Opanayiko
Community Centre
We wake up in the morning - working and exerting ourselves to please others. Every day, every hour is a hustle, to reach a social status that is just mere words on a piece of paper. Just like this, most of our lives go by without us realizing who we really are.
The Opanayiko Community Center is a serene place inspired from the principles of Buddhism. It offers an environment of peace and natural harmony to help those who are always-on-the-run.
Opanayiko, a Pali term, means 'to be brought inside oneself'. In Buddhism, it is one of the principles of Dhamma and helps reach Nirvana.
My Role: Research & UI Designer
A Systems Thinking Project
We initially started out with a broad session of brainstorming and research about the different kinds of existing religions, but were ultimately drawn to Buddhism. Recognising the working of various systems helped us appreciate the differences and similarities within them.
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Being a team of 6, we together conceptualised the center to have suitable Branding, curated Programs, attractive Marketing and even a well-thought Center Plan.​
Tools Used
Collect & Cluster
Card Sorting Activity
This tool was used to figure out the purpose of our project by making a word map for the same. We began by segregating the words that fell into similar categories that represented the actions and feelings. We were able to decide on which elements were to be included in our community centre.
Causal map
Connector Map
This tool helped us find out key parts of a Community Centre and how they closely affected each other. Each part, no matter how small, had a much larger effect on another correlating part of the system. We were able to identify what needed to be worked on and changed to improve efficiency.
User Survey
Online Form
The survey was conducted to understand the necessities in a community center as it will be public location for people to conduct activities, festivities, support group meetings, etc. We were able to capture 24 responses.
A Planned Center, Curated Features, and
The Opanayiko App
The App has been developed for making the community registration process efficient. It also helps in providing knowledge about the amenities, time tables of prayer meetings or meditation sessions; features to book a hall or simply browse through the picturesque property. The colors are warm toned, the look is simple and light - overall, it has been designed to provide the mood of the center.
