2024 SEGD Communication and Place

2024

Communication + Place

Introduction

The Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) is a multidisciplinary community collectively shaping the future of experience design. We are designers of experiences connecting people to place.

We are a thought leader and an amplifier in the practice of experience design. Our work puts people at the center. We are motivated by our impact and our belief in the power of design to improve the human experience in the environments we create. We cultivate equity and inclusion because we value diversity in many forms, advocating for representation of all voices and equitable access to our profession. Learning is at the heart of our mission; we promote mentorship, knowledge-sharing, and continuing education. We build relationships, encourage strategic collaboration, and value a multidisciplinary, cooperative, and user centric-design process. We encourage sustainability, conservation, and preservation of resources to ensure a healthy future for our planet and its people. Our work is defined by professionalism, and we foster skill, judiciousness, and a code of ethics. Above all, we are propelled by the pursuit of excellence, challenging ourselves to make meaningful and inspiring work.

We live all of these values through the work of our committees, who support SEGD initiatives in education, inclusion, sustainability, and accessibility.

For over fifty years, SEGD has been the go-to resource for wayfinding, placemaking, and experience design. SEGD’s education conferences, events, and webinars span our practice areas including: branded environments, digital experiences, exhibition, placemaking, public installation, strategy / research / planning, and wayfinding. SEGD actively collaborates with and provides outreach to design programs at internationally recognized colleges and universities. Our signature academic education event is the annual SEGD Academic Summit, a two-day virtual event. Design educators and researchers from around the world are invited to submit papers for presentation at the SEGD Academic Summit and publication in SEGD’s blind peer-reviewed Communication + Place journal, which is published electronically on an annual basis. The Summit and e-publication are platforms for academic researchers to disseminate their creative work, models for innovation in curriculum, and best practices for research related to experiential design.

2024 Academic Task Force

Chair: Joell Angel-Chumbley | University of Cincinnati DAAP, City of Cincinnati

Yeohyun Ahn | University of Wisconsin Madison

Aija Freimane | TU Dublin School of Creative Arts, Ireland

Angela Iarocci | Sheridan College

George Lim | University of Colorado School of Environmental Design

Christina Lyons | Fashion Institute of Technology

Tim McNeil | University of California Davis

Muhammad Rahman | University of Cincinnati DAAP

Amy Rees | Drexel University, Exit Design

Loran Sanvido | University of Cincinnati DAAP

Debra Satterfield | California State University

Neeta Verma | Researcher, Designer, Educator

Willhemina Wahlin | Charles Stuart University

Michele Y. Washington | Design Researcher /Strategist

The annual SEGD Academic Summit … “engages our global audience through a series of dynamic panel and breakout sessions designed for a broader exchange of ideas and learning.”

On behalf of SEGD ‘Designers of Experiences - Connecting People to Place,’ and the Academic Task Force (ATF), we would like to thank the selected authors for sharing their transformative research to be published in the 2024 Communication + Place academic journal. Your contributions magnify our mission to provide learning opportunities and resources, promote the importance of the discipline of experience design, and continue to refine standards of practice for the field.

The SEGD Academic Task Force is a diverse team of US and international design faculty, researchers, and practitioners that collectively develop initiatives strategically focused on the advancement of diverse and inclusive design education, research, publication, and faculty/student professional development.

The annual SEGD Academic Summit, a signature event produced by the ATF, has become a forum for global design academics, researchers, and students to share their innovative research, curriculum, and projects. The ATF releases an annual Call for Papers and conducts an anonymous-peer review of submitted abstracts. The selected authors are then invited to present at the Summit and publish full papers in Communication + Place

The Summit programming also engages our global audience through a series of dynamic panel and breakout sessions designed for a broader exchange of ideas and learning. These multi-level conversations are critical to forging the pathway forward for diversity in design education and professional practice.

If you are interested in learning more about the work of the SEGD Academic Task Force, please contact Joell Angel-Chumbley, MFA, SEGD Academic Task Force Chair, at academic@segd.org.

Joell Angel-Chumbley SEGD Academic Task Force Chair

“We celebrate the meeting of new ideas and seasoned insight, making space for both emerging voices and the wisdom of experience.”

As the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) continues to evolve, our focus remains on elevating emerging voices while honoring the expertise of experienced practitioners. SEGD fosters a space where fresh perspectives challenge our thinking and where knowledge is shared, expanded, and applied to shape the future of design.

Our community thrives through the dynamic exchange between students, professionals, and educators. Together, we create environments that positively impact people, places, and culture, contributing to a shared vision of transformative design.

In this year’s SEGD Communication + Place annual, we celebrate the convergence of new ideas and established insights. Emerging professionals bring energy and innovation that push us forward, while seasoned designers and educators provide the wisdom and guidance essential to growth. This collaborative spirit continues to fuel progress and deepen our understanding of how design shapes the human experience.

We hope you find inspiration in this publication and the diverse voices that represent the ever-evolving field of experiential design.

Cybelle Jones Chief Executive Officer, SEGD

A Death By a Thousand Designs

The Impact of Racial Inequity in Spatial Design

Jacquelyn Iyamah

Founder, Making the Body a Home

Abstract

This paper analyzes how the built environment powerfully perpetuates racial microaggressions, which are often referred to as “a death by a thousand cuts” by psychologists. Building off of Interior Race Theory, which argues that what we interact with in our interior environments can cause Black, brown and racialized people to have positive or negative racialized experiences — this paper articulates how everyday physical spaces can communicate underlying racist messages through visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory related experiences.

Examples include naming all lecture halls after white males, or the creation of ‘ethnic’ aisles in grocery stores, or racially biased music selections in retail spaces. This paper will contribute to the field of experiential design by pushing practitioners to think intersectionally about race and space through the senses. It will call for placemakers to integrate racially equitable design principles into their work, in order to create spatial experiences that affirm the lived experiences of Black, brown, and racialized communities.

Introduction

When we work towards equity in interior design, building design, and experiential design, we often focus on accessibility, wellbeing, sustainability, and safety. However, there are countless ways in which interior space has also been designed to center whiteness and marginalize communities of color. Despite how detrimental this can be to racialized people, this topic is often overlooked in design and architectural theory and practice.

Racial microaggressions refer to the sly racist messages that Black, brown, and racialized communities continuously receive about our racial identities in a white supremacist society. These messages can be verbal or non-verbal, overt or covert, and intentional or unintentional. Chester M. Pierce coined the term ‘Microaggression’ in the 1970s to characterize the subtle ways in which he observed white students at Harvard marginalizing their Black peers.

When we think about racial microaggressions, we often focus on the interpersonal, how they show up between people. We think of the questions such as “Where are you really from?” and “You’re so articulate’, and actions such as a white woman clutching her purse when a Black man walks by, or a store owner following a Latine person around the grocery store. Rarely ever do we think about how racial microaggressions can show up between people and their built environment. About how sometimes, our physical environments are designed in ways that are invalidating, exclusionary or hostile towards Black, brown, and racialized communities. Derald Wing Sue et al refer to this as ‘Environmental Microaggressions’.

Many of us can enter a space and it will whisper, “You don’t matter,” “You’re less than,” or “You don’t belong here.” As Craig Wilkins expresses “At present, space is naturalized in ways that are — in varying degrees — problematic for anyone who is not white and male.” Living with these microaggressions makes you hyperaware. You learn to read the subtext in every design choice just to better understand whether you are welcome. These experiences are often invisible to those who aren’t racialized. But they are everywhere and can be experienced in a multitude of ways.

“Space is naturalized in ways that are — in varying degrees — problematic for anyone who is not white and male.”

Craig Wilkins

Approach

This paper is rooted in multi-dimensional forms of research, blending empirical exploration, theoretical exploration, and most importantly lived experience. This multi-faceted research methodology allows me to highlight the complex interplay between race and space.

For the empirical approach, the paper leans on the profound analysis of Chester M. Pierce’s pioneering concept of ‘Microaggressions’ (1974)’and extends Derald Wing Sue’s work on ‘Environmental Microaggressions,’ (2007) which highlights spatial experiences for racialized communities.

For the theoretical approach, the paper leans on my theoretical framework of Interior Race Theory, positing that the design elements that make up the interiors of our buildings— the decorative, atmospheric, spatial, material, structural, infrastructural, and furniture elements —can either obstruct or enhance positive racial experiences.

For the lived experience approach, the paper draws from my personal lived experiences with environmental racial microaggressions. This is pivotal, as there are nuanced ways in which Black, brown and racialized people experience space that are not fully captured or understood by the mainstream spatial design industry.

Environmental Racial Microaggressions

Sensory design is an approach to design that focuses on the human senses and how they interact with the built environment. Our environment is made up of things we can see, hear, smell, taste and touch. Whether we know it or not, when we design spaces, we are speaking to the senses. Though we often focus on visual cues when it comes to design, through my work, I have found that is possible to experience various environmental racial microaggressions through visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory design cues.

Visual Racial Microaggressions: These refer to racist messages in the built environment communicated through visual-related experiences.

Example

Healthcare clinics solely displaying medical diagrams and anatomical models of people with lighter skin in their waiting and patient rooms

Universities and schools naming most of their lecture halls, buildings, and cafeterias after white men

Public spaces memorializing colonial figures thourgh monuments

Implicit message

The health of people with darker skin is not a priority to medical practitioners or the medical field at large

The contributions and achievements of Black, brown and racialized people are not recognized or valued

Colonization should be celebrated because of the positive impact it has on white communities

Auditory Racial Microaggressions: These refer to racist messages in the built environment communicated through sound-related experiences.

Example

Cafes, restaurants, and stores solely playing music that palatable to white mainstream culture

Automated Eurocentric-sounding voices being used to make announcements to travelers in airports and trains

Home speech recognition systems are less able to understand Black voices

Implicit message

Music that isn’t widely known by white people is unacceptable or inappropriate in public space

Eurocentric voices are more neutral and appropriate in public space

Eurocentric accents are the norm, and everything else is “other”

Tactile Racial Microaggressions: These refer to racist messages in the built environment communicated through touch-related experiences.

Example Implicit message

Infrared soap dispensers or water faucets in public restrooms failing to detect dark skin

Retail stores in predominantly Black neighborhoods placing security screens on nearly every item

Hotels supplying guests with shampoos, conditioners, and lotions that don’t work for Black skin and hair

People with light skin are the main audience considered when designing products for public consumption

Black people are more prone to committing crimes such as stealing

Eurocentric beauty standards are the norm and thus Eurocentric beauty products are the norm

Olfactory Racial Microaggressions: These refer to racist messages in the built environment communicated through smell-related experiences.

Example Implicit message

Kitchen workplace signage that discourages employees from microwaving richly scented foods

White-owned wellness practices appropriating South Asian aromatherapy without proper acknowledgment

Waste facilities and dumps being placed near predominantly Black neighborhoods

Food that is not commonly consumed by white is “smelly” or “disruptive”

South Asian spiritual practices are “exotic” and commodifiable

Black, brown and racialized people are less deserving of experiencing pleasant scents

Gustatory Racial Microaggressions: These refer to racist messages in the built environment communicated through taste-related experiences.

Example Implicit message

Grocery stores placing foods eaten by Black, brown and racialized people in an “Ethnic” aisle separate from other foods

School menus that predominantly consist of dairy items such as cheese and milk even though most Black, Latine, and Asian people are lactose intolerant

Restaurants watering down a Black, brown or racialized group’s culture by using stereotypical decor or altering the way their food is traditionally cooked

Foods originating from Black, brown and racialized cultures are “other”

The dietary restrictions of racialized communities are not of importance

Appeasing white people’s tastes is more important than preserving the cultural memory of Black, brown or racialized people

The Impact

Some people may read these examples and think they are not that detrimental. But this is precisely why the term is called “microaggressions”. The prefix “micro” is intentionally used to draw attention to forms of racism that are frequently downplayed by white supremacist culture. Psychologists have referred to them as a “death by a thousand cuts” because of the deep harm they can cause to Black, brown, and racialized communities. The harm is incessant. A person running a couple of errands could experience several environmental racial microaggressions within the span of a few hours on any given day.

Imagine this — At 9 am you step into a doctor’s office, and the first thing that catches your eye is a series of medical diagrams. Every single illustration portrays white people. You feel discomfort, but try to brush it off. By 10 am you are on your way to the grocery store, you pass by a park with a monument commemorating a colonizer. You feel discomfort, but try to brush it off. By 10.30 am you’ve made it to the grocery store. You’re looking for a particular spice but can’t find it anywhere. When you ask a worker at the store, they let you know it’s in the “ethnic aisle” section at the back of the store. You feel discomfort, but try to brush it off. But eventually it all catches up to you. It always does.

In the research I’ve done on the impact of different forms of racism such as microaggressions — I have found that microaggressions diminish our health in a multitude of ways. Mentally, it’s the root of stress, anxiety, and depression. Emotionally, it breeds anger, shame, and confusion. Physically, it manifests as high blood pressure, heart disease, and weakened immunity. And spiritually, it corrodes the sense of self, leading to an internalized sense of inferiority tied to one’s racial identity.

Tackling the Problem

Through Theory

In 2022 I created Interior Race Theory which states that how we design our interior spaces impacts our racialized experiences, thoughts, feelings, and sometimes behaviors. While the theory initially centered on the home and objects, I have since expanded it to include the decorative, spatial, atmospheric, material, structural, infrastructural elements and furniture in our interior spaces. Interior Race Theory has helped create more awareness about the relationship between race and space in our interior environments.

It is often difficult for people to conceptualize the relationship between building design, interior design, construction, and race. More often than not, these forms of design are seen as race-neutral. Conversations about racism in the built environment typically focus on the external settings where we live and interact. As Todd Levon Brown states “The dialogue on the race in space has primarily been limited to the urban scales of city, neighborhood, community and street. Socio-spatial research that centers around race rarely addresses this phenomenon at the scale of architecture - the individual building or a particular development.”

“The dialogue on race in space has primarily been limited to the urban scales of the city.”

Todd Levon Brown Through Practice

I recently launched Making the Body a Home, as a design consultancy to help clients design spaces that resonate with the lived experiences of Black, brown and racialized communities. This will be actualized through leading educational workshops and talks, and consulting on spatial projects. But most importantly, I’ve developed the RED Standard™ — the first ever racial equity design standard for building design. Design firms can leverage this standard as they take on spatial projects.

Most built environment design frameworks in the form of policies, standards or guidelines, often focus on four criteria: accessibility, sustainability, wellbeing and safety. However, there has yet to be a design standard that specifically documents how to design racially equitable interior spaces in a tangible way. As a result, many architecture, design and construction firms don’t have a standardized grasp on how to design an interior space that is racially equitable. As Sarah Schindler states “... currently the ADA prohibits the construction of a separate entrance for disabled individuals, but the city of

New York is allowing developers to construct apartment buildings with “poor doors”—a separate entrance for low-income tenants in mixed-income buildings.”

“The city of New York is allowing developers to construct apartment buildings with ‘poor doors’...”

Sarah Schindler

Conclusion

Due to the detrimental impact that environmental racial microaggressions can have, it is important that placemakers of all varieties become dedicated to designing spaces that are truly racially equitable. As the Society for Experiential Graphic Design states, experiential designers are “not just driven by how something looks, but how it serves audiences, how it communicates, and how it makes someone feel.” Our role is to begin to consider how racial microaggressions in the built environment make Black, brown and communities of color feel. However, this can only be achieved by having an equitable design process. Here is what a racially equitable design process can look like:

Curiosity

• Begin every project by considering how factors such as race and other identity markers may impact how a person may experience a space. Without intersectional thinking we may design spaces that work for some but not all.

• Conduct research with and not for Black, brown and racialized people to truly understand their nuanced needs, desires, and experiences in the interior built environment. Allow people to brainstorm what the racially inclusive space should feel like.

Creativity

• Design in ways that mitigate how the design elements can cause racial inequities and how people who manage or use the space may cause racial inequities. Our job as designers is not just to come up with solutions to physical spatial problems, but also to come up with solutions to social spatial problems.

• Leverage racial equity standards, such as the RED Standards™ so that you have clear criteria to follow as you design a space. In the same way that designers leverage sustainability, accessibility, or wellbeing standards, there is a need to leverage racial equity standards when creating a space.

Commitment

• Work with a racial equity expert to conduct racial equity impact assessments and audits of your space throughout the design process to ensure that you have mitigated many of the harms that may take place.

• Commit to long-term engagement with Black, brown and racialized communities beyond the initial design and construction phases of a project. This allows you to get a deeper understanding of what is working well and what needs improvement.

From builders, to architects, to interior designers, to experiential designers — I want to see more of us thinking about the lived experiences of Black, brown, and racialized people as we design residential, commercial, and cultural spaces. Communities of color deserve to experience homes, cafes, restaurants, schools, offices, stores, and museums that allow us to feel safe, welcome, and celebrated.

Resources

Brown, T.L. (2019). Racialized Architectural Space: A Critical Understanding of its Production, Perception and Evaluation. Architecture_MPS. Vol. 15(1). https://doi. org/10.14324/111.444.amps.2019v15i3.001

Gore, S. (2023, February 24). Interior race theory is a creative way to decolonize our homes. Architectural Digest. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/ interior-race-theory-design-concept

Iyamah, J. O. (2024). Interior Race Theory: Using Interior Objects to Resist Harmful Racial Conditioning. Journal of Interior Design, 49(1), 12-16. https://doi. org/10.1177/10717641231217430

Making the body a home. Making the Body a Home. (2024). https://makingthebodyahome.co/

Pierce, C. (1970). Offensive mechanisms. In F. B. Barbour (Ed.), The Black seventies (pp. 265–282). Boston, MA: Porter Sargent. Library of Congress Catalog Number 74133967

Schindler, S. (2015). Architectural Exclusion: Discrimination and Segregation Through Physical Design of the Built Environment. The Yale Law Journal, 124(6), 1934–2024. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43617074

Sue D. W., Capodilupo C. M., Torino G. C., Bucceri J. M., Holder A. M., Nadal K. L., Esquilin M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. The American Psychologist, 62(4), 271–286. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.4.27

Wilkins, C. L. (2007). The aesthetics of equity: Notes on Race, space, architecture, and Music. University of Minnesota Press.

Artificial Minority Combating Unconscious Biases Embedded in Facial Recognition Technology

Emily Tse Exhibit Designer, Nationwide 360

Abstract

Our unconscious biases have been a problem in the past, present, and now in the upcoming future. These biases — racial bias, gender bias, and age bias — perpetuate discrimination in facial recognition technology. The paper is a compilation of the research conducted to implement an exhibition design that spread public awareness of algorithmic injustice in facial recognition technology.

Part I of the paper includes the research that explores biases in facial recognition technology. This section also discusses how participatory museum techniques are used to encourage dialogue and promote empathy. Additionally, primary research was conducted in which expert interviewees contributed to the understanding of technology as a system of power and ways to orchestrate workshop programming. Two iterations of prototype testing and a survey collected opinions on facial recognition technology. Both primary and secondary research were fundamental to the development of the exhibition project in part II.

Part II of the thesis paper contains the concept and design development of the exhibition project. The exhibition “Artificial Minority” will bring public awareness to AI ethics, which will encourage responsible research and application. It focuses on people and how their lives were impacted. First-person narratives are written in exhibit diaries. These diaries reveal the repercussions of biased AI, but it also explores the potential of facial recognition to improve people’s quality of life and the efforts underway that combat unethical AI. The participatory museum techniques researched in part I are incorporated into the exhibition. These techniques, such as role-play and workshop programming, will provide ways to spark dialogue and foster awareness of current provocative issues.

The exhibition project was presented to exhibition design industry professionals at the FIT Capstone Event on December 8, 2023. Many of them found the exhibition informative and thought-provoking. People found this topic timely with the current state of technology. One judge wrote “Overall a very current topic, and almost too much to still learn about this topic to put into one exhibition. But such an important topic, and important to create more awareness.” Another judge wrote “Balanced sequence of hard facts, emotional stories, hands-on workshops, and illuminations. Potentially overwhelming data, tamed yet effective.”

Introduction

“One in two American adults is in a law enforcement face recognition network.” — Georgetown Law1

Humans have biases, both unconscious and conscious. These biases unintentionally seep into technology — technology that is globally deployed. One example is facial recognition, which is used by the law enforcement to find missing children, uncover firearms trafficking, and identify suspects of shootings and child sex trafficking.2 Facial recognition is also a tool used to reduce medical errors — the third leading cause of death in the US. 3 It can detect early symptoms of stroke by analyzing facial features. “Every technology is a double-edged sword,”4 said Dr. Fei-Fei Li, a pioneer in the AI and healthcare space.

Advocacy organizations have made huge steps toward public awareness of the biases in algorithms. Researcher Dr. Joy Buolamwini started her non-profit Algorithmic Justice League (AJL) back in 2016 when she was a graduate student at MIT.5 She has been working with legislators to get regulations on facial recognition. In June 2023, Buolamwini met with President Biden in an AI ethics discussion.6 In addition, the American Civil Liberties Union7 (ACLU) and Big Brother Watch8 in the UK actively defend privacy rights against facial recognition systems.

