyn Cassidy, an 18 year old freshman at a university in the Boston

area. She’s studying engineering and adjusting to early college life. Jaclyn’s new to Paper Bag

Mask Foundation, finding it in her search for a community to connect with. As a transitioning

adult, she knows very little about mental health. Ultimately, her goal is to become an adaptable,

healthy, and successful adult. Jaclyn lives a busy lifestyle, which leads to a shorter attention span

and higher likelihood of multitasking behaviors. She is often frustrated by websites with long

pages of text that make skim-reading difficult. Jaclyn “didn’t realize how much of a problem

mental health is” before coming to the Paper Bag Mask Foundation.

The second persona is Isaac Bissa. Issac is a 25 year old English middle school teacher that

lives in Jamaica Plain. His undergraduate degree is in psychology, and he wants to be a resource in

his community. Isaac wants to volunteer for an organization that is reputable, inclusive, and

welcoming. As a creative person, Isaac tends to be more visual when interpreting information. He

often gets frustrated when websites include too many statistics. Isaac would love to get involved
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with the Paper Bag Mask Foundation, but he does not know how. He has little free time to sift

through information and wishes it was organized more concisely. Ultimately, Isaac wants to be

helpful in life by establishing emotional and meaningful connections. Isaac feels the current

website is “emphasizing how big the mental health problem is when your overall goal is to help

solve the problem”.

Web Project Statement

This project aims to optimize parts of the website for Paper Bag Mask Foundation to attract

more teens and young adults to understand how important mental health issues are and help them

build confidence. The research team will collect the interviewee’s opinions. And based on the

Paper Bag Mask Foundation’s website origins design to optimize key pages, color, information,

and other features. The aim is to accomplish this project before the end of the semester.

The vision is for Boston area teens and young adults who have issues with mental health to

find help in the Paper Bag Mask Foundation. The interviews made it clear that the current website

lacks the clarity and conciseness the target audience seeks. The new design of the Paper Bag Mask

Foundation website will be more coherent, interactive, and tailored to users’ goals. There will be

inclusive language and a better organized hierarchy of information.

Paper Bag Mask Foundation’s main competitors are other companies offering fitness and

creative classes, such as yoga studios and private gyms. Therefore, the website design should better

emphasize what makes their offerings unique.

Persona-Based Context Scenarios

To visualize some ideal user experiences, context scenarios were created based on the

established personas. The first scenario is for Jaclyn Cassidy, a college freshman. She is struggling

to take care of herself, balance school, and connect with people. Jaclyn does not know much about
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mental health, but decides to check out the Paper Bag Mask Foundation’s website. Immediately,

she sees it offers events based on a three-pillar approach of movement, creativity, and meditation.

Jaclyn finds meditation intimidating, but she has been wanting to exercise more. Before she can

read further, she gets distracted by an email. When Jaclyn comes back to the website, she does not

remember where she left off. She clicks a tab labeled events. The page repeats the pillar approach

and shows all classes offered. Jaclyn now remembers she was interested in the movement pillar. As

she browses her options, she sees imagery showing members enjoying events and realizes this

might be the supportive community she needs. Jaclyn makes an account and registers for her first

event. A few weeks later, she goes back to the website to provide feedback on the attended event,

which is easy to find under her account history. Jaclyn feels better after participating and wants to

learn how else she can prioritize her mental wellbeing. She goes to the website’s resources tab to

start her research. She thinks she might try a meditation class next.

The second context scenario is of Isaac Bissat, a teacher who wants to help teens and young

adults outside of school. He searches online for local non-profit organizations during his lunch

break. Isaac finds Paper Bag Mask Foundation’s website and quickly understands its mission from

concise messaging on the homepage. Imagery also makes it clear the organization works with

people from diverse backgrounds, a necessity for Isaac. As he studied psychology in college, he

immediately feels empowered to get involved and heads right to the tab labeled for volunteers. He

does not have much time left in his break, but thankfully, everything he needs is at the top of the

page. Isaac knows how he can get involved now. Before going back to work, he decides to create

an account to join the online community. After school ends, Isaac navigates to the website again,

which now says “Welcome back, Isaac.” This makes him feel welcomed and valued, and he
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decides to apply to be a volunteer. The online application is straight-forward and inclusive,

furthering Isaac’s confidence in the organization. He is excited to start volunteering.

Design Requirements

The design requirements for the Jaclyn Cassidy persona (see Appendix B) focuses on

making them feel a sense of belonging and part of an overarching community. The function and

content requirements highlight how certain tabs succeed at being effective and inclusive.

● Under the “events'' tab there will be a diverse series of high-quality pictures of people
participating and having fun at the events, showcasing a more inclusive environment that
captures the communal aspect. More notably than before, this tab will help the user
understand who is going to the events.
● The “share your story” button in the events page will now redirect to a new page where
participants can fill out their answers to event feedback questions. The answers to these
questions will later help form other website content such as the testimonials in the
“volunteer tab.”
● Website now includes the ability to create an account and classify Jaclyn as a participant.
She has the option to join the email list and get notified on specific notifications. This
profile also lets her see past history of participating events.

Moving on to Isaac Bissat (see Appendix B) who is more likely to be a volunteer, his

experience must be tailored differently to match his objectives.

● Under the “volunteer tab” there is a diverse group of pictures of hosts in past events, Issac
can scroll further to find positive testimonial quotes from participants saying what they
learned from attending the events. These participant quotes and visuals can provide him
with the credibility he seeks to volunteer.
● He also has the ability to create an account and classify himself as a volunteer. He can sign
up for the host email list to receive exclusive content.
● Here he can view volunteer application status and acquire relevant information such as his
history of hosting past events if applicable.

These design requirements can help motivate and engage the Isaac persona further by satisfying his

visual objectives and making him feel valued.

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References

Paper bag mask foundation. Paper Bag Mask Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2021,

from https://www.paperbagmaskfoundation.org/.

Appendix A

Interview Questions

1. When you clicked on the website, what immediately caught your attention?

2. What do you think the website is persuading you to do?

3. From a scale of 1 - 10 (one being worst and ten being the best) how easy was it to find

information?

4. From a scale of 1-10 (one being worst and ten being the best), how would you rate the look of

the website design? Why?

5. How would you describe this website in three words?

6. How do you feel about the colors of the website? Does the color palette succeed at exciting you?

7. What images best relate to the purpose of the website? What type of imagery is not as effective

or relevant?

8. What are some elements / features that you like from the website? If you don’t like any, what are

some website elements / features that need further changes? Please describe in detail.

9. Are there parts of the website that should remain the same / unchanged?
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10. From a scale of 1-10 (one being worst and ten being the best), how would you rate your overall

experience navigating the website?

11. From a scale of 1- 10 (one being worst and ten being the best), how would you rate the clarity

of the written content?

12. From a scale of 1 - 10 (one being worst and ten being the best), how likely are you to

recommend this website to your friends or family?

13. Imagine you are interested in either volunteering at or participating in the events. What content

from the website best influences your decision to do so? If none, what type of content would you

like to see included?

14. Before we let you go, is there anything we did not discuss that you would like to talk about?

Appendix B
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Personas
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