94 homeless people died in Toronto in 2017according to Toronto Public Health (TPH)

Shelter AwareSeul Lee, Victor Cheng, Elisabeth Zhang, Peter Lewicki

Topic

Uncertainty

Anxiety

Yes, No, Maybe …

Target Audience

Homeless People

Secondary Research

5,219 people are homeless in Toronto (Homeless Hub)

43 shelters are registered on the City of Toronto (City of Toronto) and most of them are not opened in the winter season.

Daily and overnight service usage in winter 2017 (CityNews)

Shelter Sector Occupancy Rate

Men 96%

Women 99%

Youth 99%

Family (Shelters) 100%

Primary Research

Empathy Mapping

User Interview

6 Street Interviews- 3 Female- 3 Male

Card sorting / Affinity Mapping / Insights

Key Insights

1. Lack of experience and familiarity on the streets helps you to seek emergency shelters

2. Network and word of mouth quickly spreads knowledge to assist other homeless people

3. Distrust and safety is a barrier for homeless people seeking emergency shelters

4. Information may not easily cross language barriers due to lack of engagement

5. The homeless physically travel to seek shelter with no guarantee of availability due to lack of resources and information

How Might We …

Assist homeless people with lack of resources to find immediate shelters in Toronto?

Ideation

Sketches

Projection on Buildings

Bus Stop signs

Bus MapBefore After

How awareness campaign can help

Outraged social media users quickly chimed in, with many demanding that the city open every available respite centre. By Sunday, the hashtag “OpenTheArmouries” was trending amid mounting concern for the city’s homeless population, which numbers in the thousands.

thestar.com

Further Directions

Thank you for listening!Any Questions?