Meet our Partners

SOOFA RANCH (Stretch Out On Faith Again Ranch) is a horse ranch and equestrian center near Atlanta that helps promote the mental wellness of teenagers.

Holding the firm belief that connection with horses leads to a better connection with people, SOOFA offers programs such as riding lessons, trail rides, and equine-assisted coaching, to help people overcome anxieties, build confidence, and become better communicators.

Meet our Team

HEAR → doc slides

Hope:

Introduce people to the world of equine therapy
Raise people’s awareness of mental health issues
Help people overcome fear through equine therapy
Self-sustain by mixing for-profit activities to support their non-profit sectors

Target audience:

People who are interested in equine therapy
Stakeholders who can invest in the project

Constraints:

Location – not easy to spread their ideas
Website – can be viewed by people all over the world who have access to the Internet, but the current version is heavy on the business side
Difficulty to balance between for-profit and non-profit parts

Discovery:

Strategic storytelling
Apply a superhero figure to each horse
Create appealing stories to draw connections between humans and nature

Expectation:

People who don’t have access to the real ranch could purchase their products to immerse themselves in a virtual adventure and overcome certain mental issues.

Design Challenge

Storytelling:

Ranch Experience and Spread Awareness – the specific services they offer

People only know how a certain thing feels when they actually experience it. For people who are not on a ranch, how to let them feel the equine therapy experience and its importance?

Self-sustaining Business Plan – how the company works generally

SOOFA Ranch uses the proceeds from the for-profit part to support the non-profit activities in order to self-sustain. SOOFA wishes to make people know that they are making contributions to help other people while purchasing goods/services here. How to story tell its connection and raise people’s willingness to get engaged?

Transmedia Forms & Design Frames

Series of Children’s Books – Potential participants:

Each horse is named after a positive mindset that helps bolster mental wellbeing. Creating a series of children’s books that highlights each horse as a “super-horse” conquering mental illness and saving the world can transmediate SOOFA’s goal to potential participants.

Clearly show the correlation between the non-profit and for-profit activities on the ranch. When people spend money on one part of his company (trail rides, ranch-stays, and equine lessons), they are helping fund the non-profit side of SOOFA Ranch, which is designed to give an opportunity for inner-city youth to experience a special relationship with the outdoors and horses.

Synthesis:

Based on our observations of SOOFA’s outreach process through their website and the comic book assignment in class, we were inspired in creating comic books for our partners.

Brainstorming:

During our brainstorming process, Daryl had excellent ideas and a large amount of imagination. For instance, Daryl wanted a comic book that would illustrate superhero capabilities while also wanting app development.

Prototyping:

We primarily focused on prototyping because we wanted to provide real and tangible solutions that would help SOOFA’s need in spreading awareness.

Feedback:

With Georgia’s practical mindset, Georgia inspires more realistic solutions as she listed out certain constraints by doing certain prototypes.

CREATE → doc slides

Prototypes

1. Survey: Matches Users with Horses

a. Evaluation Survey

Capture information from people who are interested in equine therapy
Prove the effectiveness of equine therapy since users would answer similar questions throughout the process of the equine therapy session

b. Match

Encourage young people to engage with SOOFA

c. Comic

3 Horses as a baseline:

Peace – Awkwardness

Hope – Stress

Grace – Sadness

Call to action from taking the survey

2. Website Redesign

a. Competitors

Analyze websites of well-known non-profit organizations and Chastain Horse Park

Compare the features and styles

b. User Flow = Layout of SOOFA’s current website

Straightforward navigation bar with sections that hold clear information

Organization and Appearance

c. Minor Details

Photos – provide storytelling and make the ranch experience more appealing

Specific branding plan to make the website look cohesive

Impact of Prototypes

CAT Frame

Conceptually

Create a storyline centered around equine heroism that empowers youth to achieve mental wellbeing

Aesthetically

Portray the same amazement and experience that visitors encounter when they first step foot onto the ranch
Show the correlation between the non-profit and for-profit activities on the ranch
Encourage donation through a clear representation of the branded house
Give an opportunity for inner-city youth to experience the special relationship with the outdoors and horses.

Technically

Create a survey that allows users to match with a horse that best suits their needs
Research the user flow to find a way to present this survey

Thought-Action Figures/Storytelling

Horses → SOOFA all about equine therapy
Daryl → Strong representation, passionate

Ultimately, convey how horses and nature can assist with mental wellbeing.

Website → structure, photos, resources
Social Media → posted videos on Instagram, TikTok

Media Cascade

Stakeholders: Consumers + Recipients of service + Potential donors

1: SOOFA helps consumers and recipients of service through its for-profit product and non-profit service.

2: The stories of consumers and recipients of service would be shared and spread across social media accounts of those stakeholders and SOOFA, therefore attracting potential donors.