Once all of our items arrived, we continued our testing phase in the Atrium with all of our items. Initially, I did not set time limits for my teammates. It was on a first-come-first-serve basis; I saw many of my friends sprinting up the stairs to the atrium as soon as school was over to “reserve” either a bean bag or a spot on the rug. I set minimal rules: no shoes or eating around the nap zones. Besides that, I observed and took notes on the impact of the nap zones. From doing homework, watching Tik Toks, to actually sleeping, the nap zones were a big hit. Later on, once the testing phase was completed and we were able to open the nap zones to the entire school, rules that we stated in our shark tank presentation were going to be enforced. As my teammates used the nap zones, I began asking them questions to figure out what questions I wanted to put on our school survey. They really enjoyed the opportunity to sleep comfortably after school, and benefits included less moodiness and more energy (to run during practice), which the whole team agreed was a huge benefit. After school, the nap zone in the atrium was a clean, comfortable, and quiet place to rest and/or do homework, so our project was headed in the right direction.
Each day before basketball practice, my teammates would use the nap zones. I noticed a significant improvement in my friend’s overall energy levels, mood, and the lessening of back pain that results from sleeping in an uncomfortable position on the floor. Sometimes, other students would walk by our nap zone; we received many looks of curiosity and questions of interest from both students and faculty alike, so we were excited to open our nap zones to the rest of the school, and possibly expand to other areas. The week of February 6, I asked those who had used the nap zones to fill out our survey. Early results showed that the nap zones increased energy levels and mental well-being, and everyone agreed that we should increase our nap zone “production”. Some feedback we received from my team emphasized the significant improvement the nap zones had on their sleep schedules and ability to relax after school; however, they expressed that the light and noise can be distracting. However, we received feedback that our DePaul location was much quieter.