The efforts from advocacy organizations protect people’s right to privacy against facial recognition software. Surveillance systems use this technology without

1. Georgetown Law. “The perpetual line-up.” https://www. perpetuallineup.org/ (2016).

2. Parker, Jake, “Facial Recognition Success Stories Showcase Positive Use Cases of the Technology.” https://www.securityindustry. org/2020/07/16/facial-recognition-success-stories-showcasepositive-use-cases-of-the-technology/ (2023).

3. John Hopkins. “Study Suggests Medical Errors Now Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.” https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/ media/releases/study_suggests_medical_errors_now_third_leading_ cause_of_death_in_the_us (2016).

4. Bryer, Tania and Revesz, Rachael. “Dr. Fei-Fei Li: The benevolent scientist.” https://www.cnbc.com/fei-fei-li-the-biggest-perils-andopportunities-in-ai/ (2019).

5. AJL. “Our mission.” https://www.ajl.org/about (Accessed 2023).

6. Democracy Now. “How AI Is Enabling Racism & Sexism: Algorithmic Justice League’s Joy Buolamwini on Meeting with Biden.” https://www.democracynow.org/2023/6/22/joy_buolamwini_on_ai_ risks (2023).

7. ACLU. “Face Recognition Technology.” https://www.aclu.org/ issues/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/face-recognitiontechnology (Accessed 2023).

8. Big Brother Watch. “About Big Brother Watch.” https:// bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/about/ (Accessed 2023).

obtaining consent from people. Buolamwini advocates that “If you have a face, [then] you have a place in the conversation.” Exhibitions are one method that can be used to encourage people to join conversations about AI ethics.

Part I Exhibition Thesis

Facial recognition technology is a biometric identification technology that detects facial features to verify an individual’s identity. It is used in high-stakes scenarios including healthcare, law enforcement, the justice system, and transportation. First, it detects if a face is present in an image or video. Then, it analyzes facial landmarks such as the shape of cheekbones or the distance between the eyes. Finally, it compares the facial landmarks to a unique faceprint of the individual. 9

“The machine is simply replicating the world as it exists, and they’re not making decisions that are ethical. They’re only making decisions that are mathematical.” —Meredith Broussard, data journalism and professor 10

Discrimination in facial recognition technology has been prevalent from hobby projects to globally-deployed applications. These systems are biased because they are built by humans. There is bias in the sample training data, which overrepresented and underrepresented different populations. Additionally, inconsistent labels of training data led to biased algorithms.11

Secondary Research of Unjust Facial Recognition Technology

Gender Shades is a 2017 algorithm audit conducted by Buolamwini. It verified that IBM and Microsoft algorithms misclassified darker females more often than lighterskinned people and males. Buolamwini created a dataset called “Pilot Parliaments Benchmark.” It consisted of 1270 images of parliament members from Rwanda, Finland, South Africa, Iceland, Senegal, and Sweden. Buolamwini found that IBM and Microsoft algorithms had accuracies of 99% when classifying images of lighter males. Whereas, when classifying darker females, IBM

9. AWS. “What is Facial Recognition?” https://aws.amazon.com/ what-is/facial-recognition/ (Accessed 2023).

10. Kantayya, Shalini, director. Coded Bias. Netflix, 2020. 1 hr., 25 min. https://www.netflix.com/title/81328723

11. IBM. “Shedding light on AI bias with real world examples.” https:// www.ibm.com/blog/shedding-light-on-ai-bias-with-real-worldexamples/ (2023).

has 65% accuracy and Microsoft has 80% accuracy.12 In 2016, Detroit’s facial recognition surveillance system “Project Green Light” was rolled out to communities — mostly in Black communities. White and Asian populations were not as heavily surveilled compared to Black populations.13

Primary Research of Expert Interview I

An interview was conducted with FIT English Assistant Professor Dr.Subhalakshmi Gooptu, an expert in Asian diasporic, critical race, and transnational gender studies. Gooptu’s analysis specifically focuses on how technologies of reproductive control shaped indentured women’s experiences. Connecting this to the present, her research sees the connections to current fights for reproductive justice and how assisted reproductive technology perpetuates racial inequality throughout the world. She researches “Who was the technology experimented on?”, “Who is it serving?”, “Who is being used for surrogacy?”, and “Who is it empowering?”

“All of technology is a question of power,” said Gooptu. Technology is a broad term and enforces “a system of power.” There is unequal access to technology. While it benefits one population, it also harms another population. This perspective resonated with Dr.Cathy O’Neil’s, author of Weapons of Math Destruction, concern “What worries me about AI is power. It’s really about who owns the code.”14

Primary Research with Surveys

Surveys were distributed to obtain perspectives and experiences with facial recognition. It explored the public’s perspectives on facial recognition and its usage in various applications including law enforcement, education, healthcare, transportation, corporations, and retail.

Thirty-six participants completed the surveys. The surveys were distributed on the campus at the Fashion Institute of Technology (87%) and in the Moynihan Train

12. Ibid.

13. Najibi, Alex. “Racial Discrimination in Face Recognition Technology.” https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2020/racialdiscrimination-in-face-recognition-technology/ (2020).

14. Kantayya, Shalini, director. Coded Bias. Netflix, 2020. 1 hr., 25 min. https://www.netflix.com/title/81328723

10-question survey with qualitative and quantitative questions.

Hall (13%) in New York. Subjects ranged from age 19 through age 64. Gender identity distribution was 68% female, 27% male, and 5% non-binary.

The following are some responses to the open-ended question: What do you think about facial recognition?

• “Facial recognition is a great resource as long as the data of the users is being stored securely. It’s also not appropriate for kids in my opinion.”

• “I think facial recognition in national and private circumstances is good, but giving law enforcement and corporations more power over the working man is fundamentally wrong.”

• “People need to be able to decide for themselves whether or not it’s okay and in what context. It needs to be an opt-in.”

• “Highly embrace new technology such as facial recognition. Proper usage and regulations need to be taken care of.”

• “I think it’s cool for Face ID to unlock my phone but I don’t want to be constantly monitored and scanned when out in public.”

55.5% of the participants rated 8,9, or 10, and 19.4% rated 1 to interacting with facial recognition daily.

22.2% do not support the usage of facial recognition in law enforcement.

• “I think it is a complement to what has been always done.”

• “I think it’s dangerous, easily misused, and often biased and racist.”

• “I am highly skeptical and think bad outcomes outweigh the good. I want to consent to my image being calculated. I prefer personal, self-serving facial recognition that I consent to.”

• “I don’t know enough to have an informed opinion. Doesn’t seem to be that useful to me.” The following are some responses to the question: What positive experience(s) did you ever have with facial recognition?

• “Opening my phone without using my hands.”

• “Ease in turning on my phone and its use as a replacement for typing passwords.”

• “To unlock my iPhone quickly and get through airport immigration faster.”

• “I used it when I passed the customs and it was super fast.”

• “Phone safety of tracking offenders/criminals (sometimes - unless they change their face).”

• “Not mine: finding missing/trafficked people — especially children seems to be the ‘most good’ use.”

• “Google Photos sorting is helpful when searching my personal images and unlocking my phone.”

The following are some responses to the question: What negative experience(s) did you ever have with facial recognition?

• “My phone sometimes doesn’t recognize me.”

• “I don’t like how easy it is to find me online. It makes it very difficult to keep personal and professional separate.”

• “Not a negative experience but I feel weird about my face being scanned by random devices. I don’t feel secure about it.”

• “Invasion of Privacy.”

• “When I was on exchange abroad, I felt as though the government had cameras everywhere and I felt like I was being watched and analyzed.”

• “Not being accurate/would detect my face in the dark with a mask or anything on your face (but this is in reference to phone security only).”

• “The fact that the federal government has the ability to detect a face then use satellite imaging to track down said person’s exact whereabouts and path is indicative of the fall of the “free west” and greater human error in general..”

The survey results suggested that people were concerned about the safety of the biometric data. Participants were concerned about the accuracy of the algorithms and the power the government gains by recording our facial data.

Secondary Research of Participatory Techniques

Complicated topics such as AI ethics can be broken down into simpler concepts that encourage everyday audiences to understand. Nina Simon, author of The Participatory Museum, wrote “When people have safe, welcoming places in their local communities to meet new people, engage with complex ideas, and be creative, they can make significant civic and cultural impact.”15

15. Simon, Nina. The participatory museum. Museum 2.0, (2010).

In The Participatory Museum, Simon included many case studies of participatory museums:

• A powerful example of provocative programming is a traveling exhibition called “Dialogue in the Dark.” Since 1988, it has had 6 million visitors. Tour guides who are visually impaired guide visitors in complete darkness through stressful scenarios like a crosswalk or supermarket. Follow-up studies found that visitors remembered this experience even after five years had passed since visiting. Visuallyimpaired tour guides gained self-confidence after helping visitors through the experiences.16

• A provocative exhibition at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg separates white and non-white visitors starting from the entrance. Visitors are given tickets with labeled racial identities. There are two visitor journeys that “intentionally alienates people, makes them frustrated, and can generate discussion out of that frustration.”17

• In 2000, Denmark created the Human Library event where visitors check out a 45-minute meeting with a human book to openly talk about their stereotypes and prejudice. The experience challenges stereotypes and it is “a chance to unjudge someone.” “The Human Library is a place where difficult questions are expected, appreciated, and answered. We publish people as open books.”18

These participatory museum methods kept visitors engaged and sparked conversations about difficult topics. It builds empathy among the audience and helps them understand from different perspectives. Role-play was adopted in the exhibition design in part II. Inspired by the Human Library, the applied thesis exhibition also told stories from first-person narratives.

Primary Research of Expert Interview II

A second interview was conducted with Isabella Bruno who is the Learning and Community Lead at the Smithsonian Office of Digital Transformation. Her expertise in workshop programming provided insight into the workshop design of the exhibition design in part II. When designing workshops, Bruno suggested distilling down questions into one clear question. It is better to ask one concise question rather than a few similar questions. Additionally, she suggested that workshops can be separated into groups that are assigned different tasks simultaneously and convene afterward.

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.

18. Human Library. “About The Human Library.” https://humanlibrary. org/about/ (Accessed 2023).

Exhibit 1 is a world map of skin tone distribution. A participant places a sticker where their parents were from on a world map showing skin tone distribution.

Bruno’s insights were very helpful in the experience design of the real-world impact workshop in the applied thesis exhibition where visitors learn how to practice AI responsibly. It is important to set a shared agenda in the introduction to the workshop. Then, participants have a common goal and individual roles. Additionally, Bruno mentioned the importance of embracing silence and giving space for participants to think. It is fundamental to have some ideas and develop viewpoints before listening to others.

Primary Research of Prototype Testing I

I designed three exhibits to prompt conversations about biases in facial recognition. The participants had ten minutes to explore the interactions. They may go through the exhibits silently or converse about what they think and feel with other visitors.

Exhibit 1

The first one was a world map showing the distribution of light and dark-colored skin distribution.19 The prompt said, “Place a sticker where your parents come from.” Visitors placed heart stickers on the map. From this interaction, I hoped visitors would notice that skin tone bias is a worldwide problem.

19. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. https://kids.britannica.com/students/ assembly/view/52059 (2012).

Exhibit 2

The second interaction is three boxes labeled Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. Visitors open the boxes and see three-panel brochures showing the misclassifications of our heroes in history such as Sojourner Truth, Michelle Obama, and Oprah Winfrey. The algorithms misidentified women as male with confidence scores of approximately 70%.

Participant 1 suggested “It would be interesting to see not only the things that they get wrong, but also the things that they get right.” Having both correct and incorrect classifications show visitors which phenotypes (light-skin males) are usually correctly classified versus phenotypes (dark-skin females) that are commonly misclassified.

Exhibit 3

The third interaction displays eight boxes labeled male, female, child, adult, Caucasian, Hispanic, Black or African American, and Asian. There are three boxes filled with images of human faces.20 Visitors categorize the faces by gender, age, and race by placing the images in the eight boxes.

20. Gupta, Ashwin. “Human Faces.” Kaggle. https://www.kaggle.com/ datasets/ashwingupta3012/human-faces (2020).

Exhibit 2 shows Microsoft, Google, and Amazon algorithm misclassifications.

Participant 2 observed, “These were super effective where [categorizing] adult, child — people were totally comfortable. Male, female — a little less. Race — nobody wants to put anybody in a box.” This activity sparked a discussion where participants questioned “What does it mean to be inclusive? Is it sort of a proliferation of categories so we get more and more granular categories or is it the obliteration of categories altogether?”

Participant 3 suggested, “I wonder if this can be done with alternate sets of inputs that are meaningless to the real world. Take nuts for instance, it can have different colors, different sizes, all these sets of variables and you can use that as a way of showing what it can do and what it can’t do. After you see all the things that it gets wrong, then say how it gets people wrong. [This helps] understand why it’s being applied wrong.”

Participant 4 suggested a facilitated experience where the facilitator would “step in and say how do you know somebody is Asian or Female?” She said “If you can create an exhibit where people are asking what do I

At exhibit 2, visitors read examples of misclassifications of our heroes in history

Exhibit 3 is the categorization of gender, age, and race.

At exhibit 3, visitors sorted images into eight boxes labeled male, female, child, adult, Caucasian, Hispanic, Black or African American, and Asian.

Participants randomly selected attributes to create their fictional persona.

really want machine learning to do for me, what is the value of computer vision, what do I want it to do, how can I advocate for my government to set limits or for research to investigate the questions that I think are the most interesting, then that’s an amazing exhibit.”

Primary Research of Prototype Testing II

The next prototype testing analyzed how participants responded to stories from people who were impacted by facial recognition, both positively and negatively. Twelve participants adopted fictional personas and reflected on the true stories from their own perspectives and their personas’ perspectives.

Adopt-A-Persona

Participants first adopt fictional personas with randomized names, ages, gender identities, ethnicities, jobs, and Fitzpatrick skin type. Fitzpatrick skin type is a 6-point scale that describes how skin responds to ultraviolet light. Type I is white skin that burns and never

tans whereas type VI is black skin that never burns and tans easily.1 Participants randomly chose their demographics from a box of stickers.

Read and Reflect

After adopting personas, visitors read diaries of people who were impacted by facial recognition. Next, they write or draw how they felt and how their personas would feel about the story.

1. Ward WH, Lambreton F, Goel N, et al. Clinical Presentation and Staging of Melanoma. In: Ward WH, Farma JM, editors. Cutaneous Melanoma: Etiology and Therapy [Internet]. Brisbane (AU): Codon Publications; 2017 Dec 21. TABLE 1, Fitzpatrick Classification of Skin Types I through VI. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/books/NBK481857/table/chapter6.t1/ doi: 10.15586/codon. cutaneousmelanoma.2017.ch6

Visitor ID card.

Seventeen diaries of people impacted by facial recognition.

Participants were photographed during the prototype.

Content of the seventeen diaries of people impacted by facial recognition.

Participants reflected on the diaries from their own perspective and their persona’s perspectives. Some received responses of how participants felt were:

• “I feel dumbfounded at the lack of due process and mistakes that were made by the officers. Computers are tools used by people that do not and cannot omit responsibility. Honestly ridiculous! I feel sad Robert feels humiliated. It is not his fault.”

• “I feel a little confused because I am not very aware of police laws.”

• “Conflicted. I think this is a great use of facial recognition — to help abused children, but it’s a slippery slope.”

• “No sympathy, that’s the way it goes. I’m sure this moment won’t impact his life beyond one night.”

• “Glad corruption is coming to light, this feels like a horrible and icky thing to do.”

Some responses from the perspective of the fictional personas were:

• “As a journalist I see this too often to be surprised. It still hurts though to hear someone being falsely accused.”

• “My persona being a GenZ, possibly knows about facial technology through TikTok and she is happy the offender is in jail.”

• “My persona is a young person, however, I feel like he should have consciousness about specific topics. I feel a bit confused because he is also Hispanic, so I’m not sure.”

• “No sympathy, I’m sure he doesn’t truly know what prejudice really feels like.

The feedback I got from participants of this prototype was that it was difficult to reflect on the stories from the personas because of the numerous demographic categories. Participant 1 said “I felt a little odd. Writing with the persona that I was asked by you just because it’s like an experience that I can’t know, you know?” Participant 2 agreed “There were so many categories to kind of try to piece together a persona, so many disparate elements.”

The strongest motivator when reflecting on the diaries from the fictional persona was occupation instead of other demographics such as ethnicity, age, gender identity, or skin type. Participant 3 said “I was a journalist who lived in Alaska and I was responding to a violent police act. So I could kind of say, as a journalist, I think

Participants reflect on how they felt and how their personas would feel.

this person would be very curious about how this went wrong and where I’m wrong, as well as the over-policing of Native communities.”

The activity did not change opinions about facial recognition, but it broadened participants’ knowledge of the technology. Participant 1 said “I don’t think it changed my view, but the story about using facial recognition to find kids who are being posted and videos of them being sexually abused online. I was like, well, that’s the use, I hadn’t considered. I’m kind of anti-AI facial recognition, but I hadn’t considered that use for it before. And that, like, you know, that’s that might have planted a seed that might grow, we’ll see.”

Seven key concepts of the exhibition.

Part II Exhibition Project

The concept development was a proposal of the exhibition “Artificial Minority” that would take place at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. It would be an eleven-month exhibition sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. “Artificial Minority” encourages visitors to understand individuals whose lives were positively and negatively affected by high-stakes facial recognition technology.

Client Description

The client is the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a US Department of Commerce agency established in 1901. NIST’s mission statement is “to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.”1 In 2000, NIST created the Face Recognition Vendor Testing Program (FRVT), which conducts evaluations on facial recognition technology. This research provides recommendations to the government on how this technology should be used.

1. NIST. “About NIST.” https://www.nist.gov/aboutnist#:~:text=Mission,improve%20our%20quality%20of%20life. (2022).

Exhibition Site Description

The site is at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. “Artificial Minority” takes place at the 6,000-square-foot gallery on the third floor.2 Cooper Hewitt was chosen because of their mission to educate, inspire, and empower people through design.”3

Additionally, in 2019, Cooper Hewitt hosted public events for The Museums + AI Network, which was driven by 50 professionals and 200 public members. Hosting the exhibition in the Cooper Hewitt facilitates outreach to the local design community.4 Murphy and Villaespesa wrote “Museums, as social purpose institutions, must reflect upon their professional standards, alongside the law when it comes to developing and implementing AI technologies.”5

2. Cooper Hewitt. “Architectural Fact Sheet.” https://www. cooperhewitt.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Architectural-FactSheet-Formatted_PACC-Edits_PGM061614_2.pdf (2014).

3. Cooper Hewitt. “About Cooper Hewitt.” https://www. cooperhewitt.org/about/#:~:text=our%20mission,and%20 empowers%20people%20through%20design (2023).

4. Cooper Hewitt. “Curator, Computer, Creator: A Discussion on Museums and AI in the 21st Century.” https://www.cooperhewitt. org/2019/10/15/curator-computer-creator-a-discussion-onmuseums-and-ai-in-the-21st-century/ (2019).

5. Murphy, Oonagh, and Elena Villaespesa. AI: a museum planning toolkit. Goldsmiths, University of London, (2020).

Audience Description

The primary audiences are high school students, college students, and adults. The motivator type is the “Explorer” — people who are curious about learning about various topics. In 2022, a survey conducted by the PEW Research Center on 11,000 Americans suggested that people may not be aware of how much AI infiltrates our lives. 44% of the sample think they do not interact with AI daily. Only 30% of the sample had high awareness of the AI incorporated in chatbots, music recommendations, emails, fitness trackers, ad placement, and security cameras.1

Introductory Area

Entering the exhibition, visitors learn about the field of facial recognition. In the introductory area, they see an infographic describing how facial recognition technology works.2

1. Kennedy, Brian, Alec Tyson, and Emily Saks. “Public awareness of artificial intelligence in everyday activities.” https://www.pewresearch. org/science/2023/02/15/public-awareness-of-artificial-intelligencein-everyday-activities/ (2023).

2. Zhang, Xin, Thomas Gonnot, and Jafar Saniie. “Real-time face detection and recognition in complex background.” Journal of Signal and Information Processing 8, no. 2 (2017): 99-112.

An infographic in the introductory area.

The aluminum spotlight sculpture represents the goal of the exhibition, which is to spread public awareness of biases in algorithms.

A model showing the Adopt-A-Persona kiosks and rows of stacked books to symbolize the exhibition’s theme on people’s stories.

Visitors read diaries and write how they feel and how their persona would feel in response to the stories.

Visitors plug in megaphone cables and listen to people talking about incidents when they were impacted by facial recognition such as when Robert Williams was wrongfully arrested by the police because of algorithmic misidentification.1

1. ACLU. “Wrongfully Arrested Because of Flawed Face Recognition Technology.” https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Tfgi9A9PfLU&t=99s&ab_ channel=ACLU (2020).

Diaries Stations of Robert Williams and Andrew Conlyn.

Visitors sit under the directional speakers and listen to longer interviews of people’s experiences with the technology. For example, NY Times journalist Kashmir Hill talks about her eventful investigation on Clearview Al, a company who created a database of social media photos which they then sold to law enforcement.1

1. Hill, Kashmir. “The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/18/technology/clearviewprivacy-facial-recognition.html (2020).

