StudentLoop
Student Resource Support System
Designing a circular system to support students facing transitional and material insecurity during college move-ins and move-outs
Research Focus
This research investigates the gaps in material access, financial aid, and community support experienced by students, particularly international and low-income students, during the transition into and out of university life. It explores how redistribution, micro-aid, and systemic empathy can bridge those gaps.
Key Research Questions
What are the most urgent needs of new students during move-in, and what barriers prevent access to those essentials?
What happens to usable items left behind by graduating students, and why are these resources not reaching those in need?
How can student-led systems redistribute essential items while maintaining dignity, agency, and circularity?
What logistical, emotional, and cultural frictions exist in donation and reuse systems?
How might we design financial micro-aid that is rapid, flexible, and trust-based?
Methodology
The research combines:
System modeling to visualize flows of goods, needs, and micro-aid
Surveys and interviews with incoming and graduating students at IIT
Move-out observation studies to track item waste and abandonment
Pilot planning in collaboration with campus departments and potential community partners
Design prototyping of a platform with donation onboarding, item categorization, and aid request flows
Key Insights
1
Students are overwhelmed at entry
with limited budgets and no knowledge of low-cost or reused resources.
2
Graduating students discard high-value items, unaware of donation channels or lacking convenience to do so.
4
Students facing emergencies need micro-aid that doesn’t require burdensome verification or wait periods.
3
Donations often lack structure, leading to informal, inaccessible, or ineffective redistribution.
5
A trusted, student-facing platform that blends reuse and small financial relief can close critical equity gaps.
Strategic Implications
Launch a resource hub and redistribution platform (StudentLoop) that coordinates pickups, sorting, and affordable resale.
Partner with university housing and student affairs for move-out logistics, collection bins, and pop-up markets.
Frame the system as student-run and community-oriented, shifting the narrative from “need” to “loop” resource circularity, empowerment, and care.
Create a micro-aid fund using resale profits to offer small, rapid emergency aid to students.
Process
1
3
4
2
Birdflu
Public health
Govt
Farmers
Flu Clue
Workplace
Productivity
Short-media
D. Fragmentation
Contact me
2025 Funmilayo Makinde
StudentLoop
Student Resource Support System
Designing a circular system to support students facing transitional and material insecurity during college move-ins and move-outs
Research Focus
This research investigates the gaps in material access, financial aid, and community support experienced by students, particularly international and low-income students, during the transition into and out of university life. It explores how redistribution, micro-aid, and systemic empathy can bridge those gaps.
Key Research Questions
What are the most urgent needs of new students during move-in, and what barriers prevent access to those essentials?
What happens to usable items left behind by graduating students, and why are these resources not reaching those in need?
How can student-led systems redistribute essential items while maintaining dignity, agency, and circularity?
What logistical, emotional, and cultural frictions exist in donation and reuse systems?
How might we design financial micro-aid that is rapid, flexible, and trust-based?
Methodology
The research combines:
System modeling to visualize flows of goods, needs, and micro-aid
Surveys and interviews with incoming and graduating students at IIT
Move-out observation studies to track item waste and abandonment
Pilot planning in collaboration with campus departments and potential community partners
Design prototyping of a platform with donation onboarding, item categorization, and aid request flows
Key Insights
1
Students are overwhelmed at entry
with limited budgets and no knowledge of low-cost or reused resources.
2
Graduating students discard high-value items, unaware of donation channels or lacking convenience to do so.
4
Students facing emergencies need micro-aid that doesn’t require burdensome verification or wait periods.
3
Donations often lack structure, leading to informal, inaccessible, or ineffective redistribution.
5
A trusted, student-facing platform that blends reuse and small financial relief can close critical equity gaps.
Strategic Implications
Launch a resource hub and redistribution platform (StudentLoop) that coordinates pickups, sorting, and affordable resale.
Partner with university housing and student affairs for move-out logistics, collection bins, and pop-up markets.
Frame the system as student-run and community-oriented, shifting the narrative from “need” to “loop” resource circularity, empowerment, and care.
Create a micro-aid fund using resale profits to offer small, rapid emergency aid to students.
Process
1
3
4
2
Birdflu
Public health
Govt
Farmers
Flu Clue
Workplace
Productivity
Short-media
D. Fragmentation
Contact me
2025 Funmilayo Makinde
StudentLoop
Student Resource Support System
Designing a circular system to support students facing transitional and material insecurity during college move-ins and move-outs
Research Focus
This research investigates the gaps in material access, financial aid, and community support experienced by students, particularly international and low-income students, during the transition into and out of university life. It explores how redistribution, micro-aid, and systemic empathy can bridge those gaps.
Key Research Questions
What are the most urgent needs of new students during move-in, and what barriers prevent access to those essentials?
What happens to usable items left behind by graduating students, and why are these resources not reaching those in need?
How can student-led systems redistribute essential items while maintaining dignity, agency, and circularity?
What logistical, emotional, and cultural frictions exist in donation and reuse systems?
How might we design financial micro-aid that is rapid, flexible, and trust-based?
Methodology
The research combines:
System modeling to visualize flows of goods, needs, and micro-aid
Surveys and interviews with incoming and graduating students at IIT
Move-out observation studies to track item waste and abandonment
Pilot planning in collaboration with campus departments and potential community partners
Design prototyping of a platform with donation onboarding, item categorization, and aid request flows
Key Insights
1
Students are overwhelmed at entry
with limited budgets and no knowledge of low-cost or reused resources.
2
Graduating students discard high-value items, unaware of donation channels or lacking convenience to do so.
4
Students facing emergencies need micro-aid that doesn’t require burdensome verification or wait periods.
3
Donations often lack structure, leading to informal, inaccessible, or ineffective redistribution.
5
A trusted, student-facing platform that blends reuse and small financial relief can close critical equity gaps.
Strategic Implications
Launch a resource hub and redistribution platform (StudentLoop) that coordinates pickups, sorting, and affordable resale.
Partner with university housing and student affairs for move-out logistics, collection bins, and pop-up markets.
Frame the system as student-run and community-oriented, shifting the narrative from “need” to “loop” resource circularity, empowerment, and care.
Create a micro-aid fund using resale profits to offer small, rapid emergency aid to students.
Process
1
3
4
2
Birdflu
Public health
Govt
Farmers
Flu Clue
Workplace
Productivity
Short-media
D. Fragmentation
Contact me
2025 Funmilayo Makinde