Turned field research into a support system for youth mentors under emotional strain

I chose this project out of concern for the future of youth movements in Israel. I see them as a meaningful social force, especially in times of crisis, when young people need spaces for belonging, identity, and support more than ever. As the war continued, I became increasingly worried about the people holding these spaces together: youth mentors who were expected to create meaning and stability while struggling with burnout, frustration, and a growing loss of purpose.

In my twenties, I worked as a youth mentor and coordinator at IGY, the Israeli LGBTQ youth organization. That experience stayed with me. Years later, as a UX designer, I returned to this world through my graduation project, wanting to understand what had changed for youth mentors on the ground and how design could help support them in a more meaningful way.

Youth movements play an important social role, especially during periods of instability. But the people holding these spaces together are often asked to provide emotional structure, consistency, and meaning while receiving very little support themselves. What concerned me most was not only the pressure on young people, but what would happen if the mentors supporting them began to lose energy, confidence, and purpose.

This project started with a broader question: what happens to youth movements when the people expected to sustain them are themselves struggling?

I approached this as a research-led design project. Rather than jumping directly into an app concept, I wanted to understand what had changed for youth mentors on the ground, what kinds of tensions they were facing, and where existing systems were no longer supporting them well enough.

The research combined qualitative interviews, action research, and later a lightweight concept test. My goal was not only to identify pain points, but to understand what kind of support could genuinely strengthen mentors' sense of meaning, motivation, and agency.

As part of the research, I created a set of visual tools to help youth mentors reflect on their routines, influences, and emotional shifts over time. These tools helped surface things that standard interviews alone might not have revealed.

The research revealed a gap between the emotional weight placed on youth mentors and the tools available to support them. Two insights stood out as especially central, while the rest helped shape the solution around them.

The research made one thing clear: mentors did not only need better content. They needed a more reflective and supportive system, one that could help them notice progress, reconnect with meaningful moments, and feel more capable over time.

To shape that direction, I looked at motivation theory, especially frameworks around autonomy, competence, and relatedness. I was also interested in how lightweight feedback systems can make progress visible without becoming controlling. That helped me think about reflective measurement, not as surveillance, but as a way to strengthen motivation and recognition.

This led to a key design direction: a support tool that would help mentors track what matters, reflect on their work, and receive meaningful feedback over time.

Before designing the full product, I wanted to test whether a lightweight feedback loop could actually change how mentors reflected on their work. I ran a field experiment using WhatsApp messages, asking mentors to define weekly goals and report back daily on a few simple metrics.

Some participants also received a visualized progress view and written feedback. The goal was to see whether visible progress and daily reflection could reinforce motivation, recognition, and a stronger sense of meaning.

The test showed that even simple reflective prompts could shift how mentors interpreted their day-to-day work. It also helped identify which types of measurement felt meaningful rather than bureaucratic, especially around meaningful moments and personal reflection.

Baloop was never meant to digitize the heart of youth mentoring. The goal was not to replace human connection with a system, but to support the people responsible for sustaining that connection.

What makes this project meaningful to me is that it sits at the intersection of social care, design, and technology. It argues that support systems matter, especially for people whose work is emotional, relational, and often invisible. In that sense, the project is not only about mentors. It is about what kinds of infrastructures we build for the people holding communities together.

The research showed that what mentors needed most was not better tools for their participants. It was a space to be seen, supported, and reminded of why the work matters. That's a design problem. And design can answer it.

Baloop continued beyond the final project itself. It was presented as part of the Bezalel Graduates Exhibition and later at MINDes, a public event by the Design Management and Innovation track in the Master's Program in Industrial Design at Bezalel. The project was included in the event's first session, which focused on social resilience.