For us at MARKED, it's important that the service is developed in collaboration with the target audience. Only by involving the target audience in the development of the service can we ensure that it truly meets the needs of young people. In the fall of 2022, we had the pleasure of organizing a 2-credit Service Design course at Etu-Töölö High School. The course filled up quickly, and 32 students had the opportunity to influence the design of the social-emotional learning application. The course concluded in December with a playful pitching competition, where students presented their own versions of the MARKED application developed during the collaboration. The implementations were excellent!
During the course, students also had the opportunity to reflect on challenges and problems that young people need support and solutions for. They identified various mental health issues, perfectionism, appearance pressure, stress, feelings of inadequacy, fear of failure, peer pressure, as well as issues like social exclusion and concentration difficulties as challenges of today. There are many existing services, but we heard the young people's desire for low-threshold services built on relevant and up-to-date information. The need for teaching mental well-being and the idea of a dedicated well-being subject also emerged in the discussions.
The development collaboration was extremely rewarding and gave us 32 unique and diverse contributions to the future application. Thanks to each student for your dedication. Special thanks also to Jenni Korte, who advanced the collaboration in a great and functional way!
Young people are creative and skilled problem solvers, but it's our task as adults to give them the opportunity to have their voices heard! The MARKED application will be completed in February 2023 and will be introduced to the first institutions and municipalities for use.
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