Based on research conducted by the Broken Bones Initiative, findings have shown a strong relationship between experiencing bullying or experiencing negative online behaviours and being a perpetrator. We found that there is a lack of empathy and awareness around what is perceived to be harmless and fun. Research showed that lower levels of affective empathy predicted perpetration of online trolling.

Our design idea focuses on education, awareness and understanding of the problem, as society continues to be exposed to new technologies, thus creating a space in which things or opinions can be spoken over someone in an anonymous setting. As a team, we felt we needed to understand that our users can truly understand and process the story of a real human being and how the online commentary has real world consequences. 

The Broken bones initiative  consists of multiple physical installations or booths placed over universities, tafe campuses and selected school campuses in which create a portal in sharing these experiences and how they have been impacted long term. The booths create a private environment for individuals to reflect on online bullying or harassment and how it has affected them, as either the one being harmed, or the one inciting harm on others. 

The design involves an integrated ipad or tablet setup in which multiple formats can be used, such as video, audio, photo or text, in order to carry out their reflection. The users can choose to be completely anonymous or choose to share their story on the ipad itself to help promote awareness. These reflections dive into just how damaging words are towards a certain person and taps into the need for educating those to think before they speak.

This project will have impact by creating environments of reflection for the victim and cause of harm. It focuses on highlighting victims' stories to increase empathy thus reducing the possibility of someone to cause abuse due to having a higher empathy threshold. Therefore, we as a team have designed a succinct and valuable solution in not only reducing any form of abuse whether be online or face-to-face, but also educating those who are both in need of support and empathy.