Adopt-A-Persona Area

Entering the Adopt-A-Persona stations, visitors take a personality quiz and get a fictional persona and RFID card. Throughout the exhibition, there are four diary stations where people read true stories of people impacted by facial recognition and they reflect on these stories from their perspectives and personas’ perspectives. Their responses are recorded and they see responses from other visitors.

Everyday Activities Area

Afterward, visitors see a projection map of environments where facial recognition is heavily used such as airports, concert venues, supermarkets, and police stations. With motion-gesture sensors, they identify where the cameras are. As they walk along the narrow hallway with laser beams and security cameras, they see what the computers detect and recognize. They realize how facial recognition technology is inconspicuously incorporated into our lives.

Facial Recognition as a “Double-Edged Sword” Area

Next, visitors see a tri-fold wall with hanging plaques describing how facial recognition is used in the justice system, healthcare, surveillance, etc. One side is labeled “pros” and the other is labeled “cons.”

Public Trust Area

Visitors enter into a darkened room filled with acrylic sheets with vinyl-printed graphics. They activate light by stepping on trigger pads allowing them to read about advocacy efforts from AJL, ACLU, and Big Brother Watch.

“How much do I have to change myself to fit in?” Area

Visitors take part in a recreation of Buolamwini’s Aspire Mirror by wearing a personalized paper mask and choosing a face filter of someone they aspire to.1

Bias-Busting Area

At the bias-busting area, visitors learn to navigate through human biases such as similarity bias and conformity bias by playing the “Monopoly of Biases.”

1. Buolamwini, Joy. “Aspire Mirror.” https://www.aspiremirror.com/ (Accessed 2023).

Visitors decide which areas are pros or cons of facial recognition usage.

They learn about NIST’s facial recognition audits and how they mitigate algorithmic bias by setting measurement standards for the technology.

Visitors point to security cameras on a projected video of streets.

Visitors see projected videos of the computers detecting and identifying people.

A model showing acrylic panels and scaled figures.

Visitors see mirror tiles and paper masks that they can personalize with markers.

They wear their paper masks and go to the interactive tabletop.

A projector projects an interactive game on the floor and a motion sensor captures the visitors’ gestures.

First a visitor jumps to roll the virtual dice. Then moving to the designated spot, a prompt pops. Inspired by the family feud game, the prompt explains a type of bias and directs the player to list the most common bias abuse in a situation. For instance, if we land on similarity bias, we have to name the top 4 common attributes an employer might hire someone if they share the same characteristic; two attributes would be: same college and same hobby.

They answer critical questions about training data and application deployment.1

1. The Museums + AI Network. “AI: A Museum Planning Toolkit.” https://themuseumsai.network/toolkit/ (2019).

On a scale of one through five, visitors vote on “how much they supported facial recognition.”

Workshop Area

Visitors see a workshop where they are tasked with creating an AI start-up following an AI ethics workflow from the Museum + AI Network.

Exit Area

Exiting the workshop, visitors recycle their ID cards in the voting bins. They are reminded to share their experiences with facial recognition with the graphic of Buolamwini’s quote, “If you have a face, you have a place in the conversation.”1

Discussion

The goal of the exhibition “Artificial Minority” was to spread public awareness of biases embedded in facial recognition. It focuses on people and how their lives were impacted. It reveals the repercussions of biased AI, but it also explores the potential of facial recognition to improve people’s quality of life and the efforts underway that combat unethical AI. Visitors are encouraged to reflect on the stories and share their own experiences with facial recognition.

1. AJL. “Become an agent of change.” https://www.ajl.org/ take-action#:~:text=If%20you%20have%20a%20face,resist%20 harmful%20uses%20of%20tec. (Accessed 2023).

Design elements such as plywood backwalls with various wood veneers and gel stains represent the diversity of human skin tones. Wood is paired with acrylic to represent transparent AI and the efforts undertaken to turn the cryptic black box into a glass box. Triangular graphic elements representing voices add a sense of urgency to the tone of the exhibition. Extended experiences such as a digital exhibition and gamified marketing collateral continue the conversation outside of the exhibition.

Conclusion

The exhibition project applied the knowledge learned from the research in part one of the paper. Background information on how facial recognition technology works was incorporated in the infographics and timeline of technological advancement in the introduction area. Participatory museum techniques such as role-play with fictional occupations encourage visitors to empathize and view facial recognition from various perspectives such as police officers, lawyers, or journalists. They are also encouraged to share their own positive and negative experiences with facial recognition. The AI

ethics design toolkit by the Museum and AI Network was incorporated into the real-world impact workshop to allow visitors to practice a responsible AI workflow where they ask critical questions during data training and implementation.

The primary interview with Dr. Subhalakshmi Gooptu introduced the notion that “technology is a question of power.” There is unequal access to it and it can benefit one group while harming another group. The interview with Isabella Bruno shared the methods to facilitate workshops and create a comfortable environment for visitors to reflect and contribute. Prototype testing showed how people react to facial recognition classification and diaries of people impacted by the technology. Surveys gathered information about people’s opinions on facial recognition usage in different industries. Both primary and secondary research were fundamental to the development of the exhibition project.

Next Steps

The exhibition project was presented to exhibition design industry professionals at the FIT Capstone Event on December 8, 2023. Many of them found the “Artificial Minority” informative and thought-provoking. People found this topic timely with the current state of technology. One judge wrote “Overall a very current topic, and almost too much to still learn about this topic to put into one exhibition. But such an important topic, and important to create more awareness.” Another judge wrote “Balanced sequence of hard facts, emotional stories, hands-on workshops, and illuminations. Potentially overwhelming data, tamed yet effective.”

People were curious about what happens after the exhibition and how visitors can make an impact. The exhibition “Artificial Minority” would be a way to start and continue conversations about AI ethics. Public awareness of algorithmic bias can encourage responsible practices among researchers and legislators.

A scaled model of the entire exhibition.

Resources

ACLU. “Face Recognition Technology.” https://www.aclu. org/issues/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/ face-recognition-technology (Accessed 2023).

ACLU. “Wrongfully Arrested Because Face Recognition Can’t Tell Black People Apart.” https://www.aclu.org/ news/privacy-technology/wrongfully-arrested-becauseface-recognition-cant-tell-black-people-apart (2020).

AJL. “Become an agent of change.” https://www. ajl.org/take-action#:~:text=If%20you%20have%20 a%20face,resist%20harmful%20uses%20of%20tech. (Accessed 2023).

AJL. “Our mission.” https://www.ajl.org/about (Accessed 2023).

AWS. “What is Facial Recognition?” https://aws.amazon. com/what-is/facial-recognition/ (Accessed 2023).

Big Brother Watch. “About Big Brother Watch.” https:// bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/about/ (Accessed 2023).

Bryer, Tania and Revesz, Rachael. “Dr. Fei-Fei Li: The benevolent scientist.” https://www.cnbc.com/fei-fei-li-the-biggest-perils-andopportunities-in-ai/ (2019).

Buolamwini, Joy. “Aspire Mirror.” https://www. aspiremirror.com/ (Accessed 2023).

Cooper Hewitt. “About Cooper Hewitt.” https:// www.cooperhewitt.org/about/#:~:text=our%20 mission,and%20empowers%20people%20through%20 design (2023).

Cooper Hewitt. “Architectural Fact Sheet.” https:// www.cooperhewitt.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ Architectural-Fact-Sheet-Formatted_PACC-Edits_ PGM061614_2.pdf (2014).

Cooper Hewitt. “Curator, Computer, Creator: A Discussion on Museums and AI in the 21st Century.” https://www. cooperhewitt.org/2019/10/15/curator-computer-creatora-discussion-on-museums-and-ai-in-the-21st-century/ (2019).

A collection of brainstorming models and prototypes.

Discussion with Capstone Judges.

Democracy Now. “How AI Is Enabling Racism & Sexism: Algorithmic Justice League’s Joy Buolamwini on Meeting with Biden.” https://www.democracynow.org/2023/6/22/ joy_buolamwini_on_ai_risks (2023).

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. https://kids.britannica.com/ students/assembly/view/52059 (2012).

Georgetown Law. “The perpetual line-up.” https://www. perpetuallineup.org/ (2016).

Gupta, Ashwin. “Human Faces.” Kaggle. https://www. kaggle.com/datasets/ashwingupta3012/human-faces (2020).

Hill, Kashmir. “The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It.” https://www.nytimes. com/2020/01/18/technology/clearview-privacy-facialrecognition.html (2020).

Human Library. “About The Human Library.” https:// humanlibrary.org/about/ (Accessed 2023).

IBM. “Shedding light on AI bias with real world examples.” https://www.ibm.com/blog/shedding-lighton-ai-bias-with-real-world-examples/ (2023).

John Hopkins. “Study Suggests Medical Errors Now Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.” https://www. hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_ suggests_medical_errors_now_third_leading_cause_of_ death_in_the_us (2016).

Kantayya, Shalini, director. Coded Bias. Netflix, 2020. 1 hr., 25 min. https://www.netflix.com/title/81328723

Kennedy, Brian, Alec Tyson, and Emily Saks. “Public awareness of artificial intelligence in everyday activities.” (2023).

Murphy, Oonagh, and Elena Villaespesa. AI: a museum planning toolkit. Goldsmiths, University of London, (2020).

Najibi, Alex. “Racial Discrimination in Face Recognition Technology.” https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2020/ racial-discrimination-in-face-recognition-technology/ (2020).

NIST. “About NIST.” https://www.nist.gov/aboutnist#:~:text=Mission,improve%20our%20quality%20 of%20life. (2022).

Parker, Jake, “Facial Recognition Success Stories Showcase Positive Use Cases of the Technology.” https://www.securityindustry.org/2020/07/16/facialrecognition-success-stories-showcase-positive-usecases-of-the-technology/ (2023).

Simon, Nina. The Participatory Museum. Museum 2.0, (2010).

The Museums + AI Network. “AI: A Museum Planning Toolkit.” https://themuseumsai.network/toolkit/ (2019).

Ward WH, Lambreton F, Goel N, et al. Clinical Presentation and Staging of Melanoma. In: Ward WH, Farma JM, editors. Cutaneous Melanoma: Etiology and Therapy [Internet]. Brisbane (AU): Codon Publications; 2017 Dec 21. TABLE 1, Fitzpatrick Classification of Skin Types I through VI. Available from: https://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK481857/table/chapter6.t1/ doi: 10.15586/codon.cutaneousmelanoma.2017.ch6

Zhang, Xin, Thomas Gonnot, and Jafar Saniie. “Real-time face detection and recognition in complex background.” Journal of Signal and Information Processing 8, no. 2 (2017): 99-112.

Building an Anti-Racist Practice Through Critical Making Experiences

In

the Time-Based Media Classroom

Andrea

Cardinal

Assistant Professor of Design, Bowling Green State University

Abstract

The learning of complex subject matter, such as racism, is most effective when it is an intentional process of constructing meaning from information and experience (Watson & Reigeluth, 2008). As designers, we aim to take complex content and make it compelling for the user, connect it to their own life experiences, and hopefully affect their future actions and beliefs. As educators, we aim to impart our knowledge and concrete skills to our students so that they can become confident, ethical shapers of our media and culture.

As design educators, we are responsible for cultivating humans who are cognizant of how they replicate biases within the interlocking systems of structural inequality, including white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, capitalism, ableism, and settler colonialism (Design Justice Network, 2016). We must eliminate the harms perpetuated by wellmeaning design professors, professionals, and students when working on altruistic community-based projects. And while many of us encourage our students to be empathetic creators, it is not enough to merely imply anti-racism through “community engagement” or “design thinking” projects or by “decolonizing” syllabi. It needs to be explicit.

This paper will focus on current pedagogical and creative research using the process of the development of motion graphics and the production of interactive storytelling websites to move end-users and, maybe more importantly, our students toward a reflective level of cognition (Norman, 2004) regarding their own biases. The global aim is to move all audiences to this level of action by simultaneously engaging more of their sensory faculties—visual, auditory, and subtle digital interactions with this media.

Using a combination of a Critical Making Approach when teaching timeline-based software and the Design Justice Network Framework, Cardinal recently analyzed her design pedagogy to determine how to best engage students in addressing the effects of racism within our communities.

This paper and presentation will introduce examples of current motion graphics projects by design students on developing an anti-racist practice. In our course, students learn about historical and contemporary inequalities of anti-Black racism within our region through current data and locally produced media that tell our neighbor’s stories. This comprehensive approach allows students to uncover and acknowledge their cultural biases while developing their time-based media, user interface, and interaction skills. Attendees and readers can assess if their pedagogical approach would be served by teaching this form of visual communication to drive cultural change in their locales.

Introduction

Design is 75% white, and it is roughly 53% female (DATA USA: Graphic Designers, 2022). My student body has typically reflected these statistics, skewing even more heavily toward young white women. They generally come from areas around Ohio and Michigan, typically from upper and middle-class white families. While some identify as LGBTQIA or have various disabilities, few hold multiple marginalized identities, and most have been afforded many privileges in their access to education and artistic experiences. In 2019, inspired by my new position at Bowling Green State University and my study of the framework developed by the Design Justice Network (DJN, 2016 – see inset of principles), I reassessed my approach to design pedagogy with more intentionality and focus. The DJN principles were informed significantly by the work of scholar Patricia Hill Collins in her text, Black Feminist Thought, where she coined the term matrix of domination (Collins, 2009). The matrix of domination describes the interlocking systems of structural inequality, which include white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, capitalism, ableism, and settler colonialism. “Design justice urges us to explore the ways that design relates to domination and resistance” at personal, community, and institutional levels (Costanza-Chock, 2020). I was also profoundly inspired by the memoir HEAVY by writer and educator Kiese Laymon, in which he details his experience teaching at a predominately white private institution. Considering the matrix, my students’ and my own biases, I asked myself the following questions: what kind of student am I developing? Are the white women I teach in my “socially engaged” courses, with my “decolonized syllabi,” ever genuinely addressing their own implicit biases? How was I unintentionally fortifying or diverting their power? And how could I better design the experience in my classroom to address racism, specifically anti-Black racism, in our communities?

Using these guideposts, I re-wrote my Time-Based Graphic Design courses to no longer focus on animation, video editing, or UI prototyping for self-promotional purposes but to be a 16-week course on building an anti-racist practice through a critical-making process. The course framework references various curricula that I have engaged with as a learner, particularly the YWCA’s Dialogue To Change, the Creative Action Lab’s How Traditional Design Thinking Protects White Supremacy, and Campus Compact’s Anti-Racist Community - Engaged Learning: Principles, Practices, and Pedagogy, Co-Creating an Anti-Racist Community of Practice Where You Are

Design Justice Network Principles

Principle 1

We use design to sustain, heal, and empower our communities, as well as to seek liberation from exploitative and oppressive systems.

Principle 2

We center the voices of those who are directly impacted by the outcomes of the design process.

Principle 3

We prioritize design’s impact on the community over the intentions of the designer.

Principle 4

We view change as emergent from an accountable, accessible, and collaborative process, rather than as a point at the end of a process.*

Principle 5

We see the role of the designer as a facilitator rather than an expert.

Principle 6

We believe that everyone is an expert based on their own lived experience, and that we all have unique and brilliant contributions to bring to a design process.

Principle 7

We share design knowledge and tools with our communities.

Principle 8

We work towards sustainable, community-led and -controlled outcomes.

Principle 9

We work towards non-exploitative solutions that reconnect us to the earth and to each other.

Principle 10

Before seeking new design solutions, we look for what is already working at the community level. We honor and uplift traditional, Indigenous, and local knowledge and practices.

“You cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself as belonging to it and responsible for changing it.”

Grace Lee Boggs

In addition, the course synthesizes dozens of regional and national media and resources culled from continuing education trainings at Bowling Green State University’s Center for Faculty Excellence and the University of Michigan Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning (See Appendix A: Selected Resources List). These materials articulate the types and effects of anti-Black racism and offer solutions for recognizing and addressing disparities. At the start of the course, we spend a brief time on broader historical stories and figures with which most of us are considerably more familiar. Instead, the focus is on local and contemporary media so my students understand that racism is not from another time or another place but is here and is now. They are typically astounded by the statistics and shaken by the stories.

This paper will describe the pedagogical approach to the course as a whole, focusing on the development of motion graphics using Adobe After Effects while also learning how to develop an anti-racist practice for themselves. For the latter half of the course, they put these concrete and abstract skills to use, along with previous knowledge gained in our UX/UI course, to build a comprehensive interactive storytelling website prototype in Figma. Because the affordances of motion and interactive time-based work can engage more of the user’s (and the designer’s) senses more comprehensively, we can move them to a reflective level of emotion more effectively (Davis, 2012). The reflective level of cognition is where future actions and beliefs are affected (Norman, 2004), and experiences intentionally designed with this in mind can become essential agents of transformation within our culture.

Methodology

In 1997, the American Psychological Association researched Learner-Centered approaches to education. It developed a set of Principles in the following categories: Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors, Motivational and Affective Factors, Developmental and Social Factors, and Individual Differences Factors (inset, abbreviated for this publication). Watson and Reigeluth summarize multiple other studies regarding learnercentered approaches that emphasize the “importance of customization and personalization” with regard to instruction and stress that learners be “treated as co-creators of the learning process.” They advise that education should involve the broader community more explicitly and that learning tasks are “authentic tasks, often in real community environments” (Watson & Reigeluth, 2008). While their research focused on K-12 educational settings, our higher-ed classrooms are well-positioned to institute their recommendations more comprehensively. Design education is particularly well suited for this approach because design work requires us to thoroughly research our topic and client, determine a structure and point of view for an intended audience, and create engaging assets that communicate our findings. We already employ several of the outlined methodologies, albeit with less explicit or intentional construction. With the content of this course, I have considered these approaches more carefully, given the stakes of the task.

“The learning of complex subject matter is most effective when it is an intentional process of constructing meaning from information and experience” (Watson & Reigeluth, 2008). Week by week, I present the statistics and stories of anti-Black racism alongside the steps one must take to address the biases inherent in all of us

through our dominant white supremacist culture. We analyze how that came to be—and understand that as designers, we are amongst the most culpable. We shape culture through the media we produce. And if we are not intentionally deconstructing those biases, we are unintentionally replicating them. Collins addresses the design of our culture expressly, indicting those of us creating the visuals that saturate our psyches— “Taken together, these prevailing images...represent elite white male interests...moreover by meshing smoothly with intersecting oppressions of race, class, gender, and sexuality, they help justify the social practices that characterize the matrix of domination in the United States” (Collins, 2009).

Again, if we do not help our students intentionally deconstruct their inherent biases, they will unintentionally replicate them in the media they produce. As educators, we are called to confront these realities within our spheres of influence to ensure that our students are cognizant of the biases and how they show up in their design work.

Figure 1. Ibrahim, Andrew M. “A Surgeon’s Journey Through Research & Design.” A Surgeon’s Journey Through Research & Design, 2019, https://www.surgeryredesign.com/.

We begin the process by analyzing a static infographic entitled Becoming Anti-Racist (Figure 1), developed by Andrew M. Ibrahim, MD, MSc, for his work on redesigning healthcare (Ibrahim, accessed 2019). The graphic shows four nested circles featuring the title and the Fear, Learning, and Growth Zones. An arrow bisects each of the monochromatic circles, leading the viewer through the zones from left to right. Several “I” statements surround each zone’s title, with the most rigid found in the Fear Zone and the most receptive and actionable in the Growth. We spend a bit of time discussing the limitations of the graphic as is—for instance, did anyone actually read all the content in each of the nested circles? (Typically, no. We read a few, get the jist, and move on). We then discuss how the affordances of time, motion, and audio could allow the user to consider the characteristics of each zone more thoroughly.

I was least concerned with the final designs when I conceived this assignment. For most of my students, this is their first time experimenting with software that employs a timeline. The interface is intimidating, and the workflow is unfamiliar. We play for a bit to demystify the basic techniques of motion design and then get to work on animating the graphic. While my ultimate goal is for my students to become confident motion graphic designers, my primary motivating factor with this particular assignment is the absorption of the content, precisely because learning how to finesse the pacing of motion graphics takes an inordinate amount of time. Prior assignments required students to create a splashy self-promotional animation with their names or initials. For weeks, they would then just be looking at their name repeatedly when considering the movement, audio, and effects. I wanted to harness the process of learning timebased media to put instead statements like, ‘I seek out questions that make me uncomfortable” and “I surround myself with others who think and look differently from me” on their screens for the first five weeks of the course.

Therefore, the resultant artifact is considered more of a remnant of the process through a critical-making approach (Hertz, 2017). Matt Ratto coined the term “critical making” in 2008, combining “critical thinking with hands-on making, a kind of pedagogical practice that uses material engagements with technologies to open up and extend critical social reflection” (Hertz, 2017). Think of your favorite projects from your education. What were they? I hardly remember any of the papers I wrote or the tests I took, even if I succeeded in synthesizing

“If we do not help our students intentionally deconstruct their inherent biases, they will unintentionally replicate them in the media they produce.”

or regurgitating the facts. But I do remember the hands-on projects that accompanied the information I was learning. Those projects manifested through my synthesis of data and my making skills—science fair posters, creative presentations, or the development of elaborate games. This approach is prized in Learner-Centered education for being “...interdisciplinary, drawing from both specific and general knowledge and interpersonal and decision-making skills. Much of the focus is on developing deep understandings and higher-order thinking skills” (Watson & Reigeluth, 2008).

