malin bengtsson

Bachelor's Thesis

Design-oriented bachelor's thesis (2023) exploring how visual communication can be used in order to encourage sexually active young adults to get tested for STD's.

One of the biggest challenges was figuring out how to communicate about a sensitive and somewhat stigmatized topic in an appealing way. I based my design work off of a frame of reference that dived into sexual health and risk-taking, health communication, cultural aspects and behavioural design, and combined this with a preliminary study that sought to gain an understanding of the target group's relation to and experience with getting tested. This led way to a design process, where multiple rounds of brainstorming followed by evaluations of themes and concepts eventually produced two concepts to be user tested. One of the concepts performed better in the user tests, and was chosen to be finished and developed into a campaign consisting of three ads.

Translation of final design copy: Even sexier when you get tested afterwards. Sometimes STDs are spread despite safety precautions. Get tested with every new partner to catch and treat them early on. Order a home test today via klamydia.se, or go to umo.se or 1177.se to read more about how and where to get tested.

See the published paper here.

Campaign ads

The chosen channels for the campaign were outdoor advertising for its widespread exposure; printed media for its relatively high perceived level of trustworthiness; and social media for its possibility of interpersonal communication. For sources, please refer to the paper, section 6.2.3.

First sketches

The conceptual phase of the project focused on coming up with a concept that talked about STDs and getting tested, without invoking a sense of shame or guilt in those who participate in especially casual sex. Below are scamps from two sessions spent brainstorming and exploring this topic.

Design proposals

Below are three versions each of the concepts the conceptual phase resulted in. Designs 1.3 and 2.1 were eventually user tested, with the latter one performing significantly better than the sooner. After this phase, I refined the design slightly as well as added a QR code (an idea that was proposed by one of the users) for the printed ads.

Translation of the copy for designs 1.1-3: Translation: Maja just had sex with a new person. Now she probably has chlamydia. Now she's gonna make an appointment to get tested.

Campaign style guide

This style guide was put together to aid in hypothetical future campaign activities.