On any given night in 2015, over 500,000 people were homeless and 31% of them slept in unsheltered locations. Given the seriousness of this situation, the purpose of this research study was to test a student prototyped, portable shelter with six men who were homeless. Qualitative interview questions were developed by the research team. Six, open-ended questions for baseline interviews and 11 open-ended questions were used after the men slept in the shelter for two nights. The men ranged in age from 25 to 56 years and had been homeless for 1–5 years. Two of the men were African American and four were Caucasian. Several themes emerged from the data collected: dignity, safety, security, control, privacy, and portability. While the research team thought that carrying the shelter on your back was a novel idea, none of the men liked this design feature. The majority of men carried backpacks and stated that individuals who are homeless would not carry the shelter, rather they would hide it. Dignity also became an issue, as these men did not want to advertise their homeless condition by carrying the shelter. Safety and security from the “law,” “animals,” and “other homeless” people were other concerns. All of the men liked the privacy and control the shelter provided as it allowed them to eat, sleep, and talk on their cell phone when they wanted to. Giving these men a voice and allowing them to actively sleep in the prototype gave the research team a better understanding of design suggestions needed for portable homeless shelters.

中文翻译：

---

学生原型无家可归者收容所的设计和测试

2015 年的任何一个晚上，都有超过 500,000 人无家可归，其中 31% 的人睡在无人居住的地方。鉴于这种情况的严重性，本研究的目的是测试一个学生原型的便携式收容所，其中有六名无家可归的男子。定性访谈问题由研究团队开发。六个，用于基线访谈的开放式问题和 11 个开放式问题是在这些人在收容所里睡了两晚后使用的。这些男性的年龄从 25 岁到 56 岁不等，已经无家可归了 1 到 5 年。其中两名男子是非裔美国人，四名是白人。收集的数据中出现了几个主题：尊严、安全、安保、控制、隐私和便携性。虽然研究团队认为背着庇护所是一个新颖的想法，但没有一个男人喜欢这种设计特征。大多数男人背着背包，并表示无家可归的人不会携带庇护所，而是将其藏起来。尊严也成为一个问题，因为这些人不想通过携带庇护所来宣传他们无家可归的情况。来自“法律”、“动物”和“其他无家可归者”的安全和保障是其他问题。所有的男人都喜欢隐私并控制住所提供的庇护所，因为它允许他们在想要的时候吃东西、睡觉和打电话。为这些人提供发言权并让他们在原型中积极睡觉让研究团队更好地了解便携式无家可归者收容所所需的设计建议。因为这些人不想通过携带庇护所来宣传他们无家可归的情况。来自“法律”、“动物”和“其他无家可归者”的安全和保障是其他问题。所有的男人都喜欢隐私并控制住所提供的庇护所，因为它允许他们在想要的时候吃东西、睡觉和打电话。为这些人提供发言权并让他们在原型中积极睡觉让研究团队更好地了解便携式无家可归者收容所所需的设计建议。因为这些人不想通过携带庇护所来宣传他们无家可归的情况。来自“法律”、“动物”和“其他无家可归者”的安全和保障是其他问题。所有的男人都喜欢隐私并控制住所提供的庇护所，因为它允许他们在想要的时候吃东西、睡觉和打电话。为这些人提供发言权并让他们在原型中积极睡觉让研究团队更好地了解便携式无家可归者收容所所需的设计建议。