We were designers then as we are now. As design educators presently, we have the opportunity and responsibility to develop more of these projects for our students. For complex subject matter such as understanding racism, we can work to make the experience as meaningful and influential as possible. And through the slowed process of learning new time-based software, the students sit with the content for much longer than if they were merely typesetting the zones of anti-racism on a static poster. They manipulate the pacing and consider how to harness motion so they are more readily absorbed. And in doing so, they are absorbing the content themselves—I am transparent about this when explaining the course design to the students. This slowed, critical-making approach also allows students “...to step back and reevaluate the assumptions and values being embedded into their designs” (Hertz, 2017). And, again, referencing the framework of the Design Justice Network, I am helping them recognize that anti-racism is a practice as much as design or art-making are practices. You do it a little bit each day to become better.

The culmination of the course engages their practice through the design and prototyping of an interactive storytelling website focused on anti-racism in northwest Ohio. Interactive storytelling is a form of communication that combines both active and static media and sound design with subtle forms of user interaction to engage the participant more profoundly. Interactive storytelling media aims to shift end users’ thinking by creating engaging and compelling experiences of narrative content and quantitative data. Current cognitive science research confirms that acquiring new data is not adequate to help change a person’s mind about a commonly held belief. “We are also particularly resistant to changing beliefs that challenge our self-image and those connected to parts of our

identity” (Papakonstantinou, accessed 2024). Media outlets have traditionally incorporated narrative stories with quantifiable data to shift readers’ perspectives, but more organizations are now utilizing motion and interactive interfaces to further engage their audiences. This final project prepares students to work in a more comprehensive way, which the field will demand of them in the coming decades.

This group project mirrors a small design studio experience and requires the participation of everyone in the class, typically 15-20 people, who play various roles throughout the process. A small team of project managers ensures the process is carried out in a timely and equitable manner, and they run our weekly progress meetings. The other initial teams are writing, research, and design system developers. Together, the students determine the subject matter they want to convey and combine that with relevant stories and data to support their perspective. Often, they will need to conduct surveys and interviews with key constituents in our community. Once they have collected and designed all the ephemera, they begin the substantial task of prototyping the experience within Figma.

In addition to data and stories with subtle interactions to move users to a reflective level of cognition, I am proposing a third integral component: direct calls to action. Typically, when we learn about the devastating effects of, say, climate change, we might feel more

knowledgeable about the topic but less capable of acting to affect change. Giving the audience concrete ways to enact their new understanding is essential to fostering positive shifts.

In one recent class example, The Next Dorr, Dream and Discover Dorr Street, they started with the call to action (Figures 2–7). Dorr Street was the main thoroughfare for the Black community in Toledo for about 100 years until the 1970s. When you open the site, you create a postcard by choosing three illustrations of different community or business buildings to re-populate a stretch of undeveloped green space in the heart of Toledo, Ohio, along the Dorr Street Corridor. Over fifty years ago, the city of Toledo received nearly a billion dollars of federal money under the “Urban Renewal” program to demolish blighted buildings and rebuild the community infrastructure. These Urban Renewal programs were weaponized against predominately Black communities, and our story is much the same; nicknamed by the community “Urban Removal,” the city never rebuilt anything. In under three years, the city demolished 362 buildings, and while some homes were built on the now vacant land, businesses were never revitalized.

After you choose from a cafe, ice cream parlor, barbershop, dance studio, or gym to complete your postcard, the user navigates through the history of the Urban Renewal project on Dorr Street with infographics containing the data of the program,

Figures 2–7.

8–13.

14–19.

Figures

Figures

alongside video from the current community organizers and advocates describing their experiences. Interactive sliders allow users to compare the density of the onceprosperous community to the vacant properties that grow dandelions today. Shifting to horizontal scrolling enables users to see, from a birds-eye view, the miles of undeveloped land with clickable lists of what once stood on that particular block: locally-owned restaurants, repair shops, shoe stores, convenience stores, supply companies, grocery stores, car dealerships, pharmacies, gas stations, and beauty shops. All gone. A brief video of driving along the street today reveals empty lots, a couple of fast-food chains, and dollar stores. The site concludes with more information on the Dorr Street Coalition, a community organization dedicated to realizing the Renewal part of the promise. There are images of their annual event, Dorr Street Live, to demonstrate that the community is still here and could use all of those amenities again. The final page of the site is to review the postcard you made at the beginning and send it off to your city council member to advocate how our tax dollars be spent. This clever interface is informative and provoking, as well as hopeful.

Results

Though the first project focuses less on the final product or the end user, many solutions are quite successful and engaging. Because there is a significant amount of text to typeset and animate, typography is the focus for most animations, with few other elements incorporated. The most successful typographic versions have very considered pacing so the user can read all the content comfortably and understand how one moves through the different zones when undertaking an anti-racist practice. They also use audio thoughtfully, timing changes in visual imagery to the significant tonal shifts (Figures 8–13).

Students with more illustration-based aesthetics integrate elements to symbolize the growth one makes when becoming anti-racist (Figures 14–19). Illustrative approaches tend to be read more charitably; one is not inherently “bad” if they have implicit biases—they are growing. When they know better, they do better. The clouds can clear, and sunny skies prevail (Figures 20–25). Both approaches are appropriate, and different audiences will connect with each.

Figures 20–25.

For the websites, the students get the experience of tackling a project as one player amongst a team. They learn how to communicate more effectively and negotiate their wants and needs in a manner similar to the working relationships they are about to enter after graduation. They also have total control over the narrative, with the ‘design director,’ their professor, stepping in only to challenge stereotypes and incorrect or misleading information to ensure the validity and accuracy of their content. They leave the course with the most comprehensive project they’ve worked on during their time at our university, which addresses real, consequential social problems (Figures 26–31).

Aside from the development of motion graphics & a website, there are dramatic shifts in the students’ confidence in discussing racism and anti-racism. Concurrent with the development of their animations, they watch locally produced films, listen to podcasts,

interact with anti-racist websites, and view other animations (See appendix Resource List). I typically dedicate a few class periods to discussion, where students become more confident in asking questions to understand better the scope of the oppression, terror, and violence suffered by our community members. I facilitate these discussions but direct them to relevant data and Black and Brown creators, organizers, and educators. I have periodic anonymous check-ins using Padlet boards (Figure 32) to determine how they are receiving all of this new information. Their willingness to be honest and vulnerable is impressive and hopeful.

Through these experiences, they are also developing an understanding of how they can use their skills and relative power to advocate for things that may not directly impact them. They understand better how our communities are interconnected and that they should know about and support them.

Figures 26–31.

Conclusions

Because they have become so intimately acquainted with the framework of the zones of becoming an anti-racist, they understand where their limitations are and how to move away from fear, through learning, and into growth. They take the phrases, “I am vulnerable about my own biases & knowledge gaps” and “I sit with discomfort” to heart. They begin to embody, “I don’t let mistakes deter me from being better.” The Black and other students of color in my courses express that they are relieved to witness the changes in their classmates and are vocal about their support for us focusing on anti-racism. I am keen to minimize any harm to them by regularly checking in one-on-one. Focusing on their well-being remains my top priority when teaching these courses, and I have adjusted the content delivery, allowing them to opt in or out as needed.

Fortunately, I have had very few students push back on this curriculum in any significant way. But I am taking risks by making this the focus of our work, especially as Ohio state lawmakers are actively drafting legislation that would severely limit those in higher education to teach this content. Certain bills reference “critical race theory” and “divisive concepts” and would enact penalties as harsh as jail time for educators and eliminate any public funding from an institution that allows for this type of instruction. Currently being considered, Ohio Senate Bill 83 takes things a step further and would also make it illegal for our public institutions to require Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training for employees and make striking from work illegal. The fact that this type of legislation is being written, sponsored, given hearings, and votes is an indication not that topics of anti-racism should be avoided but makes it all the more evident that we must persist. The data and stories are on our side.

Figure 32.

Appendix A: Selected Resources

These are some of the resources that students interact with and analyze as they develop their initial motion graphics and then the final prototype of an interactive storytelling website.

Design Justice Network

https://designjustice.org/

YWCA NWOH

Dialogue To Change

https://www.ywcanwo.org/what-were-doing/racialjustice/ywca-dialogue-to-change/

Creative Reaction Lab

https://crxlab.org/

Campus Compact

Co-Creating an Anti-Racist Community of Practice Where You Are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAzC5IrZlVM&ab_ channel=CampusCompact

No Stupid Questions Podcast

Why Are Stories Stickier Than Statistics?  https://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-are-storiesstickier-than-statistics-nsq-ep-10/

Seattle Times

UNDER OUR SKIN

https://projects.seattletimes.com/2016/under-our-skin/#

REPAIR THE WORLD

Guide to Respectful Conversations

https://werepair.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ Guide-to-Respectful-Conversations.pdf

Peggy McIntosh

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

https://admin.artsci.washington.edu/sites/adming/files/ unpacking-invisible-knapsack.pdf

Tema Okun

White Supremacy Culture

https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/

Project Implicit

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

TOLEDO STORIES

Cornerstones: The African Americans https://www.pbs.org/video/cornerstones-the-africanamericans-frv4nb/#

Getting to 1 Lucas County

Infant Mortality: Black and White in Lucas County https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDW24ps1JEg&ab_ channel=Gettingto1LucasCounty

Works Cited

Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought. Routledge, 2009.

Costanza-Chock, Sasha. Design Justice. MIT Press, 2020.

Data USA: Graphic Designers. https://datausa.io/profile/ soc/graphic-designers#:~:text=The%20Graphic%20 designers%20workforce%20in,)%20and%202022%20 (274%2C798). Accessed 2024.

Davis, Meredith. Graphic Design Theory. Thames & Hudson, Inc, 2012.

Design Justice Network. “Design Justice Network.” Design Justice Network, http://designjustice.org Accessed 2019.

Hertz, Garnet D. Conversations in Critical Making CTheory Books, 2017, https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/320344201_Conversations_in_Critical_ Making

Howarth, Dan. “Design Industry Is 73 per Cent White Finds AIGA Survey.” Dezeen, https://www.facebook. com/dezeen, 31 Jan. 2017, https://www.dezeen. com/2017/01/31/design-industry-73-per-cent-whitelacks-diversity-finds-aiga-census-survey/#:~:text=A%20 survey%20of%20design%20industry,three%20per%20 cent%20were%20black.

Ibrahim, Andrew M. “A Surgeon’s Journey Through Research & Design.” A Surgeon’s Journey Through Research & Design, 2019, https://www.surgeryredesign. com/.

Papakonstantinou, Trisevgeni. “Facts Don’t Change Minds – and There’s Data to Prove It.” The Alan Turing Institute, www.turing.ac.uk/blog/facts-dont-changeminds-and-theres-data-prove-it. Accessed 20 July 2024.

Norman, Don. Emotional Design. Basic Books, 2004.

Watson, Sunnie Lee, and Charles M. Reigeluth. “The Learner-Centered Paradigm of Education.” Educational Technology, Educational Technology Publications, Inc., 2008, doi:https://www.jstor.org/stable/44429608.

“What Grace Lee Boggs Would’ve Taught Activists in This Moment - YES! Magazine.” YES! Magazine,https:// www.yesmagazine.org/democracy/2017/03/20/whatgrace-lee-boggs-wouldve-taught-activists-in-thismoment.

Building Retail Futures A Stakeholder and CommunityEngaged Approach

Amy Huber Assoc. Professor & Assoc. Chair, Dept. of Interior Architecture & Design, Florida State University

Arely Cavazos Interior Designer, DAG Architects & Instructor, Dept. of Interior Architecture & Design, Florida State University

Abstract

Over the past three years, our third upper-division studio course has transformed into a dynamic hub of creativity and collaboration. This reflective case study explores an essential component of this unique learning environment, where students are not just learners but active participants in community engagement and participatory design methods.

Near the end of this course, students take on the challenge of designing branded omnichannel retail environments. Working with a range of key stakeholders, they reimagine vacant, undeveloped retail spaces. Their mission? To create innovative, experiential retail concepts that resonate with the local market and defy the challenges posed by postpandemic shopping preferences and online competition.

The project’s pedagogical design is guided by SelfDetermination Theory, which asserts that enduring motivation stems from a sense of competence, connectedness, and autonomy among learners. During the project, students collaborate in pairs for an intensive four-week period. External relationships are forged at the project’s onset. At the project’s kickoff, base building architects, project developers, and leasing agents join the students onsite to summarize the intricacies of the building shell and the unique nuances of the surrounding neighborhood.

To inform their design concepts, students create surveys to the public to define or justify the suitability and viability for a variety of new-to-market retail spaces. Using this information, they conceptualize branded environments, including branded signage, environmental graphics, and branded merchandise. Students then present their schematic design ideas onsite to the collaborators at the end of the project in a poster session format.

The outcomes of this project are both informed and creative with students ideating a range of concepts, including sustainable clothing retailers, upcycled apparel stores, a range of hobby stores, and concepts blending retail with entertainment. Students have worked with multiple firms and developers on this project, with a recent partner even using the students’ work on leasing banners. Moreover, the collaboration has proved fruitful in helping the students to negotiate soft skills, their understanding of the built environment, as well as develop their application of evidence-based design skills. Moreover, the engagement helps build community capital for the collaborators, who celebrate the engagement on their social media sites.

Introduction

”For lease” signs, vacant spaces, and unbuilt retail caverns serve as stark reminders of the changing retail landscape, where the consumerization of technology has profoundly impacted consumer behaviors (Solis, 2021). While some stores have survived and even thrived in the increasingly diverse retail ecosystem, the past decade has largely been considered devastating for American retailers, with numerous stores and malls closing in the face of online retail and the rise of direct-to-consumer brands (Biron, 2019; Tyko, 2019). Despite COVID-19’s lesser-than-expected impact on the retail ecosystem (Petro, 2024), the pandemic notably worsened disruptions for retailers (Solis, 2021), who now also grapple with the effects of inflation, leading to another uptick in closures (Picchi, 2024).

Facing these challenges, many suggest that retailers innovate their spaces and operations to deliver highquality products, services, and experiences (Biron, 2019; George-Parkin, 2023; Marhamat, 2024). Among the retail trends identified by Forbes author Bobby Marhamat (2024) is a focus on local and communitycentric retail, which emphasizes unique local goods and physical spaces that foster community and connection. Our retail project is positioned within this space.

Background and Approach

Each year, around 28-30 students from two studio sections participate in the new-to-market retail project, which takes place after the conclusion of a twelve-week project centered on workplace design. The students’ objective is multifaceted: to better understand innovative branded retail design and merchandising tactics by exploring the drivers of consumer emotions, devising placemaking strategies for vacant unfinished storefronts, and formulating experiential design approaches to assist retailers in navigating the changing retail landscape.

Students are prompted to develop evidence-based brand strategies, including a custom branding language package and branded interior design solutions tailored to the preferences of local stakeholders and the surrounding market. To inform their projects, the students engage in meaningful dialogue with various stakeholders, such as the building’s architects, project developers, and leasing agents. These conversations ensure that the students’ design solutions address real-world challenges.

Additionally, students work in pairs to conduct consumer surveys, aiming to uncover latent needs and desires for products and experiences, aiding in their understanding of the local market and the type of retail establishment to design.

Project Structure

The four-week project begins with an on-site kickoff event, where students gather with our project collaborators, including base building architects, project developers, and leasing agents to gain firsthand familiarity with the building conditions and project site. The project unfolds through six key benchmarks, roughly two per week, guiding students progressively through their data collection, design process, and the creation of their project deliverables.

• The first benchmark centers on ideation and data collection. For this benchmark, students craft surveys for locals to ascertain suitable store concepts. They also curate custom mood boards featuring a range of conceptual elements and physical environments that may evoke desired emotional experiences, thus blending tangible and abstract ideas.

• For the second benchmark, students leverage gathered data to craft a brand strategy encompassing color palettes, font selections, and logo iterations. They also commence initial space planning through bubble diagrams.

• The third benchmark requires students to focus on space planning and custom store fixture design, emphasizing human-centered, ergonomic, and inclusive merchandise displays. They also consider strategic placements for wayfinding cues, environmental graphics, brand representation, and appropriate branded merchandise.

• In the fourth benchmark, students refine their space planning endeavors, incorporating circulation guidelines and logistical considerations. The design teams also develop schematic reflected ceiling plans, integrating lighting schemes that enhance the presentation of merchandise.

• In benchmark five, students begin sharing their design concepts through multiple perspectives, 3D diagrams, and elevations. As a component of this benchmark, they are tasked with curating the most fitting set of deliverables to present their ideas, ensuring that all

materials can be accommodated on a single poster board for the exhibition.

• The final benchmark prompts students to refine their deliverable package and craft narratives inspired by their design concepts. During the final class session’s on-site exposition, students engage in discussions with project collaborators, providing a valuable opportunity for feedback on their ideas.

Pedagogical Design: Self-Determination Theory

The project’s design is guided by Self-Determination Theory (SDT), which posits that human behavior is influenced by the social conditions in which individuals develop and function (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000). As shown in Figure 1, SDT asserts that an individual’s social environments shape their sense of competence, relatedness, and autonomy, influencing whether they exhibit proactive and engaged behaviors or, conversely, passive and alienated tendencies (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Competence is the belief in one’s influence over important outcomes, relatedness refers to having satisfying and supportive social relationships, and autonomy indicates the freedom to act based on personal choice (Stone et al., 2009; Niemiec et al., 2010). Satisfying these needs is thought to create enduring motivation, associated with productivity, creativity, and happiness (Stone et al., 2009).

SDT and its sub-theories, Organismic Integration Theory (OIT), and Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET) distinguish and explain the various types of motivation that

individuals demonstrate in different circumstances (Ryan & Deci, 2000). OIT characterizes and delineates different forms of motivation and the contextual factors that either facilitate or impede the internalization and integration of regulatory behaviors (Ryan & Deci, 2000). CET focuses on the impact of external factors, such as rewards and feedback, on intrinsic motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Extensive research has supported the use of SDT in the classroom (Stone et al., 2009), including in profit-seeking creative domains that balance commerce with creativity, including marketing (Rayburn et al., 2018) and interior design (Huber, 2015).

Types of Motivation

Ryan and Deci (2000) suggested that motivation exists on a spectrum, from having no motivation (amotivation) to being highly motivated from within (intrinsic motivation). Amotivation is when an individual feels completely unmotivated and unwilling to act. External regulation occurs when individuals take on tasks, accept goals, or abide by rules because of external pressures or rewards, meaning the motivation comes from outside themselves. Introjected regulation refers to when individuals take on tasks or abide by rules but do not fully embrace them as their own, acting to avoid guilt or anxiety or to boost their self-esteem (Ryan & Deci, 2000; Stone et al., 2009). Although there is some personal involvement with this type of motivation, it still feels external, thus leading to internal conflict or psychological struggle (Stone et al., 2009). Identification regulation refers to consciously accepting and valuing a task, goal, or rule, recognizing it as personally important (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Integrated regulation occurs when individuals fully adopt regulations into their sense of

Figure 1. Self-Determination Theory Constructs (Adapted from Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000).

self, aligning such tasks, goals, and rules with personal values and needs. Although actions driven by integrated motivation resemble intrinsic motivation, they are still considered extrinsic because they are directed at outcomes other than inherent enjoyment (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Work motivated by integrated regulation, perceived as meaningful, can be fostered with autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Stone et al., 2009). At the extreme end of the spectrum lies intrinsic motivation, which involves engaging in an activity for the sheer satisfaction it brings, along with a natural inclination to seek out novel challenges, expand capacities, explore, and learn (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Intrinsic motivation, deeply autonomous and epitomizing self-determination, is more likely to thrive in contexts marked by feelings of security and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

SDT acknowledges that actions driven by extrinsic motivation can transition to being self-determined when individuals identify with and fully integrate a task or goal. Consequently, through internalization and integration, individuals can maintain commitment and authenticity even when motivated by external factors (Ryan & Deci, 2000). CET, explains motivational variability, asserting that social-contextual events, such as feedback or rewards can conduce or undermine motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Accordingly, providing optimal challenges, constructive feedback, and the absence of demeaning evaluations have been found to foster intrinsic motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

Following this premise, our goal as educators was to drive student motivation toward the right side of the continuum by designing the project to foster autonomy, competence, and relatedness. To do so, we sought to follow the six paths, or principles to create autonomous motivation as outlined by Stone and colleagues (2009):

• Asking open questions that invite participation in open problem-solving.

• Genuine open questions should invite exploration and raise problems for consideration without implying the solution.

• Actively listen and acknowledge perspectives.

• Including reflective listening (i.e., mirroring the emotional content of the message).

• Offering choices within the project’s structure and clarifying responsibilities

• Asking how tasks can be accomplished, providing a meaningful rationale for uninteresting tasks and acknowledging feelings of disinterest.

• Providing sincere, positive feedback acknowledging initiative and factual, non-judgmental feedback about problems.

• Minimizing coercive controls such as rewards and comparisons with others.

• Limit the use of compensation, such as points and benefits

• Developing talent and sharing knowledge to enhance competence and autonomy (Stone et al., 2009).

Figure 2. Motivation Types (Adapted from Deci & Ryan, 2002).

