Asa Jackson, One of the Students Featured in the CFAC Arts & Comms: Behind the Stories Video Series, Helped Create Three Designs that Increase Health and Safety for Women and Children
For five years, BYU nursing students have traveled to India to work on public health projects and conduct public health assessments. They found that there are no bathroom facilities in these communities and that women and children must go into a field or jungle to use the restroom. This is a major health and safety risk. That is where BYU UX design students got involved.
Recent UX design graduate Asa Jackson had the opportunity to see how his designs have a positive impact on real people. Featured in the College of Fine Arts and Communications 2024 Arts & Comms: Behind the Stories video series, he and a team of fellow design students made three prototypes to improve the health and safety of women and children in Haridwar, India.
The students created three designs: a pop up screen to shield the women while they use the restroom, a water bottle with a special spout to clean themselves with and an item of clothing they can wear that also acts as a shield and has a pocket to hide their water bottle.
“On our research trip, we noticed that a lot of women carry water bottles because they need something to wash with,” said Jackson. “Often women were ashamed or were made targets so they tried to hide these water bottles. It gave us the idea to modify the water bottles in a way that would allow them to hide them more easily or would use less water.”
After designing the prototypes, the students traveled back to India to get feedback from the women there. They took the feedback home and made modifications to improve their designs. Their goal is to give the designs back to the women in India so they can produce their own products.
The students and faculty who worked on this project hope that they can continue helping other communities around the world. Jackson is currently getting his Master of Arts in social design at the Design School Kolding in Denmark. He believes that learning how to love fellow children of God is vital in helping each other while on Earth.