I am aware that there is increasing emphasis being placed on designers pro actively designing services as opposed to simply creating artifacts. Looking past “selling” and moving toward enabling solutions that are for the greater good, this paper makes use of ethnographic contexts of communities involved to guide design.

My thesis project designs a service plan and a program with artifacts. It is aimed at helping rural West Virginia Clinics intervene with unhealthy patients to help them prepare for a pro-active lifestyle.

This program, named BeneFIT, was designed with user-centered methods and incorporates the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) developed by James Prochaska, John Norcoss, and Carlo DiClemente. It is a six stage program for making personal change. At this time, BeneFIT is currently in its testing and evaluation stage. I will discuss how we combined TTM and design practices (story telling, observation, etc) to design artifacts tailored for our audience at each stage of change. This process can demonstrate how design can value the overall well-being of society.