Reflection

Guided by these principles, a consistent approach was upheld across all three years, despite changes in collaborators as opportunities arose. To underscore autonomy and choice, students were granted the freedom to select between two suites within each complex and were empowered to create the space’s program based on survey data. They also had the freedom to customize deliverables according to their priorities. Relatedness was cultivated through collaborative pair work, site visits conveniently situated within walking distance of the campus, and interaction with the project developer and base building architectural team. Competence was developed through consistent, constructive feedback, complemented by peer reviews emphasizing knowledge exchange and constructive critique. The following outlines the observed changes from year to year.

Year 1

In the project’s inaugural year, one of the instructors established contact with a local commercial developer involved in a mixed-use development near the college campus. Aware of the developer’s interest in community engagement and their past collaborations with other universities, the instructor reached out to explore potential participation. The instructor shared outcomes from previous semesters’ retail projects to manage expectations. The developer then invited collaboration with base building architects who provided pertinent documentation. The architecture team was also present at the onsite kickoff. Notably, the project was in the demolition phase, lacking a building shell for the design exhibition, thus the students presented their work on campus.

Year 2

In year two, the visiting instructor suggested using their firm’s building for the project. Most retail bays adjacent to their suite were unoccupied due to the building’s newness and its up-and-coming location. Moreover, collaborating with the building owner allowed the instructors and students to walk the two proposed bays and collect observations of existing conditions and site analysis. Prior to their walk through, students were given as-built drawings by the design firm as a base for referencing and documenting their observations. Throughout the student project timeline, the retail bays remained unoccupied and gave students the opportunity to present their design solutions onsite, forming a connection between hypothetical illustrations and tangible space.

Year 3

Witnessing the students’ excitement from being able to form their own spatial awareness encouraged the instructors to collaborate with the design firm and building owner from the previous year. The scale of the mixed-use building allowed the instructors to select a larger bay in the adjacent building to the previous bays. Certain built elements were not captured in the as-builts, which required students to take measurements and capture those existing conditions within their working models. This allowed for the instructors and practitioners to explain the importance of observing existing structural and mechanical elements that cannot move and need to be considered in their design solutions. Like previous years, students presented their work onsite and received valuable feedback from designers working in the collaborating firm and a building management representative.

Figure 3. Students Preparing to Meet with Collaborators and Local Stakeholders for Final Onsite Presentations.

Summary

The outcomes of this project are both informed and creative, with students ideating a range of concepts, including sustainable clothing retailers, upcycled apparel stores, a range of hobby stores, and stores that blend retail with entertainment. Students have worked with multiple firms and developers on this project, with a recent partner even using the students’ work on leasing banners. The collaboration has proved fruitful in helping the students to negotiate soft skills, an understanding of the built environment, as well as develop their application of evidence-based design skills. Moreover, the engagement helps build community capital for the collaborators, who celebrate the engagement on their social media sites.

”Students are not just learners but active participants in community engagement.”

Amy Huber and Arely Cavazos

Resources

Biron, B. “The Last Decade Was Devastating for the Retail Industry. Here’s How the Retail Apocalypse Played Out.” Business Insider, 2019, https://www. businessinsider.com/retail-apocalypse-last-decadetimeline-2019-12.

Deci, E. L., and R. M. Ryan. Intrinsic Motivation and SelfDetermination in Human Behavior. Springer US, 1985. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2271-7.

George-Parkin, H. “Retail’s Billion-Dollar Makeover.” BBC, 22 Sept. 2023, https://www.bbc.com/worklife/ article/20230922-how-billion-dollar-store-make-oversare-taking-on-the-retail-apocalypse.

Huber, A. M. “Diminishing the Dread: Exploring Service Learning and Student Motivation.” International Journal of Designs for Learning, vol. 6, no. 1, 2015, https://doi. org/10.14434/ijdl.v6i1.13364.

Resources Con’t.

Marhamat, B. “Council Post: The Evolution of Retail in 2024: A Glimpse into the Future.” Forbes, 5 Feb. 2024, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2024/02/05/theevolution-of-retail-in-2024-a-glimpse-into-the-future/.

Petro, G. “Retailing After COVID-2024: Like It Never Happened?” Forbes, 20 Mar. 2024, https://www.forbes. com/sites/gregpetro/2024/03/20/retailing-after-covid2024-like-it-never-happened/.

Picchi, A. “Store Closures Are Surging This Year. Here Are the Retailers Shuttering the Most Locations.” CBS News, 2024, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/store-closuressurging-2024-family-dollar-rue21-cvs-rite-aid/.

Rayburn, S. W., S. T. Anderson, and K. H. Smith. “Designing Marketing Courses Based on SelfDetermination Theory: Promoting Psychological Need Fulfillment and Improving Student Outcomes.” Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education, vol. 26, 2018.

Ryan, R. M., and E. L. Deci. “Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social Development, & Well-Being.” American Psychologist, vol. 55, no. 1, 2000, pp. 68–78.

Solis, B. “Ending the Retail Apocalypse and the Next Era of Post-Pandemic Retail Innovation: Insights from IKEA’s Chief Digital Officer.” Forbes, 23 Feb. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolis/2021/02/23/ ending-the-retail-apocalypse-and-the-next-era-of-postpandemic-retail-innovation-insights-from-ikeas-chiefdigital-officer/.

Stone, D. N., E. L. Deci, and R. M. Ryan. “Beyond Talk: Creating Autonomous Motivation through Self-Determination Theory.” Journal of General Management, vol. 34, no. 3, 2009, pp. 75–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/030630700903400305.

Tyko, K. “A Decade of Store Closings: The Biggest Retailers Lost This Decade.” USA Today: Money, 29 Dec. 2019, https://www.usatoday.com/story/ money/2019/12/29/decade-store-closings-biggestretailers-lost-decade/2750954001/.

Design for Healing Transforming a Hospital Playroom

Kimberly Mitchell Assistant Professor of Graphic Design in

the School of Design, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Abstract

Designers play a crucial role in creating healing environments for trauma-affected individuals by using trauma-informed design principles that emphasize safety, empowerment, and sensory considerations. An interdisciplinary Design for Health class undertook a project to redesign the oncology/hematology (HEMOC) infusion playroom at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital (ETCH). This project involved undergraduate graphic design students and graduate architecture students, focusing on enhancing pediatric patient well-being through the therapeutic power of play.

The students conducted comprehensive research on design and health, including interviews and tours of innovative healthcare and community spaces. Their designs incorporated color psychology and biophilic elements, aiming to create versatile, sensory-rich environments that cater to children aged 0-21 and their caregivers.

The final proposals were refined through faculty and community feedback and presented to ETCH staff, with the hospital now fundraising for implementation. This project highlights the positive impact of empathetic design on pediatric healthcare experiences.

Introduction

By 2026, we will face a staggering shortage of over 3.2 million healthcare workers (American Hospital Association, 2021). Each month, over 3% of the healthcare workforce quits (Gordon, 2022), driven by burnout and a search for flexibility and passion in their careers. These alarming trends have dominated headlines, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic. This crisis not only impacts healthcare workers but also highlights the need for innovative design solutions to improve patient care and experiences.

The healthcare crisis extends beyond workforce issues, often overlooking patient needs. Designers must prioritize the patient’s perspective, addressing challenges such as difficulty in seeing doctors, long wait times, confusing healthcare portals, and navigating medical facilities. Additionally, it is essential to consider the needs of care partners who accompany patients to appointments, as their needs often go unmet in the current healthcare setting.

To address the healthcare workforce shortage and improve patient and care partner experiences, better-designed products, environments, and experiences are needed. Accessible technologies and environments can ease the burden on healthcare workers and patients. Designers can contribute by creating spaces and experiences that promote health recovery through safety, empowerment, and sensory considerations.

Driven by a strong desire to educate the next generation of designers about the needs within our healthcare system and how design can make a positive contribution, a “Design for Health” class was developed and taught during the Fall of 2023. In this class, students discussed and analyzed case studies and worked with a community client to understand how person-centered design processes can improve the quality of life. The goal of the class was for students to explore complex health ecosystems and accessibility, using principles and methods of trauma-informed design and empathy to design and build more accessible, people-centered systems and experiences.

East Tennessee Children’s Hospital (ETCH) served as the community partner, enriching the curriculum with their real-world needs and expertise. Integrating play therapy

principles into the design approach, students aimed to create a more supportive and engaging environment for young patients. This paper will detail the semester-long interdisciplinary class project focused on redesigning the Hematology and Oncology (HEMOC) infusion playroom at ETCH, highlighting the collaborative efforts and innovative solutions developed to enhance the patient and care partner experience.

Community Partnership with East Tennessee Children’s Hospital

East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, located less than a mile from the university campus, is the only independent not-for-profit children’s hospital in Tennessee. In the 2022-2023 year, ETCH provided custom, high-quality care in 458,000 patient encounters (ETCH, 2023). With only two designers in their marketing department, ETCH had numerous design needs, including wayfinding for day-to-day operations and patient portal design experiences. After discussions with staff and administration at ETCH and consideration of the project timeline, the most urgent need identified was a new playroom for their growing population of pediatric cancer patients.

In the last year alone the ETCH hematology/oncology team treated approximately 350 patients with cancer requiring 2,613 doses of chemotherapy. The HEMOC specifically is a vital hub for patients and families while undergoing these and other types of lifesaving treatments. The clinic is open Mondays through Fridays from 8 am to 4:30 pm with a dedicated team of caring professionals including hematology/oncology experts and a full-time child life specialist who assists children in understanding and coping with their diagnosis.

This department serves patients from birth to 21 years of age. On average, patients spend two hours each day in the infusion playroom, with some staying as long as five hours daily, five days a week. The playroom can accommodate 10-12 patients at a time. The infusion room serves a dual purpose: first, as a waiting room for follow-up appointments, and second, if the child feels well enough, they use the playroom space to receive infusions.

Upon entering the HEMOC, a central feature for patients and families is the playroom/infusion center, as seen on the next page. This space provides children with an opportunity to engage in play, which is essential for

their development and communication. Recognizing the importance of play in childhood, the clinic’s playroom is designed to encourage various forms of play. It offers a range of developmentally appropriate toys and materials that support self-expression, medical play, and opportunities for mastery and control. This space is crucial for helping children cope with their treatment and is heavily utilized. However, the current setup was somewhat disorganized, with issues related to space and storage.

In redesigning the HEMOC infusion playroom space, it was essential to create a space that accommodates a wide range of ages and abilities while integrating medical equipment, such as IV poles, seamlessly into the play environment. The design needed to consider both passive and active play and aim to foster a calming and relaxing atmosphere for the entire family.

Trauma-Informed Design Framework

The class acknowledged the significant trauma faced by children and families using the HEMOC playroom due to serious, life-altering medical diagnoses.

A view looking into the HEMOC space, showingwindows looking into the suite on the right

Students began their design research by utilizing the Trauma-Informed Design Framework published in “Designing for Healing, Dignity, and Joy.” The research revealed that while trauma has profound negative impacts, healing is possible (Brisson, et. al, 2023). Design professionals play a crucial role in shaping environments that support the healing process.

Trauma-informed design is a transformative approach that recognizes the effects of trauma. It seeks to create spaces that not only prevent re-traumatization but also foster healing, resilience, and well-being (Brisson, et. al, 2023). The 2023 updated framework highlighted essential needs for trauma-informed design: Connection, Comfort, Choice, and Safety (Brisson, et. al, 2023).

Comfort is a fundamental aspect of design, as it demonstrates respect and consideration for the needs of those using the space. High-quality furniture, inviting textiles, and soft or natural lighting are critical elements in creating a comfortable environment (Brisson, et. al, 2023; Pathways to Resilience, 2023).

Spaces should promote various levels of connection: among staff, users, and the larger community. (Brisson, et. al, 2023; Pathways to Resilience, 2023). This connection not only enriches the overall experience but also fosters a sense of belonging.

Providing choice and agency is also essential. If possible, patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers should be actively involved in every stage of design and development, with their feedback, needs, and preferences considered (Tringale, et. al, 2022; Brisson, et. al, 2023; Pathways to Resilience, 2023). This ensures that users have control over how they engage with the space.

Safety is a central consideration in trauma-informed design, addressing both physical and psychological aspects. It is influenced by individuals’ identities and past experiences (Pathways to Resilience, 2023). Thoughtful design choices related to lighting and accessibility are crucial to ensuring a safe and supportive environment (Brisson, et. al, 2023; Pathways to Resilience, 2023).

The Trauma-Informed Design Framework, as detailed in the 2023 work by Brisson and colleagues, promotes a comprehensive design strategy that addresses a variety

of experiences and changing needs through the physical environment.

Megan Debolt, a child life expert at ETCH, emphasized, “Our goal is to create a space that fosters normal growth and development and meets children’s needs through play. We work diligently to prepare children for procedures, helping them cope with being in the hospital. We’re focused on encouraging children to get up and out of bed, comforting them, and making the hospital a less intimidating place.”

Playrooms in hospitals provide structured and unstructured developmental activity, medical play, diversion and entertainment for patients and their siblings (Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach, 2024). A child’s ability to play while in the hospital is a positive indicator of health in a challenging environment suggesting that the child can maintain their normal activities or is showing progress in their treatment, (Shaw, 2006). Play helps children adapt to the hospital environment by expressing their feelings, becoming comfortable, understanding medical procedures, and maintaining a sense of control through making choices (Koukourikos, 2015).

Phase One: Setting the Stage

The class enrolled ten total students—eight undergraduate graphic design students (six seniors and two sophomores) and two graduate students in architecture. The objective of the project was to promote health, well-being, and a sense of place using trauma-informed design principles.

The project began by engaging in an initial discussion with the ETCH administration to clarify the project’s objectives. The approach included comprehensive research, which involved reviewing case studies, scholarly articles, and TED talks, as well as conducting interviews with healthcare professionals and other key stakeholders. Students also conducted community tours of innovative waiting rooms and play spaces and learned through observation by watching children play and interact.

To ensure that the students understood and prioritized ethical observational research, all students completed and became certified in “Social & Behavioral Research” through the Collaborative Institutional Training

Initiative (CITI Program). This certification was crucial when involving human subjects, especially vulnerable populations such as children with cancer and blood disorders.

Phase Two: Research + Immersion

Phase two began with a detailed tour provided by the ETCH administration, which offered the class valuable insights into the existing playroom and waiting areas. This initial walkthrough helped students understand the space’s current layout, its functionality, and the specific needs and challenges faced by its users.

The entire HEMOC office suites was in a separate section of the hospital. The playroom/waiting room was located to the immediate right upon entering the suite. It was sectioned off with a door and a wall with windows, allowing a view into the playroom. A long, squared-off hallway surrounded the suite, where there were individual infusion rooms. The interior space of the suite housed a front desk and storage closets for toys and equipment. Inside the playroom, large infusion chairs were visible, along with a window that looked out

into the hallway, providing a connection between the playroom and the rest of the office suite.

The class also interviewed a patient’s mother who highlighted the importance of hygiene, preference for more stationary activity stations, and a desire for quieter play options. She emphasized that toys and books should be easy to sanitize.

During the tours of ETCH, students observed firsthand the innovative elements within the hospital’s environment. Key elements examined included the influence of visual elements on patient mood and recovery, how different color schemes can create a calming and welcoming atmosphere, and the role of lighting in enhancing the functionality and comfort of spaces. These immersive tours allowed students to gain valuable insights into the existing dynamics and potential for transformation within the playroom space.

The interviews highlighed several key pain points. The child life specialist mentioned a lack of storage and the responsibility of maintaining the fish tank.

A group of students pose for a photo, while touring the ETCH space

Additionally, there were concerns about the hygiene of toys due to the low blood counts of patients during treatment, and a need for more stationary activity stations that children could stand and play with for hours.

Students sought to provide an immersive survey experience that would enable anonymous engagement. However, hospital staff expressed concerns about disrupting patients and their families during their wait times, leading them to recommend a less intrusive approach. As a result, they developed an online survey that aimed to collect information on patient demographics, frequency and nature of playroom use, involvement of siblings and caregivers, desired features or amenities, and recommendations for better supporting caregivers. Students created a flyer with a QR code linking to the survey, which was then printed and displayed by hospital staff. Unfortunately, despite these efforts, the survey received no responses.

Because observing children in hospital playrooms wasn’t possible, the class visited two local community play spaces: Zoo Knoxville and The Muse. During these visits, students examined various sensory elements, including sounds, smells, and textures. Observing how children interacted with exhibits and experiences, students gained valuable insights into effective play space design. Students noted the division of play stations for different age groups and unique interactive experiences, drawing inspiration from these successful non-healthcare models. They also considered caregiver needs, such as diverse seating options and community-building spaces.

This additional layer of research allowed students to observe firsthand how these spaces were designed to address the unique needs of individuals awaiting medical care. Insights gained from these visits deepened students’ understanding of how thoughtful design elements can significantly contribute to the well-being and comfort of individuals in healthcare settings.

Phase Three: Design, Refine, and Collaborate

After the tours, each student was tasked with bringing in five different images for inspiration to share with the ETCH project. Students then completed a survey to outline their vision for the playroom design and to identify their strengths and weaknesses in group settings.

The survey results facilitated an ideal division: half the class focused on nature, while the other half focused on color. Each group consisted of one graduate student, one second-year student, and three seniors, resulting in two groups of five, each led by a graduate student. This structured grouping ensured a balanced distribution of skills and interests, optimizing collaboration and enhancing the overall project outcomes.

After visiting ETCH, community spaces, interviewing key stakeholders, and conducting thorough research, students began the design phase. Students participated in three critique stages with field experts:

1) Initial Stage: Met with child play experts from MUSE Knoxville to discuss preliminary ideas.

2) Material Focus: Consulted interior architecture faculty to address materials, emphasizing health-grade, safe, and easy-to-clean options, and construction considerations.

3) Presentation Design: Worked with graphic design faculty to refine presentation aspects.

Faculty critiques and insights from community stakeholders, especially experts in interaction and play, were crucial in refining their designs. This iterative approach ensured that their final designs closely aligned with ETCH’s specific needs and preferences, emphasizing a user-centric and community-driven design process.

Phase Four: Propose and Share

Each team proposed 2 ideas – one budget-conscious design, and one without cost constraints. Students presented their final ideas in the administration suite at ETCH.

One team delved into the psychology of color therapy and mood perception, recognizing the profound influence of color on emotions. This team sought to provide a visually stimulating yet soothing space that positively impacted the emotional well-being of the children undergoing treatments.

Wanting to avoid traditional sterile feel of a hospital, they carefully selected a color palette aimed at creating a positive and playful environment. The team titled their

“Our goal is to create a space that fosters normal growth and development and meets children’s needs through play ... We’re focused on encouraging children to get up and out of bed, comforting them, and making the hospital a less intimidating place”

Megan Debolt, Child Life Specialist at ETCH

Students engaged with many different interactive play experiences at both MUSE and Zoo Knoxville

Students interacting and exploring various ways of dividing spaces and unique seating options at the MUSE in Knoxville

playroom tHe pOp – offering a fun alternative name to the hematology and oncology playroom. To enhance the environment, the goal of this team was to utilize vibrant colors and geometric graphics to suit toddlers to teenagers. Their vision of a welcoming and inclusive environment took advantage of the existing space’s natural light and incorporated colored glass and custom furniture to encourage play.

Their first iteration considered the room in its current form – but adding custom furniture and storage. They proposed custom built-in seating and nooks and crannies. They proposed painting brightly colored abstract shapes on walls, where children could write on, and a wood-based sound barrier ceiling to help minimize echoing.

In their second iteration, they aimed to increase the available space. They chose to eliminate the existing dividing wall in the playroom, which had windows, and instead integrate it into the HEMOC suite hallway. Additionally, they discovered they could enlarge the playroom’s layout by extending the room outward. However, to accomplish this expansion, they had to raise the floorplan due to the lower roofline. Consequently, they installed stairs and an elevator, as the room couldn’t accommodate a ramp due to its insufficient length. They utilized colored transparencies and colored windows on the outside – bringing in lots of natural light to help aid in the healing process.

The second team concentrated on harnessing the therapeutic power of nature, incorporating natural elements into the playroom design. Recognizing the numerous benefits nature provides, they aimed to create a sensory-rich environment that mimicked the healing and calming qualities of the outdoors. By integrating biophilic design, plant life, and nature-inspired visuals, their goal was to connect children with nature’s positive effects, fostering relaxation and well-being in the playroom.

They named their design “The Tree Room,” envisioning it as a fantasy escape for patients. The team developed two themes, both reflecting our local community. The first theme included a mural featuring landmarks and buildings familiar to the area, while the second highlighted our neighboring Smoky Mountains. They used special space dividers to enchant the patients and

incorporated Montessori principles to encourage natural interests and activities. The second version of their design featured more intricate, customized elements, such as built-in trees, more distinct space divisions, and unique seating options.

Given that the playroom catered to children ranging from 0 to 21 years old, both teams recognized the importance of clear divisions of space. Creating an environment where all age groups could feel a sense of belonging while allowing for personal retreat if needed was crucial. The designs incorporated spaces for play, reflection, and relaxation, ensuring a versatile and inclusive environment that accommodated the diverse needs of the children.

