What I learned this week (19/02/2026)

This week in class, there was quite a lot of development and ideation put towards this pretty hefty project. Although myself and the group have yet to decide on what service idea we would fall under, this was still a really helpful class.

We began to fully understand the struggles and barriers, people leaving prison will, or already have encountered on their journey, returning to normal life. We also took the time to look at the effects of the essential services within the prison communities, what their operations do that effect the user, and categorise them to further understand common issues within those operations.

Avoid jumping to digital solutions

Structural changes rather than pure communication

Don’t avoid systemic constraints

Don’t design for ideal, rather than digitally excluded users.

Task- Write down three reasons why major life transitions fail

• 1 Financial Costs/ Issues
• 2 Trying to become more/ heavily self-reliable suddenly
• 3 People expect something from you that you may not or will not have, especially if you’re new.

One transition that destabilised myself

• Leaving Secondary School. It felt sudden, I had no idea what I wanted to do in my next step of life. I also found it difficult to find and get my first ever job.

In twos or threes, identify:

• Emotional spike moments: Thinking a job interview went smoothly, to find out you weren’t good enough.
• Admin friction: Swapping university courses put a big restriction on me at home learning and access to important applications.