PAIRD - Service Design

Capstone · MS Strategic Design and Management, Parsons School of Design · 2026
With Srishti Durgakar and Harsh Vatsa · Research, synthesis, service design, strategy

The challenge

International students at The New School arrive with an acceptance letter, a student ID and a list of 40 offices meant to help them, but no clear sense of which one to call, whether they're allowed to call, or what happens if they get it wrong. On day one they are expected to recognize they need help, find the right office and follow through alone, in a system and a culture they are still learning.

Research

We surveyed 75 students, held 18 interviews with students and New School faculty and staff, and observed campus initiatives including the Care Festival and Student Senate. The data matched what students told us: 57.9% don't feel their community looks out for them, and 43.1% don't feel they belong at their college.

What we found

Support exists, but the way in is broken. Students wait until uncertainty turns into stress before reaching out, and when they do, they go to peers first because it feels safer, faster and less judgmental. Culture, stigma, money and immigration status shape who feels safe asking for help, and finding the right service becomes emotional labor for people who are already overwhelmed. Students don't need more information. They need a trusted way in.

The concept

PAIRD is a peer-led program that pairs incoming international students with trained current students who have made the same transition. Peer guides help students navigate services, share what they've learned, connect them to community, and hand anything beyond their role to a program coordinator. They guide, they don't fix. We prototyped the role, the semester touchpoints and the language through workshops, role-play scenarios and sentence-completion exercises before designing any infrastructure.

Outcome

We designed a governance model, a growth plan and a budget for a one-semester pilot supporting 60 students. At about $70,000, the entire pilot costs less than what the school loses when a single student doesn't return. PAIRD is ready for pilot, not yet for scale. The next step is testing whether peer trust leads to earlier help-seeking in practice.