Caregivers were also a key consideration in both designs. Workstations and varied seating options were strategically placed to accommodate individuals of different sizes, providing a comfortable and supportive environment for caregivers. Acknowledging that some children spent extended periods of time multiple days a week, during infusion treatments, the designs aimed to combat potential boredom. The playroom was conceptualized as an engaging and dynamic space, fostering a sense of curiosity and joy to alleviate the challenges of prolonged medical treatments.

The hospital is currently in the fundraising phase to bring the playroom redesign to fruition.

Conclusion

Designers are essential in shaping healing environments for trauma survivors by incorporating trauma-informed design principles that focus on safety, empowerment, and sensory needs.

Faculty critiques and insights from community stakeholders, especially those specializing in interaction and play, played a pivotal role in refining the designs. The iterative approach ensured that the final designs aligned closely with the specific needs and preferences of the community, emphasizing a user-centric and community-driven design process. The students presented their final designs for the revitalization of the HEMOC space at ETCH to the hospital staff.

The interdisciplinary design teams embarked on a transformative journey rooted in trauma-informed design

A view looking into the HEMOC space from the windows in the hall in version one, provided by the pOp group

Rendering from version one shows built-ins for sitting

Version two shows the expansion onto the rooftop. Not pictured is a wheelchair lift for accessibility

The first renderings from group two, shows divided playspaces, unique sitting, and a mural of all things local to the community

Additional storage, more unique division of spaces, and seating options were the focus of group two’s second renderings.

principles, dedicated to harnessing the therapeutic power of play, color psychology, and the calming influence of nature. The revitalized playroom not only addresses the physical needs of the patients but also recognizes the psychological and emotional dimensions of their healthcare experiences, demonstrating the significant impact that purposeful and empathetic design can have on the healing journey of pediatric patients and their families.

Resources

“2022-2023 Impact Report,” East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, 2024, https://www.etch.com/app/files/ public/68f7beb9-19eb-45d8-bc0f-2ee619c92848/ Documents/Impact%20Report%202022-2023-Single. pdf

“Activity Playrooms,” MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach, 2024, https://www. millerchildrens.memorialcare.org/specialties/cheresemari-laulhere-child-life-program/activity-playroom

Bartlett, Kristi, “Why Diverse Perspectives Matter in Healthcare Design,” IDSA HTX Design Series, June 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjeG-vFzzE0

Brisson, D., Holtzinger, C., Macur, R., Rossbert, L., Speer, S. R., Wilson, J., “Designing Healing, Dignity, & Joy.” Designing for Healing, Dignity & Joy: Iterating on the Trauma-Informed Design Framework,” Shopworks Architecture, Group 14 Engineering, University of Denver Center for Housing and Homelessness Research, and Bryn Mawr College, 2023, shopworksarc.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/06/2023-TID-Framework-v3.pdf

Brown Tim, “What Happens with a Design Thinking Approach to Healthcare,” TEDMED, 2009, https://www. tedmed.com/talks/show?id=7134

“Fact Sheet: Strengthening the Health Care Workforce: AHA,” American Hospital Association https://www.aha. org/fact-sheets/2021-05-26-fact-sheet-strengtheninghealth-care-workforce

Gordon, D., “Amid Healthcare’s Great Resignation, Burned Out Workers Are Pursuing Flexibility And Passion,” Forbes, October 12, 2022, https://www.forbes. com/sites/debgordon/2022/05/17/amid-healthcares-

great-resignation-burned-out-workers-are-pursuingflexibility-and-passion/

Herweijer, Milee, “Why We Should Be Using Science to Design Better Hospital Buildings,” Ted Talks, November 2017, https://www.ted.com/talks/milee_herweijer_ why_we_should_be_using_science_to_design_better_ hospital_buildings

Holmes, Kat, “Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design,” GeekWire, October 2018, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=SYu6wnZhrBU

“Key Takeaways: Creating Spaces to Foster Healing and Resilience,” in Pathways to Resilience, July 10, 2023, https://pathways-us.org/2023/07/10/creating-spaces-tofoster-healing-and-resilience/

Koukourikos K., Tzeha L., Pantelidou P., Tsaloglidou A., “The Importance of Play During Hospitalization of Children,” Mater Sociomed, December 27, 2015, (6):43841. doi: 10.5455/msm.2015.27.438-441

Lim, Angela, “Disrupting Healthcare without Hurting It,” Ted Talks, November 2019, https://www.ted.com/talks/ angela_lim_disrupting_healthcare_without_hurting_it

Murphy, Michael, “Architecture That’s Built to Heal,” Ted Talks, February 2016, https://www.ted.com/talks/ michael_murphy_architecture_that_s_built_to_health

Shaw R.J., De Maso D.R., editors. “Clinical Manual of Pediatric Psychosomatic Medicine. Mental Health Consultation with Physically Ill Children and Adolescents,” Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing Inc; 2006

Tringale M., Stephen G., Boylan A.M., Heneghan C., “Integrating Patient Values and Preferences in Healthcare: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Evidence,” BMJ Open, November 18, 2022, doi: 10.1136/ bmjopen-2022-067268

Vaughan, RM, “The Push to Redesign Doctor’s Offices,” on Zocdoc, May 8, 2019, https://www.zocdoc.com/blog/ the-push-to-redesign-doctors-offices/

Efficacy of Typography in Signage

A collaborative approach between regional transit authority and academic research institution

Muhammad Rahman

1 Assistant Professor Ullman School of Design University of Cincinnati

Micah Shannon Student Research Assistant Communication Design Ullman School of Design University of Cincinnati

Abstract

In contemporary urban environments, urban signage and wayfinding serve as crucial elements for navigation, information accessibility, and enhancing the overall urban experience for residents and commuters. However, challenges arise due to diverse interdisciplinary factors that designers must navigate to meet the needs of users effectively. To address these challenges, the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) entered an intergovernmental agreement with the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) to provide comprehensive design, research, and urban planning services over the next three years (2023-2025) in Cincinnati. Implementing the ‘research through design’ methodology, an interdisciplinary team comprising faculty from the School of Planning and School of Design focuses on the convergence of city-wide transit infrastructures, particularly bus stops, with public spaces. Moreover, the research explores the integration of technology into typography to enhance the effectiveness of signage within urban contexts. Through this project, the research team emphasizes community-engaged and interdisciplinary collaboration, underscoring the importance of cooperative efforts between governmental and academic institutions in addressing complex urban challenges. Ultimately, the project aims not only to advance academic involvement in signage design but also to create accessible, legible, and visually compelling signage solutions by leveraging interdisciplinary expertise and technological advancements.

1 corresponding author rahmanmd@ucmail.uc.edu

Introduction

University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) entered an intergovernmental agreement with the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) to provide comprehensive design, research, and urban planning services over the next three years (2023-2025) in Cincinnati. Implementing the ‘research through design’ methodology, an interdisciplinary team comprising faculty from the School of Planning and School of Design focuses on the convergence of city-wide transit infrastructures, particularly bus stops, with public spaces.

Our objective is to prioritize accessible design, establish clear visual hierarchies for complex information, and integrate technology to streamline communication in urban environments while enhancing user experiences and fostering community connections. Critical attention is given to macro and micro typographic details to seamlessly integrate bus stop signage into the broader urban systems design. This collaborative effort between intergovernmental agencies and academic institutes aims to define collective goals, engage stakeholders, and innovate new approaches to enhance legibility and real-time engagement with users. Moreover, the research explores the integration of technology into typography to enhance the effectiveness of signage within urban contexts. Through this project, the design and research team emphasizes community-engaged and interdisciplinary collaboration, underscoring the importance of cooperative efforts between governmental and academic institutions in addressing complex urban challenges. Ultimately, the project aims not only to advance academic involvement in signage design but also to create accessible, legible, and visually compelling signage solutions by leveraging interdisciplinary expertise and technological advancements.

Intergovernmental Collaboration

This article focuses solely on presenting phase one (01) of developing an urban signage system in collaboration between SORTA and an interdisciplinary DAAP team. Metro is Southwest Ohio’s fixed-route bus service, serving Hamilton County residents and providing commuter routes into Cincinnati. It operates as a nonprofit, tax-funded public service of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) and facilitated 10 million rides in 2022 in the Greater Cincinnati area. Alongside SORTA teams, the DAAP research team

suggested and co-developed a visual identity refresh for Metro, established a uniform and simplified convention for the signage system across the entire Metro network, implemented modular signage with inclusive color codes, transit network maps for simplified navigation, and created a cohesive city identity through these visuals and legible artifacts. The design team, led by Muhammad Rahman, Communication Design Professor and his communication design student Micah Shannon (authors) among others in the group of student research assistants, applied the provided content, text, and data with researched models to design a proportionate system integrated into the newly formulated wayfinding system for the Go Metro Bus Stops across the city routes. Rigorous collaborative teamwork between internal communication designers at SORTA, urban designers, architects, planners, transportation engineers, design students and manufacturers, along with community engagements, was integrated into the process.

Methodology

The collaboration, which commenced in March 2023, initially focused on collecting physical data for all stops along a pilot test on Route 17. The database provided by Metro listed 220 stops along the route, serving the city of Cincinnati from Downtown to Mount Healthy and back. The decision to select Route 17 was made based on Metro’s interest due to a significant overlap with the proposed Hamilton Avenue Corridor Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line. The primary objective was to assess the physical amenities of all bus stops along Route 17 to support future tasks, such as developing data around these stops or providing sign and shelter design suggestions for these public spaces.

Secondly, an empirical signage survey was employed to understand the transit signage landscape. This also included an array of bus-stop physical survey, coordination with the core team, discussions with the internal communication teams within the agency, stakeholders etc.

Application of strategic choices for typefaces with better hierarchy, typographic attributes for public display, appropriate color contrasts for universal access, and effective use of suitable materials were included. The signage design used informational hierarchy to convey the important information first. The design researchers considered providing information in multiple sizes and

formats (e.g., text, symbols, and graphics) to cater to a recognizable brand attribute. The effects of typographic cues, such as bold, underline, italic, capitals, small caps, etc., have been explored (Dyson and Gregory, 2002), and The Five Hat Rack Principle (Wurman, 1989), which asserts classic organizational strategies regardless of the specific application: location, alphabetical, time, category, and hierarchy (acronym: LATCH)—all of these helped the collaborative team to understand the systematic framework. The newly formed eXperiential Design Lab (XDL) developed a signage module system and prototype that communicates informational subsections, typographic legibility, and a modular signage system integrating hierarchies in typography, comprising mostly of icons, location names, numerical data, graphic forms, potential symbols, and other related variables for the signage. The aim was to reduce redundancy to enhance clarity and freshness in the visual artifacts.

Central to this study is a highly detailed design process focused on enhancing legibility. Typeface choice plays a pivotal role in ensuring clarity and comprehension, and therefore, meticulous analysis of typographic attributes and their impact on readability is conducted.

Thirdly, the structure and organization of the typographic interventions were recommended to be simple with strong visual hierarchy and functionality addressing fundamental communication design principles. The design research team also explored how the structure and organization of route and stop info, along with type

“The aim was to reduce redundancy to enhance clarity and freshness in the visual artifacts.”

size, weight, letter-spacing (kerning), word-spacing, leading, alignment, and other typographic treatments affect how passengers would understand the message easily. Moreover, the intention was to design the busstop signage that contributes to the contemporary yet cohesive visual identity of an urban and thriving city like Cincinnati, where the capital on signage design system was introduced for the first time. The research team conducted a community survey to understand the legibility, order of the hierarchy, and readability aspects.

Lastly, the design research team used the Visual Attention Software (VAS) by 3M to understand the areas of interest, visual hierarchy of elements, and user’s gaze sequence to reorganize and refine the initial prototype. Physical mockups and fine comparisons were also implemented along with user surveys before collaborating with manufacturers to ideate and iterate with the construction details and choice of materials. The team is currently gathering the second round of feedback from commuters, drivers, transportation authorities, and other internal stakeholders to identify more design opportunities and iteratively refine the signage system based on this feedback.

“Typeface choice plays a pivotal role in ensuring clarity and comprehension...”

Research Through Design Case studies/Benchmarking

The team began by studying several successful public transit signage systems from around the world to understand the typography, color, information hierarchy, and structural form of the signs. The team then conducted a more localized study of 43 public bus signage systems throughout the Midwest (Figure 1) and even outside United States to understand factors such as typography styles and number of colors used and overall information hierarchy (Figure 2). Through this process, they began to identify key pain points in existing signage

systems including: visual inconsistencies in typefaces, colors, sizes, and alignment; lack of visual indication that the area was a bus stop; low legibility; lack of information about the stop and routes; confusing and overcrowded information; and oversimplification with nowhere to access more information.

Basic Forms

In beginning to develop a system, the team established 4 modules of information to be combined per sign pole. First is the Bus Stop Indicator, which visually informs viewers that the pole is a bus stop. Second is the Bus Stop Sign, which gives information about that particular stop, such as the stop name and ID. Third is the Modular Route Signs, which each represent one of the bus routes available at that stop and include route-specific info such as the route name and number. Last is the Info Sign which contains a QR code and contact info so users can

access information about bus routes and schedules. The team then began a broad exploration of how to combine the individual modules, playing with shape and form, hierarchy, color, number and arrangement of signs, iconography styles, and Metro’s logo and branding.

Proportional System

The team used the Fibonacci series as a basis for a proportional system and devised a 0.25 inch grid system to consistently divide up the signage flag real estate (Figure 3). They then explored a variety of structural sytems and bolting methods, taking into consideration cost, functionality, and aesthetics. This also included an array of bus stop physical surveys, coordination with the SORTA leadership, and series of discussions with SORTA’s internal communication teams including vendors, fabricators, and industry stakeholders.

Figure 1: Study sample of different bus stop signs in the Midwest region

Figure 2: Study sample of different bus stop signs in the US and Europe region

“Uniquely squared off terminals make the letters take up less horizontal real estate, provide for even, rhythmic spacing, and soften the overall look of the letterforms.”

Color Contrast

SORTA’s internal survey and focus group engagement with the community ensured the team that people are overall familiar with the existing Metro branding. Thus, the team embraced the green and blue color palette moving forward, making minor adjustments towards better contrast and accessibility by ensuring that color pairs had a high color contrast ratio of at least the minimum accessibility requirement of 4.5 : 1. The authors then worked with the fabricators to select adjusted PMS coated colors for the signage. The color contrast ratio between the green and blue was recorded as 6.47 : 1.

Typography Study

A key consideration of the design was the typography and how it could be used as a communication device to ensure clarity and viewer comprehension. Meticulous analysis of typographic attributes and their impact on legibility and readability was conducted to ensure this. The authors began by looking at the existing type on Metro signage to see where there was room for improvement. The old typeface Metro uses is Optima,

Figure 3: Proportional gridding system and physical analysis of sign flag iterations. Photo: Muhammad Rahman

a glyphic serif which was designed in the 1950’s and takes inspiration from ancient stone-chiseled letterforms on Roman capitals. Though legible, this typeface is antiquated and does not convey a contemporary feel. The team also observed several similar letterforms that are indistinguishable at a distance (e.g. the lowercase “I”, uppercase “I”, and “1”) and noted overall irregularities between forms that, in the context of transportation signage, lead to visual clutter. Additionally, some of the capital letterforms take up a considerate amount of horizontal space.

In their review of several hundred typefaces, the team looked for typefaces that met the following criteria: a high x-height, open counters, and uniformity as an overall system. They also took into consideration the inherent personality of each typeface, avoiding typefaces that appeared overly stagnant or clinical with sharp angles and rigid lines and selecting ones that felt more friendly and approachable with softer, rounder forms (Figure 4).

With these criteria, the authors selected 17 main typeface contenders. From there, the authors began testing legibility from different distances and analyzed the full glyph set for each of these 17 typefaces, noting any problematic characters that acted as anomalies in the system and weighing the pros and cons of each.

Museo Sans was a strong contender with its friendly, rounder forms. However, its capital ‘M’ features angular stems that occupy considerable space, and a few strong anomalies within the type system disrupt the uniformity. Additionally, the softer, geometric circular forms take up a lot of horizontal space. Darkmode, known for its excellent legibility due to its open counter spacing

seemed plausible, but the terminals of its numeric figures are very sharp and the ‘O’ and ‘0’ were visually indistinguishable. Overpass seemed like a good option given its background as a typeface designed specifically for highway signs. Nevertheless, the descender of the lowercase ‘g’ appears abrupt and overly open and, similar to Darkmode, the ‘O’ and ‘0’ are visually indistinguishable.

In looking at these comparisons for each typeface, the team settled on Navigo as the most suitable typeface. Originally designed for the wayfinding system and visual identity of the Moscow City District, Navigo has a strong visual system with uniformity and a clear relationship between curve and stems. Initially, the team created a 2x2 matrix to plot Navigo against the 17 typeface candidates, first comparing the degree of open counters and x-heights. Navigo placed lower than most of the alternatives in both of these categories, but still qualified as having open counters and a tall x-height (over 65% of the cap height). Next the team compared the personality of the typefaces, plotting along two scales: from cold to friendly and from eclectic to modern. Navigo placed as one of the leaders in the modern and friendly quadrant (Figure 5).

Navigo is highly legible with large counters and circular forms combined with a darker contrast and typographic color that give it a strong visual presence. Uniquely squared off terminals make the letters take up less horizontal real estate, provide for even, rhythmic spacing, and soften the overall look of the letterforms. Also, no anomalies were found in the glyph set, the typeface having a strong overall sense of uniformity. The tabular numeric 1 has a serif foot which distinguishes itself from

Figure 4: Study of typographic color analysis.

“Navigo’s high legibilty with large counters and circular forms are combined with a darker contrast and typographic color...”

a capital “I” and lowercase “l” (Figure 6) and removes the need for the traditional kerning process to adjust the gaps between 1 and other numbers.

The team further evaluated Navigo’s effectiveness by doing direct comparisons against some popular typefaces known for legibility (Figure 7). The authors looked at Google’s very demanding Proxima Nova due to very similar overall forms and features to Navigo. In Navigo, the ascenders of the r and f and the base of the t complete a full curve rather than stopping short, emphasizing the friendly circular language throughout (seen also in the g, 2, 3, and 5). They also did a direct comparison with Helvetica Neue, which has a slightly higher x-height than Navigo (Figure 8). Traditionally,

Helvetica would arguably win the legibility test for its marginally higher x-height. In comparing the shapes that the letterforms create however, the team realized that the smaller x-heights of Navigo, combined with the other variations in the letterforms, create better contrast and a subtly better variation in the overall shape of words, whereas Helvetica is much more clinical, homogenous, and relatively tall. Navigo’s smaller x-height also increases the perceived space/size of the ascenders and descenders. Lastly, the openness and closeness of the counter forms were examined in close detail to understand the visual language.

Figure 5: Typeface personality study using a 2x2 matrix

Figure 6: Study of tabular lining in the glyph set of Navigo typeface.

Figure 7: Comparisons of typographic features between Navigo and competitors. Courtesy: eXperiential Design Lab, DAAP, UC.

Figure 8: Details comparisons of typographic features between Navigo and Helvetica Neue. Courtesy: XDLab, DAAP, UC.

Signage Module

Throughout the design process, numerous revisions were made to unify the system and minimize the area of the signage to reduce overall costs. The team developed a modular system for the route signs that could accommodate either 1, 2, or 3 routes being printed on a single flag. The team also divided the poles into two categories, those with 1-4 route signs (the vast majority of the bus stops) and those with more than 4, using a larger gridded sign displaying only the route numbers for the latter. Ideal for downtown stops with numerous routes, the grid accommodates up to 15 routes with a smaller list sign placed at eye level with the full list of numbers and names for reference.

Community Engagement

The Strategic Transit Engagement to Expand Ridership (STEER) Advisory Committee is comprised of diverse individuals from various communities in the Cincinnati area who have an interest in public transit (Figure 9). The goal of the committee is to provide feedback and suggest improvements and recommendations on plans, policies and services offered by Metro. It was such an insightful process to use the Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) method from the very beginning.

Visual Attention Software Testing

As the design progressed, the team delved further using the Visual Attention Software (VAS) by 3M to understand the areas of interest, visual hierarchy of elements, and user’s gaze sequence to reorganize and refine the initial prototype. Using VAS, the team analyzed heatmaps and other visual data to assess the overall effectiveness of the signage in different locations and to compare individual iterations (Figure 10).

Layout Considerations

One consideration the team took into account is the length of route and stop names, making sure that the flag composition felt well-balanced visually and that the provided space could accommodate the longest names. In laying out the flags, the team noticed that aligning the cap height of the route names with the cap height of the route numbers created awkward gaps between single- and double-line flags. They tested vertical center alignment and aligning the cap heights of the route number and name before eventually settling on the rule that the x-heights of single line route names would be aligned to the x-height of the route number, preventing the awkward spacing of the other options.

Figure 9: Metro’s Strategic Transit Community Engagement with STEER Committee using the Signage Prototype. Courtesy: SORTA

Figure 10: Using VAS software tests of signage to analyze visual patterns and hierarchy. Image Courtesy: Experiential Design Lab, UC

Figure 11: Latest version of the full signage design system. Photo-realitic render courtesy: eXperiential Design Lab, DAAP, UC.

