Christian Enriquez

FoodPodge is mobile phone app that gamifies the process of getting free and discounted food while increasing awareness of food insecurity, using endearing characters to combat issues.

Food insecurity for students on college campuses often goes under the radar due to either lack of knowledge, or stigma around the topic. This causes students to not be able to get the help that they so desperately need. So how might we get students engaged in raising awareness about food insecurity, while still helping themselves and others through free and discounted food networks?

-People do not know what food insecurity means, usually not recognizing that they might be food insecure themselves. -There is a shame stigma revolving around being food insecure that causes people to value privacy over getting the food they need. -It takes just one bad month for someone to fall behind and not be able to manage for themselves.

FoodPodge app will gamify the process of getting free and discounted food while increasing awareness of food insecurity, using endearing characters to combat issues. People with more income are encouraged to shop at places/businesses that fight food insecurity to continue to help students. FoodPodge also provides cooking lessons and ingredient deliveries to address time sensitivity, making the process of getting food fun, engaging, and sustainable.

Helped to create a way to transition random players to real life friends in Call of Duty using their companion app. The process involved finding a way to have players communicate better, incentivize good behavior, and have friction-less befriending.

Making friends can be difficult. But making friends online can be even more challenging due to toxicity and a lack of tools for finding the right “rando”. So how might we help this transition from “rando” to real-life friends? And how might we better inform players about the abilities and playing styles of others so that they can have a more rewarding experience?

-Players tend to mesh well together when they have complementary skills which lead to mutual respect and provides a foundation for further connection. -Players are open to befriending 'randos', but due to there not being a filtering system, they feel it’s too hard to find a good match due to knowing more about each other’s playstyles. -Becoming friends with other players should be frictionless and as easy as possible.

To help with solving this problem we needed to implement 3 new features which were all well received by usability testers. The first is a comment system using special dog tags that would allow players to rate others after every match. Allowing players in the match to view your most utilized role in the game. These commend dog tags would also double as a rating system, incentivizing good behavior through rewards with increased commend numbers. The second was a friction-less add friend button that allowed players to not have to do the work of searching for those players. And lastly was a filtering system that allowed players to change their team preferences. Giving the opportunity for players to match with others that could complement their play styles and personalities.

A simulated virtual walkthrough experience that helps increase first-generation students’ confidence levels. Making sure that they are assisted properly in order to align their educational goals, with their career goals.

First-generation students at community colleges encounter issues with having proper assistance in making informed educational decisions for their future career goals. There were hurdles to overcome in a time when all education is done online. But due to some of these constraints, we were able to attempt to find a better solution that would become helpful, both in person and virtually. So how might we help first-generation students align their educational goals with their career goals?

-Sense of belonging is difficult for first-year students -Counselors don’t get enough time with their students -Stuff being available, does not mean it is accessible -Intrusive counseling approach can help with student confidence

We simulated a virtual walkthrough experience with google street view as well as zoom for students that have never physically been to Santa Monica College. This virtual walkthrough experience was able to provide students with highly needed information about services housed within the school campus, while also introducing them to other students that would also be attending school at the same time. We made sure to provide an initial touchpoint introducing the Beyond 12 mentor and agenda, as well as a follow-up email detailing more information about the topics discussed as well as future events. In the end, we were able to increase average student confidence levels from 2.3 out of 5 to 4.6 out of 5.

A one-of-a-kind route long experience that brings attention to new or smaller sponsor booths. The hunt encourages CicLAvians to visit the previously announced booths in order to complete an event-specific collectible puzzle.

During CicLAvia events, to progress along the route attendees must ride through various hubs containing different sponsor booths. While some sponsors are easily recognizable and well-known companies, others are small or new groups unknown to the public outside of their local areas. Thus, these smaller booths do not receive the same amount of visitors.

In order to bring more attention to their spaces, some sponsors both small and large involve visitors through various activities. While this can be a great way for CicLAvians to participate in more ways than just racing through the event, activities end once people leave the booths. Another way sponsors choose to draw people in is through free merchandise and swag, which is something many participants look forward to most when attending CicLAvia.

The puzzle hunt creates a unique route-long experience that isn’t limited to a single booth or hub. It can be strategically used to bring more CicLAvians to lesser known booths and gives sponsors an opportunity to easily engage in discussions about who they are and what they do. For those who look forward to going home with memorabilia, they can take home a one-of-a-kind event specific collectable and display it in its own dedicated frame.