A tool to foster connections with people living in the same city, providing them with a platform to exchange their experiences and shape a more equitable future.
ROLE
Interaction Designer, Researcher
TIMELINE
8 weeks
SKILLS
Design Research, Transition Design, Product Design, Interaction Design
TEAM
Solo, advised under PhD candidates in the School of Design
We live in an era of hyper-mobility, marked by the mass movement of people virtually, trans-locally and globally. Many systems are increasingly designed around fixity, separation, and invisible borders, so I designed cards and a mobile app with the hopes of education and connection about the development of cities. The idea is to aid conversations about each person’s experience living in the city with topics such as movement, cultural experiences, or development and to learn how to create a more equitable future.
SUMMARY
FINAL DESIGN
“For the kinetic elite, borders are thresholds of access, while for a growing number of displaced people, borders represent inhumane exclusion.”
ISSUES ON PLACE, MOBILITY, AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION
From research advisor, Erica Dorn.
Conversation cards.
LET’S DISCUSS
Designed to evoke conversations between people to foster discussions about residents' urban experiences including movement, culture, and progress, with the QR code seamlessly connecting to the digital app.
Digital transition with QR.
MOVING INTO THE DIGITAL
Users scan a QR code on the conversation cards and are prompted with a question asking how they would design a future that is more equitable.
Choose Interventions.
SOME INTERVENTIONS
Examples of interventions under each category allow users to see the possibilities of how they could approach the problem.
More Info.
GETTING EDUCATED
Quick videos that are accessible, and explain concepts and information to create a more enjoyable experience.
Community Events.
CONNECTING IN REAL LIFE
The goal of the event is targeted, allowing users to know that this is beneficial and worth their time.
Hear touching stories.
REAL STORIES
Stories of people who personally experience this problem create a feeling of urgency and authenticity.
RESEARCH
What are borders? What has contributed to the proliferation of the usage of borders globally?
A participatory mind mapping exercise was conducted to get an idea of different people’s ideas of what borders are and what causes people to move and separate. In doing this research, I was also able to understand existing research on this topic. Link to research catalog and sources.
How does urban design and city planning affect migration and the formation of enclaves?
Map of existing research I gathered
Key Insights.
😵💫
Not being knowledgeable about social issues leads people to not be engaged in their community.
🗣
Discussions about social issues is a way for people to be active in their communities.
❤️🌆
Overall, people have issues in the cities they lived in and want to see it be improved.
IDEATING
What interventions and policies could be designed for migration equity?
Blockbuster was a brand popular between the 1990s and early 2000s. Our brief was to re-define Blockbuster, making it the future of all aggregated streaming for individuals to watch what they love in one place. Working with research, strategy, communication, and marketing teams, I created experience touch points to showcase what a platform for Blockbuster could look and feel like.
Players learn about problems that occur in an area of the city, talk about their experiences with the problem, and use the moveable infrastructures to discuss how they imagine an equitable future to be created.
Idea 2: Board Game
Tool to connect people with current information and resources associated with problems of displacement and gentrification.
Idea 3: Mobile App
A series of events for community members, leaders, and organizations to attend and discuss community development efforts promoting equity, immigration and refugee assistance, and accessibility to city resources.
Idea 1: Community Event
However, an app alone does not help to evoke conversations between people, there needs to be a component to help facilitate discussions.
User Persona
User Journey
Designing the conversation cards
I first conceptualized and prototyped a version of conversation cards that would be used for people to talk about these issues with their friends, family, or colleagues. The card provides brief context, a question prompting the conversation to occur, and a question about how the user would imagine a different, more equitable, future.
Interaction 1: Choose Intervention
The changes that occurred in this interaction were to create a consistent visual language throughout the app. Nailing down the hierarchy of information in this interaction aided in my understanding of how users would read text on the screen.
Interaction 2: Information
On the topic of gentrification, displacement, etc., information is quite dense and heavy so in the design of this feature, I needed to balance between providing useful information through articles, videos, and definitions, but also not overwhelming the user.
Interaction 3: Community
While building this feature, we were aware that there were already some existing CSV imports in other product comparables such as Airtable, Notion, and Asana. We drew upon their implementations for inspiration and identified gaps that helped us figure out how we might rise above their importers.
DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN DECISIONS
What is our strategy and guiding principles when designing to create a comprehensive and joyful experience?
Blockbuster was a brand popular between the 1990s and early 2000s. Our brief was to re-define Blockbuster, making it the future of all aggregated streaming for individuals to watch what they love in one place. Working with research, strategy, communication, and marketing teams, I created experience touch points to showcase what a platform for Blockbuster could look and feel like.
Interaction 4: Stories
While building this feature, we were aware that there were already some existing CSV imports in other product comparables such as Airtable, Notion, and Asana. We drew upon their implementations for inspiration and identified gaps that helped us figure out how we might rise above their importers.
DESIGN SYSTEM
What is our strategy and guiding principles when designing to create a comprehensive and joyful experience?
Blockbuster was a brand popular between the 1990s and early 2000s. Our brief was to re-define Blockbuster, making it the future of all aggregated streaming for individuals to watch what they love in one place. Working with research, strategy, communication, and marketing teams, I created experience touch points to showcase what a platform for Blockbuster could look and feel like.
Typography
Symbols + Components
Colors
Illustrations
Logo
PROJECT TAKEAWAYS
Designing content that is engaging, informative, and easy to navigate is difficult but necessary to provide an enjoyable and well-rounded user experience. As the sole person working on this project, I had to learn how to develop content and organize it in a way that enhances the user experience which is a skill I hope to be able to learn even more in future projects.
Conducting research to understand the problem space changed my design process completely. Gathering user insights to aid in the development of the product was of course very useful, but I also really enjoyed being able to learn about gentrification and redevelopment very deeply. I think that designers can add value to a wide variety of problem spaces and goals and being able to work on projects where I get to learn about problems I am deeply interested in is very valuable to me.
Working on solutions that encourage positive change is challenging, interesting, and exciting for me. I think influencing the way people think and act is a really powerful facet of design, so as a designer, I want to create experiences that aim to positively influence the way people live their lives.