Limitation of the Study

Like much empirical work, this research has limitations resulting from time constraints. Our research was mostly limited to empirical visual studies of on-premise signage with some technogical data from VAS simulation. The latest built prototype (Figure 11) along with ongoing surveys and interviews with the bus drivers, facility managers and public users will connote an even deeper understanding of readability and legibility and choices of accessible and inclusive size, alignment, hierarchy using the efficacy of typography.

Core Findings

Some key insights that the team has gathered throughout this project:

• Use of typography as an effective communication device is often sorely neglected in public bus signage.

• The best way to combat this carelessness in design is with intentionality, understanding the user through extensive typographic research and designing directly for their needs with great care.

• Creating accessible, legible, and visually compelling signage solutions is made possible by leveraging interdisciplinary expertise and technological advancements.

• Collaborative research leads to a well-rounded understanding of the problem and oppportunity space. This interdisciplinary interaction enables the team to create a nuanced solution that goes far beyond the capabilities of a single deliverable designed in a vacuum.

Conclusion

The team is currently gathering the second round of feedback from commuters, drivers, transportation authorities, and other internal stakeholders to identify more design opportunities and iteratively refine the signage system based on this feedback. They are continuing to explore how the type size, weight, letterspacing (kerning), word-spacing, leading, alignment, and other typographic treatments affect how well passengers understand the message. By creating prototypes, the team has been able to test these factors and gather critical feedback from users, community, and, expecially, the bus drivers and working staff at the SORTA facilities.

“The best way to combat this carelessness in design is with intentionality...”

This exciting collaborative approach between a regional transit authority and a R-1 academic research institution leverages academic expertise to enhance transit operations, while providing real-world insights on typefaces, accessibility, and opportunities for practical imperative funded research, creating bridges for knowledge-share and innovations. This partnership fosters improved transit wayfinding solutions, emphasized the importance of the efficacy of typography and advances in transportation studies. It connects people with places and possibilities.

Acknowledgement

The research through design has been made possible through generous and collaborative support from the SORTA and their 3-year intergovernmental agreement with the Ullman School of Design and School of Planning, College of DAAP, University of Cincinnati.

References

Beier, Sofie. (2012). Reading Letters: Designing for Legibility. BIS.

Bringhurst, R. (2004). The Elements of Typographic Style (3rd ed.). Hartley & Marks, Publishers.

Lupton, E. (2024). Thinking with Type. Princeton Architectural Press. NY.

Puhalla, D. (2020). Design elements: Form and Space. Cognella, Inc.

Visocky O’Grady, J., & Visocky O’Grady, K. (2008). The Information Design Handbook. How Books.

Wurman, R. S. (1989). Information Anxiety (1st ed.). Doubleday.

Exploring Exhibition Design: Unraveling

Narratives

Utilizing principles of Exhibition Design to mobilise diverse narratives Arundathi Thillai

Rajan

Final year student of Exhibition Design, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India.

Abstract

This paper explores the potential of exhibition design as a discipline to present and conceptualize spatial experiences as an encounter with the unexpected and the undocumented. Although the act of ‘exhibition-making’ has been a part of human culture for centuries, the development of exhibition design as a distinct discipline has been a fairly recent development, with its roots in the modernist movements of the 20th century. Exhibition design was formally introduced during the late 1970’s as a professional discipline at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

Formally, the act of ‘exhibition-making’ can be defined as the effort to harness physical space and visual storytelling methods to create environments that communicate. While most of us would be acclimated with the prevailing applications of the discipline in spaces such as museums and art galleries, when observed upon, one can recognize slivers of exhibition design not just in spaces designed for recreation, but also spaces that are functional, right from hospitals to airports. It is this novelty that drew me towards exploring intersections between exhibition design and data physicalization.

By examining two projects that were done during 2022-2023, this paper illustrates how exhibition design can be wielded to scrutinize the legitimacy that museums, as institutions, can confer upon popular narratives. Additionally, it seeks to identify avenues and spaces where narratives can be unraveled through qualitative data representation.

Project 1

Title: Borders and Boundaries

Project Duration: 8 weeks

Proposed Timeline: 10 years

Methodologies:

Participatory Action Research: An approach to community-based research emphasizing participation, collaboration, and action, which seeks to understand the world by trying to change it.

Battle of the Story: Harness the power of stories to expose oppressive beliefs and show how another reality is possible.

Theories:

Critical Multiculturalism: Disrupts power structures by challenging the subjugation of marginalized cultures, questioning power and privilege, and acknowledging knowledge as a process.

Artivism: Harnesses the critical imagination to design events and strategies that provoke new questions and new meaning in pursuit of more respectful ways of being.

Introduction

Borders and Boundaries was realized as the outcome for a narrative design project titled as Future Museums. The result was a proposal for the construction of a museum that takes a multiperspective participatory approach to understand how the Sri Lankan Civil War of 2009 and the forced migration that followed have construed each individual’s sense of identity over the generations due to the various roles they played willingly or unwillingly. The museum would derive its architectural program and narrative structure based on the concept of fragmented memory. The museum was proposed to be initiated as a 10-year research project led by a diverse team of 10 professionals. Their role would be to gather essential data informing the creation of museum exhibits. This approach not only positions the museum as an educational institution but also as a political statement addressing the oversight of memories tied to forced migration.

Positionality

It is imperative that I declare my positionality concerning this project, as it has significantly influenced the scope of intervention and the liberties I have undertaken. The Sri Lankan Civil War brought anguish to thousands of people between the years 1983 and 2009. Both the country and her people are still experiencing the effects of post war till date. As a native Tamil speaker raised in Chennai, Tamil Nadu - I felt compelled to explore how the discipline of museum studies has often neglected issues of conflict and resistance. Speaking a particular dialect of Tamil has become a political act today, one that has gotten people killed, hardly a few decades ago. The proposed museum acknowledges the inadequate documentation currently available and underscores the necessity of initiating a dedicated research project to address this gap.

Case Studies

• Voices of 68’ - Ulster Museum

• RUHR Museum

• MAXXI Museum

• The National Museum of African American History and Culture

• Conflictorium

• “When Home Won’t Let You Stay: Migration through Contemporary Art,” a show of twenty artists curated by Ruth Erickson and Eva Respini, at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston

• “The Warmth of Other Suns: Stories of Global Displacement,” curated by Massimiliano Gioni and Natalie Bell

• “Migrants, Mayra, Picnic across the Border,” 2017, by JR. Preview of “JR: Chronicles” at the Saatchi Gallery

• “Transcending the Borders of Memory,” September 24-November 13, 1994, Norton Museum of Art archives.

Acknowledging Absence

How does one create a museum for pictures, artifacts and stories that did not survive the test of time? What would the architectural program for such a museum look like? One of the main inquiries that informed the museum was the question, “How do you represent what remains, and therefore drawing attention to what once was?”1

Location

Name: Mandapam Camp

Physical Characteristics: Surrounded by sea, tropical marine condition, fairly flat terrain, salty air.

Minimum elevation: -7 ft

Maximum elevation: 39 ft

Average Elevation: 3 ft

The prospective location for this museum was identified as Mandapam Camp (Figure 1.1) in Rameshwaram, India’s largest transit camp for Sri Lankan refugees. It is the first stop for people fleeing from Sri Lanka. Originally raised in 1917 during British rule, then it served as a transit facility for shipping laborers to work in the coffee, tea and rubber plantations in erstwhile Ceylon. After independence, it continued as a property of the Sri Lankan government, and was purchased per the Srimao - Shashtri agreement of 1969 and converted into a repatriate camp for those returning to India from Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government had originally constructed 107 semi-permanent houses. In 1969, 1514 houses were added. Today there are 1,955 houses of which 92 are under repair. However this number is expected to be an underestimate. Most shelters are in dire need for renovation. (Figure 1.2)

Sites of memory

The proposal for the construction of a museum at a site of memory comes with its own set of risks and consequences that need to be kept in mind. How do we address the various forms of memories of displacement? What are the politics of remembering and forgetting?2 Memories of displacement are intrinsically, if often paradoxically, implicated in political processes across diverse public and private spheres. Such memories can be strategically centralized or erased by different actors – recent and former migrants, citizens, refugees, political elites and states – to variously promote changes in policies and practice, or to ensure the continuation of the status quo on national and international levels.3

The establishment at Mandapam Camp functions as a transit camp where the displaced people get registered before they are redirected to other refugee shelters within the state. Each migrant is therefore legally obliged not to forget any particularly abject, degrading, traumatic detail, to increase their chances of benefiting from political refugee status (and this process can be

excessively long, up to several years) - the average length of time for stay in a refugee or displaced condition is determined to be 17 years.4

The museum functions to interrogate the architectural choices undertaken during the construction of refugee camps. Refugee camps are not just objects; they are a prolonged and significant development in human civilization that demands manifestation (Figure 1.3) through architecture. The refugee crisis has become a global challenge that is too big to be seen as a singular issue. We know that refugees stay for years, sometimes even decades, so why do we put them in tents? Why do we treat them like they are going camping?

Program of the museum

Current housing size at Mandapam Camp: 150 sq.ft

UNHCR Recommended size: 480 sq.ft5

The spatial construction of the museum would consist of 9 saltbox roofed houses along with a contemplation ground, each house constructed with a floor area of 480 sq.ft ( 24 feet by 20 feet ) drawing a stark contrast to the current housing conditions at Mandapam Camp. Every structural, ideological and organizational aspect of the museum (Figure 1.4) juxtaposes the political stance taken by the countries involved in the conflict, and its after effects on the individual lives of the people. Having signed neither the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, nor its 1967 protocol, the lack of a national refugee protection framework has severely affected the livelihood opportunities for the displaced people. The museum has been envisaged to provide employment for the communities associated with the museum, thereby starting a discourse on the much needed acceleration for legitimate citizenship and improvement of their socio-economic wellbeing.

9 Narratives

Nine significant narratives were identified from the various fragments of refugee experiences. The design of the museum anticipates and functions to accommodate the stories that will be collected and housed at the end of the research project. You, as a visitor of this museum are encouraged to explore these narratives according to any order of your choice, allowing your mind to form connections and to question the restrictive migratory realities that we live in.

1.5 Initial Inquiries

Figure

Figure 1.3 The Politics of Refugee Camp Architecture

Figure 1.4 Ideation for the Program of the Museum

Figure 1.1 Proposed Location for the Museum

Figure 1.2 Current living conditions at the camp (Notes)

Framework

During my process, I employed the Narrative Matrix Framework which delineated the Narrative Intent, Communication Intent, Content, Experience, Spatial Environment and Media. Subsequently moodboards and storyboards were developed in accordance with context, culminating in the final visualization of the space. As part of my design process, I developed a scriptural description for each house, with the potential for these descriptions to be utilized as an audio guide. For the purposes of this paper, I will elaborate on one such house (Figure 1.7) titled, “Bearers of Stories.”

Title: Bearers of Stories

Narrative Intent: Inspired from the Shakespearan quote, ‘Am I what I am?’ This house focuses on questioning the distance at which one is supposed to experience the objectified, and the object itself.

Communication Intent: Architecture is often described as frozen music. The ‘Oonjal’ - (a swing that is typically anchored to the ceiling of a room - using iron link chains and the bottom is a wooden plank), used to be a popular item of furniture in most southern Indian houses. The ‘Oonjal’ here functions as a storytelling space, a swinging carrier of memories.

Content: The space houses illustrated photographs that are framed with a miniature horn/trumpet, signaling the viewers to step closer and to treat it as a personal audio device.

Experience: To encourage individuals to explore the complexities of our perceptions through a multi-sensorial experience.

Spatial Environment: The house is curated such that it also functions as a storytelling space during certain days of the week, creating a physical setting for individuals from the diaspora to tell their story, an invitation to be the storyteller of their lives. The seating area whilst the storytelling sessions take place are to be permanently set up, functioning as a space for contemplation during regular hours.

Media: Printed Media (photographs), Audio clips from field visits.

Bearers of Stories

“You are greeted by the familiar sight of an ‘Oonjal’immediately igniting all your childhood memories. Upon inquiring with the staff of the museum, you are told that storytelling sessions happen in this space every week on Thursdays, from 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM in the

evenings. As you traverse the walls of the space, you are confronted with an unfamiliar sight of a series of photo frames. They seem to consist of a series of photographs with illustrations of people, but each photo frame has a speaker of sorts. You remember reading the curatorial note and try going closer to the speaker and place your ear against it.

A voice starts playing. Your eyes widen in surprise, but you do not move away as you realize that once you move away, the recording stops playing. As you stay there, with your ears pressed to the speaker - you find yourself listening to an old man talking about a time when he used to be known as the master at plucking mangoes from trees, and how everyone in his locality called him the “Maaraja.” As he reminiscences these days, he talks of how everyone refers to him and his daughter as boat people - a derogatory term often used to describe refugees coming from Sri Lanka. The recording stops playing, and as you pull back and look straight into the old man’s eyes, you perceive him differently. The lines on his face suddenly seem more significant, his crooked smile has a sudden tone of sadness. As you look at the various faces in these photo frames, you realize that each one of them has a story to tell. They don’t look at themselves as refugees who have escaped from another land. That’s not all that they are.

You sit at one of the small stools placed on the floor and take some time to ponder and think about all that you just heard. Because you know when you go outside, you know you’re going to face the same sand and trees again. It feels nice to be a listener amongst the diaspora who just want someone to listen to their story. It’s getting quite late, and you hear someone whispering that the watering session is going to begin soon. Confused by what a watering session could mean in a museum, you make your way to the next house

1.6 Conceptual Visualization for the proposed museum.

Figure

1.7 Spatial Visualization of Bearers of Stories, that aims to bring life to photographs through sound. This space also functions as a storytelling space at different times of day.

Figure

Figure 1.9 Identity Design for the Museum (Tamil)

Figure 1.11 Moodboard (Bearers of Stories)

Figure 1.8 Identity Design for the Museum (English)

Figure 1.10 Story board Ideation (Bearers of Stories)

Reflection

Landscape in itself can be described as ‘the last witness’ of conflicts.6

One crucial aspect to consider during the construction of a museum is its significant expense, a cost that is further amplified when the museum’s focus includes stories of displacement that may challenge nationalist narratives. While the project presented me with a crucial challenge as an exhibition designer: to visualize absence and to highlight and mobilize the space for stories that must be accommodated, in my search for potential funders who might support such a project—specifically programs like the RRR Program (Return, Reintegration, and Recovery) under the International Organization for Migration (IOM), OfERR (Organization for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation), ADRA India (The Adventist Development and Relief Agency), UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), and JRS (Jesuit Refugee Services)—I am often confronted with the stark reality that this endeavor may remain speculative. This concern is reinforced by the fact that even films and books about the Sri Lankan conflict frequently face bans or difficulties in securing theatrical releases, with creators sometimes ending up imprisoned.

Figure 1.13 Pamphlet that was designed for the museum

Figure 1.14 Pamphlet

Figure 1.12 Curatorial Note (Bearers of Stories)

Project 2

Title: Washaway

Project Duration: 9 weeks

Methodologies:

Theory of Change: Lay a solid foundation for a campaign by working backwards from long-term goals to identify the conditions that must be in place in order to achieve those goals, and why.

Story of self, us, and now: Move large numbers of people to action by exchanging personal stories that help build a sense of community around shared values and experiences.

Theories:

Ethical Spectacle: The concept of ethical spectacle offers a way of thinking about the tactical and strategic use of signs, symbols, myths, and fantasies to advance progressive, democratic goals. It is a symbolic action that seeks to shift the political culture toward more progressive values.

Glitch Feminism: When the systems and technologies that mediate our lives “glitch” or malfunction, those marginalized by tech can seize the radical potential of this moment.

“The need for action is the most compelling way to understand a situation.”

Introduction

We currently live in a world where all of our actions, progress, and development are synthesized, measured and prophesied in the form of data. Although Data Visualization notably increased in the late 20th and 21st centuries and became synonymous with terms such as Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, humans have been using visual symbols and graphics to understand and document the world that we live in ever since the earliest practices of map-making. While our contemporary notion of data did not exist, early people externalized their memory by encoding quantitative or qualitative values into physical objects. Archaeologists like Denise Schmandt-Besserat have even hypothesized that these physical artifacts might have served as the genesis for writing systems.7

Physical representations of data allow people to engage, reflect and ponder upon the world that we inhabit.

“Washaway” was an experimental interactive exhibition that navigated the fields of data visualization through the lens of exhibition design. The project was conceived during a course titled, “Design for Social Change” that focused on SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. The exhibition aimed to function as a provocation to facilitate conversations regarding autonomy of data and the relationships that we hold with the people who take care of our clothes, “Can the act of washing clothes be a political act?” Two seemingly distant inquiries that would eventually find common ground by virtue of data physicalization.

Initial Inquiries (Material)

My journey through this project originated from a place of curiosity to understand the communities I become part of through the roles assigned to me at birth and the various consumer choices I make. Among the myriad consumer choices we all face, I focused on the clothing choices that integrate us into a broader global community. As I was unraveling the sticky supply chains of the fast fashion industry, I defined the scopes for possible design intervention (Figure 2.2) according to our interactions with the commodity. I positioned myself in this equation as a consumer rather than the producer or the supplier.

Initial Inquiries (Medium)

Systems exist everywhere. As a designer, how do we understand the intricate networks that shape our world, and use the knowledge to investigate if these systems are in need of change? To shed light on the inner workings of a system, we often back our observations with data and insights, revealing the unseen gears that keep it running. In far too many cases, data-driven “solutions” are deployed in support of the interests of the people and institutions in positions of power, whose worldviews and value systems differ vastly from those of the communities whose data the systems rely upon. Ultimately, the goal of examining power is not only to understand it, but also to be able to challenge and change it.8

Process

During the process of this design project, I refrained from using Google Forms and instead printed out physical forms (Figure 2.1) to collect responses. This approach was chosen to create a channel that facilitated qualitative data. The detailed descriptive answers provided by the participants allowed for me to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying patterns of behavior. The questions were curated to understand purchase patterns and the kind of relationships that we forge with our clothes. The sample size was small considering the methodology that was adopted for the data collection. But it was also during this time that I started questioning, if more data was really better data?9

Following are some of the questions that were included in the survey.

• Are you satisfied with your outfit today? What is the oldest item of clothing that you own?

• Do you have any sort of memories associated with them?

• How often do you buy clothes?

• How do you feel when you wear new clothes or shop for new clothes?

• Would you consider shopping as a therapeutic experience?

• Do you associate your clothing style with your identity/personality?

• How would you describe your clothing style?

• What factors motivate you to make a purchase?

• According to you, what does sustainable/conscious clothing mean?

Following were some of the answers that I received from the participants.

• “My father’s sweatshirt. I used to go to school with my father wearing the same sweatshirt..”

• “I always iron my clothes before I go out..”

• “Where will the piece of clothing go after I stop wearing it..”

• “I have the dhoti from my great grandfather which reminds me of him..”

• “I usually do not give up clothes easily. I also like to hand wash everything..”

• “Wearing a certain style or clothes gives a different identity..”

• “Act according to what you wear..”

• “I think I don’t respect my clothes..”

• “I prefer pants with a lot of pockets to fill it with my sketchbook and accessories..”

• “Shopping creates turbulence in my mental state..”

• “I haven’t grown much since the 8th or so, so I do have a lot of old clothes..”

• “I take a lot of time and thought before committing to a piece of clothing..”

• “I feel new..”

• “New clothes, new life..”

• “It is an escape..”

• “Don’t like shopping, it’s stressful..”

Context (Material)

At a time, when I was truly fascinated by the washing machine as an invention, two contrasting claims shaped my final inquiry for the exhibition. While Hans Rosling exclaims that the washing machine created time for his mother to read books10, and the Vatican newspaper infamously published an article in 1990 that credited the washing machine to be more revolutionary than the birth control pills11, I was reading all of this from India. A country where washing continues to be done by particular communities in certain parts of the country, often having associations with caste and socio-economic conditions. Because if now the washing was made so easy that a machine could do it, how come it was still the female members in a household who were predominantly doing it? Have we eliminated human bias, or have we just camouflaged it with technology?12

Counter Narratives (Medium)

At the RSD Conference of 2024 (Relating Systems Thinking and Design) at NID Ahmedabad, as I tried to immerse myself in front of detailed Giga maps spanning several feet, I began to question the choices and the conventional medium of using 2D surfaces in the field of data visualization. While Giga Maps are visually attractive and extensively detailed, how well do they perform the function of communication? What was their retention value? Could we represent data in space?

Secondary Inquiries (Material and Medium)

• How might we generate awareness on how to use a washing machine properly?

• How might we encourage the student community at the university to think about gender roles in washing?

• How might we teach people to wash their own clothes?

• How do we create spaces where people have a chance to change their data?

• How do we create experiences with high retention value?

• How might we provocate people to re-evaluate their attitudes toward decluttering?

• How might we as designers retain and communicate complexity?

Vision

This project explores the use of physical spaces to design the act of ‘data visualization’ as an immersive experience right from methods used to collect the data to the systems used to visualize the data. Washaway tries to navigate the space formed by the intersection of data and design.

Provocation: Can we make data disappear? Inquiry: Can the act of washing clothes be a political act?

Figure 2.2 Mapping of interactions

Process

For the data collection, methods of Convenience sampling and Quota sampling were employed. The respondents ranged from students, faculty and visitors. Each respondent was given the option of choosing from three pens, whose color informed me of their gender. The participants were informed in prior that the the color of the pens that they used had been encoded with gender data and hence should be used accordingly. About 102 people participated in the experiment.

The questions were posed as a part of the inquiry, Could the act of washing clothes be considered as a political act? Although considered to be accepted knowledge, the domestic chore of washing clothes is mostly performed by the female member of a household.

The aim of the project was not to reinforce the stereotype, but rather to inquire, How does positive reinforcement manifest in space? Rather than using data visualization to communicate the need for change, can data visualization be used to communicate that people are capable of change? What effects does the physical destruction of data have on an individual?

FIgure 2.4 People participating in the social experiment

Figure 2.1 Physical surveys that we designed for the survey

Figure 2.3 Design of the survey card

The slight strangeness

About 102 people participated in what was called, “The Washaway Project.” The survey cards (Figure 2.3) were organized in an exhibition display, inviting the respective owners to investigate if they could indeed dissolve their data. Exhibited alongside a tank of water, the viewers and participants were encouraged to “Detach, Dunk and Deliberate,” asking them to identify their respective survey card. Behind each survey card was a research question/assumption/conclusion that I had formed during the project, welcoming them to understand my design process. Printed on dissolvable paper, the survey cards would instantly disintegrate the moment they were immersed in water. This initial element of surprise was integrated to serve as a provocation for the viewers and participants to initiate conversations about the autonomy and impermanence of data.

Figure 2.5 Identity Design for the Exhibition

Figure 2.7 Out of the 102 people who participated in the the survey, 98% responded by saying that the female member of the household took care of the domestic chore.

Figure 2.6 Promotional posters on display at the campus

Conclusion

Both the projects aimed at qualitative data collection, analysis and synthesis not only to question the existing trends in the field of data visualization, but also to investigate the role that exhibition design can play to facilitate such narratives. Can more democratic experiences be designed that act as spaces for dialogue? Data visualization often avoids asking the uncomfortable questions like “Whose goals are prioritized in data science (and whose are not)?”13 It is important that we acknowledge the seemingly high rates of acceptance for fields like data science, artificial intelligence research to be dominated by men. Often framed as a technical pursuit, it is an imminent need that data science and data visualization evolves by engaging in discussions of data ownership, ethics, discrimination, bias and politics of data.

“A slight strangeness is the key - too weird and they are instantly dismissed, not strange enough and they are absorbed into everyday reality.”

Dunne and Raby

Figure 2.10 Souvenirs for the participants of the experiment

Figure 2.11 Participants at the exhibition, “Washaway”

Figure 2.8 A picture from the exhibition, “Washaway”

Figure 2.9 Pamphlets designed to elaborate the design process

References

1. Lubar, S. (2021, December 6). “Exhibiting Absence”Steven Lubar - Medium. Medium. https://lubar.medium. com/exhibiting-absence-36c5552613ba

2. Lubar, S. (2018, December 22). “Museums are places to forget” - Steven Lubar - Medium. Medium. https://lubar.medium.com/museums-are-places-toforget-ba76a92c5701#:~:text=Sometimes%2C%20 museums%20are%20places%20 of%20forgetting%2C%20not%20 remembering.&text=First%2C%20two%20poems%20 on%20objects,They%20hold%20truths.

3. Lacroix, T., & Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2013). “Refugee and Diaspora Memories: The Politics of Remembering and Forgetting.” Journal of Intercultural Studies, 34(6), 684–696. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2013.846 893

4. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Protracted Refugee Situations, EC/54/SC/CRP.14, 10 June 2004, https://www.refworld.org/reference/ annualreport/unhcr/2004/en/93484

5. Handbook, U. E. (n.d.). Shelter, camp and settlement UNHCR. https://emergency.unhcr.org/entry/45582/ camp-planning-standards-planned-settlements

6. Van den Berghe, Hanne & Note, Nicolas & Stichelbaut, Birger & Gheyle, Wouter & Bourgeois, Jean & Meirvenne, Marc & Van Eetvelde, Veerle. (2018). A conflict of one hundred years ago as a challenge for spatial development today: The conservation of WWI-heritage

7. Schmandt-Besserat, D. (1997). How writing came about. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA41453699

8. D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data feminism In The MIT Press eBooks. https://doi.org/10.7551/ mitpress/11805.001.00019.

9. O’Neil, C. (2016). Weapons of Math Destruction: How big data increases inequality and threatens democracy https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BB22310261

10. TED. (2011, March 21). “The magic washing machine” | Hans Rosling [Video]. YouTube. https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=BZoKfap4g4w

11. Hanson, M. (2017, November 25). “The Vatican says washing machines have done more for women than the pill. What planet are they on?” The Guardian. https:// www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/mar/10/ michele-hanson#:~:text=What%20a%20bizarre%20 world%20L,turning%20to%20drink%20and%20sex.

12. 9. O’Neil, C. (2016). Weapons of Math Destruction: How big data increases inequality and threatens democracy. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BB22310261

13. 8. D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data feminism. In The MIT Press eBooks. https://doi.org/10.7551/ mitpress/11805.001.00019.

Graphic Design Education for Accessibility with Digital Fabrication Empowering Future Designers: Integrating Accessibility in Graphic Design Curriculum

Taekyeom Lee

Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Abstract

Communication design is a specialized field that combines text and imagery to convey information effectively to audiences. The primary goal of this field is to create designs that are both visually attractive and purposeful. However, it’s important to recognize that many individuals experience vision-related issues at some point in their lives, which can significantly affect their ability to appreciate visual designs. According to the Health Policy Institute, 8% of the US population and 18% of people aged 65 and older have visual impairments that cannot be corrected with glasses, contacts, medication, or surgery (Health Policy Institute, 2019). Unfortunately, graphic design education does not adequately address the issue of designing for vision-impaired or low-vision individuals. Therefore, it’s crucial to incorporate visual accessibility into graphic design education to reach a wider audience, including those with partial or complete visual impairment. This approach will ensure that the intended message is conveyed effectively to the target audience while being accessible to everyone.

To address this issue, a new course titled “Graphic Design for Accessibility” has been developed to provide learning opportunities for upcoming design professionals. The course aims to help students enhance their creative practice, advance their competence, and promote responsible innovation for accessibility.

The course is structured to promote student development through experiential and project-based learning. The experiential phase includes two activities: using vision simulator glasses to understand the impact of visual impairment on design and promoting prototyping skills with digital fabrication. Peer collaboration and user testing provide critical feedback and insights into human-centered design. In the project-based phase, students tackle real-world problems with two projects. The first involves creating tactile maps for navigation or educational purposes. The second allows students to propose their own projects, such as books, packages, educational tools, or games. User testing enhances the usability of their designs, fostering group collaboration and critique.

The course also includes readings, literature reviews, videos, and guest lectures, employing design thinking methodologies like user research, ideation, prototyping, and user testing through iterations. Students define problems and propose new design interventions, discovering inclusive and tangible solutions through design process.

Introduction

Vision is our most dominant sense, playing a crucial role in every aspect of our lives. Without it, we would struggle with fundamental activities such as learning, walking, reading, participating in school, and working. With the aging population, more people will experience low vision or vision impairment. As of 2012, 4.2 million Americans aged 40 or older have uncorrectable vision impairment, a number predicted to more than double by 2050. Not only the aging population is affected; approximately 3% of children under 18 years old have blindness or vision impairment (Fast Facts: Vision Loss, n.d.). Therefore, ensuring that visual material is accessible and understandable via multiple sensory experiences is essential.

University-level graphic design curricula typically emphasize visual language, aesthetics, and technical skills, focusing on typography, color theory, print design, digital media, and design history. However, they often neglect critical aspects such as designing for accessibility, which is essential for creating inclusive and user-friendly solutions. There is a growing recognition and demand for integrating these principles into the curriculum.

This need is further underscored by personal motivation. As a young design student, the author experienced an eye-related health issue and ongoing vision problems. These experiences inspired the development of a new course and research in visual communication design.

To address this challenge, a course titled “Graphic Design for Accessibility” has been proposed to equip future design professionals with essential skills. This course is part of the Graphic Design program within the Art Department and is associated with the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. While the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education offers courses related to disability from various contexts, this is the first course to cover both design and accessibility. The course aims to boost students’ creative abilities, improve their proficiency, and encourage responsible innovation focused on accessibility. It is open to art and design undergraduate students or graduate students who meet the prerequisites or have received the instructor’s permission.

Course Description

The course is an introduction to graphic design for accessibility. Visual communication design predominantly delivers visual messages using text and images. Creating visual communication for accessibility is required for people with low vision and vision impairment. Fostering accessibility in Graphic Design education is necessary. It enables us to embrace the entire people. The structured design process will be introduced and practiced, from research to user testing. Students will learn how to design for accessibility with various prototyping skills using digital fabrication. It will include user testing when designing products. This course is for students with intermediate graphic design experience who are planning to build skill sets for accessibility with user experience and prototyping with digital fabrication.

Experiential Learning Phase

The course aims to cover both conceptual and practical aspects of designing for accessibility throughout the semester. The first part of the experiential learning phase focuses on increasing awareness of accessibility and empathy. Although most students have not experienced disability, the class reads stories about individuals with disabilities, including their own, family, and friends.

According to the World Health Organization, disability is a broad term that encompasses impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. Disability results from the interplay between individuals with a health condition, such as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and depression, and personal and environmental factors, such as negative attitudes, inaccessible transportation and public buildings, and limited social support (World Health Organization, n.d.). Vision issues impact not only the eyes but also how the brain interprets visual information (Kalbag & Pickering, 2017).

The first part of the class involves understanding visual accessibility and its impact on various users’ capabilities to use graphic materials. Visual accessibility means ensuring that information is presented in a way that everyone, including people with visual impairments, can easily see and understand images and text. This activity uses vision simulator glasses to help students understand how their designs affect people with

different levels of visual impairment. Students explore designs around them and share their analyses and examples with the class. Here are the prompts provided:

• Walk into other buildings on campus to examine the entrances, signs, maps, etc.

• Visit museums to see how easy or difficult it is to navigate the spaces and collections.

• Walk into a grocery store to find package designs for food, water, medicine, laundry detergent, etc.

• Surf the web to find websites that are well-designed or poorly designed.

The second activity focuses on developing prototyping skills through digital fabrication. Students learn 3D design basics and how to work in 3D space using free CAD software, Tinkercad. They then learn how to fabricate their designs using FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication) 3D printers, including slicing, switching filament, troubleshooting, etc. While students are capable of using 2D design software, most are new to CAD and 3D printing. This assignment focuses on building competency with new tools and a trial-and-error process in design.

Another critical aspect introduced in this phase is peer collaboration and user testing. These enable students to receive valuable feedback and improve their creative solutions. As an exercise, students are asked to design five distinctive tactile patterns and test their designs with peers. Testers are asked to touch 3D-printed tiles and draw what they feel. This quick test helps students see how their designs work or need improvement. Based on feedback, they can iterate designs. These unique textures could be utilized in future projects, such as keys and patterns.

“Vision simulator glasses provide a unique perspective on the world of individuals with visual impairments or low vision. By simulating conditions such as visual acuity issues, glaucoma, and cataracts, these glasses allow designers to experience the challenges faced by those with different visual conditions” (Lee, 2024).

The article “Seeing Through Different Eyes: The Role of Vision Simulator Glasses in Accessible Design” provides more in-depth information about using vision simulator glasses.

Figure 1. A student is testing a 3D-printed tactile map using vision simulator glasses.

Figure 2. Vision simulator glasses and sample design.

Figure 3. Students are wearing glasses during the class.

Figure 4. Tactile tile designs and user testing process.

Figure 5. Tactile tile designs and user testing process.

Figure 6. Tactile tile designs and user testing process.

Figure 7. Tactile tile designs and user testing process.

Project-Based Learning

In the project-based learning phase, students tackle real-world challenges and intricate questions. The first project involves designing tactile maps using 3D printing, which helps both vision-impaired and sighted people with navigation or educational maps.

For this map project, we emphasized the importance of tactile interaction. People who prefer accessing information through touch have seen significant improvements in the tools and technology available to them. Some individuals may find that certain tasks are best suited for one sensory modality, while other tasks might be better suited for auditory input (Siu & Presley, 2020). Students also learned how basic Unified English Braille works and The Americans with Disabilities Act compliance for signage via a webinar hosted by Nova Polymers (ADA Webinar, 2022) and the SEGD ADA whitepaper (SEGD 2012 ADA, 2012). Here are the prompts for the maps:

• Design a map for somewhere on campus, in town, in the world, or a historical site.

• Create a map for educational purposes (national, international, historical).

• Research better map or way-finding systems for vision-impaired people.

Students complete three user research worksheets before designing maps: a user persona, a user journey map, and a user storyboard. The user persona provides a detailed understanding of the user. The terms ‘user journey map’ and ‘customer journey map’ can be used interchangeably. Both reference a visualization of the user interacting with the current product or service over time, highlighting their experiences and emotions (Gibbons, 2024). The user storyboard brings the user’s journey to life through visual storytelling, emphasizing key moments and scenarios. These methods are integral to creating effective, user-centered designs by providing insights into users’ needs, behaviors, and experiences. The activity using vision simulator glasses helps students be more empathetic and understand potential users’ needs.

Peer collaboration and user testing are integral components of the course, allowing students to gain critical feedback and insights into human-centered design. Through in-house user testing, students can

refine and improve the usability of their design solutions. Once students have their preliminary designs and/or 3D-printed prototypes, they conduct a series of user tests with their peers. This step ensures that their design is usable by potential users and provides satisfying user experiences. Students get direct input from others and insights that can lead to innovative solutions and better overall design. By integrating usability testing into the design process, student designers can create more accessible, user-friendly products that meet the needs of all users.

The final project allows students to propose their own projects based on their interests and learning from the semester. Allowing students to propose their own projects enhances engagement, fosters creativity, and promotes personalized learning. It helps students develop specific skills relevant to their career goals, instills a sense of ownership and responsibility, and encourages diverse perspectives within the class. This approach also fosters adaptability and problem-solving, highlights individual talents, and enhances the overall learning experience, better-equipping students for realworld challenges. One of the challenges of this approach is that the instructor needs to pay extra attention to each student’s progress. Here are suggested prompts for the project:

• Design a book or printed material for vision-impaired and/or low-vision individuals (e.g., science books, art books, menus).

• Create packaging for vision-impaired and/or lowvision individuals (e.g., drug packaging, cereal packaging).

• Develop toys or games for vision-impaired and/or low-vision individuals (e.g., toys for children, board games for adults).

• Design learning tools and/or care packages for people losing their vision (e.g., Braille, self-care, emotional support).

• Research helpful innovations (e.g., standard textures/icons for tactile maps, typefaces for low vision).

The issue with vision depends not only on the ability to see or not, but it exists on a spectrum.

Figure 8. Tactile map of the James Madison Park.

Figure 9. Tactile map of the Kotel in Jerusalem.

Figure 10. Tactile map of the Bakke Recreation Center.

Figure 11. Tactile map of Flock to State St. in Madison

Figure 13. Block Scheduler for vision impaired kids.

Figure 15. Accessible labels for skin care products.

Figure 14. Tactile Graphics–Moon Phase on swell paper.

Figure 16. Accessible dice game boards and braille dice.

Figure 17. Educational book for visually impaired children

Figure 19. Accessible food label system in the fridge.

Figure 18. Clothing tags for vision-impaired users.

Figure 20. Where’s Wendy? (not Waldo) Tactile game.

Prototyping and Testing

3D printing has been a major method for producing prototypes in the class. It enables rapid production and cost efficiency by reducing material waste and eliminating the need for expensive prototyping methods. It allows for creating complex and customizable designs, producing realistic and detailed models for functionality testing, and supports versatile and iterative prototyping with easy modifications and multiple version comparisons. Additionally, it serves as a valuable educational tool for learning and hands-on experience.

Other methods include braille embossing, touch swell paper, laser cutting, screen-based applications, and various analog materials and methods. Braille printers, also known as braille embossers, print text in braille, a tactile writing system used by the blind or visually impaired. Depending on the brand and software, they can also produce tactile graphics. Touch swell paper is a special type of paper used to create tactile graphics for people who are blind or visually impaired (American Thermoform, 2024). Graphics can be printed on special paper and then passed through a heating device that makes certain areas swell and create raised tactile surfaces. Tactile graphics are images designed to be touched and felt rather than seen, enabling people who are blind or visually impaired to perceive visual information through touch. Text or voice may not be sufficient to communicate certain information. Tactile graphics can communicate abstract or representational images and support educational outcomes by allowing tactile exploration of subjects that are typically visual.

Prototyping and testing are essential in the design process, offering numerous benefits that lead to usercentered products. 3D printers and other materials are free for students during the semester. Prototyping helps identify problems early, facilitates visual communication, gathers user feedback, supports iterative improvements, reduces risks, and encourages innovation. Testing ensures products meet user needs, improve usability, verify accessibility, evaluate performance, boost students’ confidence, and inform them to make better design decisions. As students become users, they can understand the challenges and be more empathetic. Users have become active participants in the design process. Human-centered design is inclusive and collaborative, involving community members as experts in their own challenges (Ku & Lupton, 2022). Together,

these practices enable student designers to create intuitive, effective, and accessible products that align with both user expectations and better user experience.

Reading, Speakers, Reflection, and Process

The class includes weekly reading assignments related to the class activities and assignments. After completing the reading, students submit short responses. For the Spring 2024 semester, the following readings were required:

• Accessibility for Everyone by Laura Kalbag

• Introduction to Web Accessibility by W3C Web Accessibility Initiative

• Access Technology for Blind and Low Vision by Siu Yue-Ting and Ike Presley

• The Senses: Design Beyond Vision by Ellen Lupton and Andrea Lipps

• Beautiful Users by Ellen Lupton

• Design is Storytelling by Ellen Lupton

• Health Design Thinking by Dr. Bon Ku and Ellen Lupton

Guest speakers, mostly virtual, provide students with expert insights and specialized knowledge, supplementing the curriculum with diverse perspectives. They introduce students to diverse viewpoints on design and promote a broader understanding of accessibility issues. Their experiences and professional journeys can inspire and motivate students. Q&A sessions foster deeper understanding through engagement and discussion. One of the speakers was Dr. Hoby Wedler, a blind and visually impaired chemist, entrepreneur, and consultant. Students were highly engaged in the conversation, gaining significant insights and inspiration from the hour-long discussion. Overall, guest speakers significantly enhance learning by bringing real-world expertise and diverse perspectives into the classroom.

Writing a short reflection paper is required for every assignment. This facilitates personal growth and selfawareness, enhancing writing and communication skills. Analyzing successes and challenges deepens understanding and promotes critical thinking. It also creates a record of development, encourages metacognition, and improves future learning strategies. Additionally, reflecting on achievements boosts

Figure 21. Students in the class have access to 3D printers and PLA filaments to create prototypes of their designs.

Figure 22. A Braille embosser (www.irie-at.com/productcategory/braille/braille-embossers) was utilized to produce Braille learning sheets for the class.

Figure 23. The swell form machine (www. americanthermoform.com/product/swell-touch-paper/ ) creates tactile graphics.

Figure 24. Tinkercad (www.tinkercad.com) is free CAD software for 3D design. It is suitable for beginners and class assignments.

Figure 25. During the guest talk, the class is learning tactile American Sign Language, saying, “ Nice to meet you, from Dr. Alice Udvari-Solner.

Figure 26. Students participate in group critique sessions during class to share their progress and receive feedback on their design from their peers.

motivation and confidence for future tasks. Here are questions for the reflection paper:

• What did you learn from the assignment, and how did it influence your design practice?

• What went well with this assignment? What did not go well?

• What would you do differently if you could do this assignment again?

The design process encompasses creative thinking, risk-taking, a willingness to fail, perseverance, and personal reflection. Since the process is the focus of the design course, exercises, and all process work serve as evidence of how students engage with the creative process to solve problems. Students are required to collect everything they create for the assignments and organize their creative process from beginning to end logically. This enhances learning and critical thinking skills, enables clear communication of ideas, facilitates constructive feedback, and promotes accountability among students.

Below are some responses from students who were enrolled in the class:

• “I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into this class. I thought it was a great exercise to use the vision simulators to help gain a better understanding of empathy for people with visual impairments.”

• “Through our user tests, I learned how to better design tactically for users. This greatly influences my design practice and provides a basis for my understanding of how to design for more senses.”

• “One thing I learned from this assignment is the value of iteration and testing. In the future, for all of my designs, no matter how robust they are, I should utilize user testing since there are a lot of problems that can go undiscovered in the design phase.”

• “I learned that it is really beneficial to create a persona before the design process because the intended audience can help shape your design choices. When I was stuck between two options, I considered what my persona would see.”

• “It was crucial that I went through multiple trials of user testing to see if my theories regarding my design were true and applicable, or whether I had overlooked issues due to the fact that I was so used to using my vision as the primary source of evaluating a good design.”

• “I want to thank each and every one of the speakers that took their time to talk to us, and for all the work they’re doing.”

“Objects designed for touch enable people with impaired vision to use everything from kitchen tools and bathroom faucets to books, maps, and currency. Designing for touch creates a humane and inclusive world” (Lupton & Lipps, 2018).

Conclusion

The integration of accessibility principles into graphic design education is crucial for creating inclusive and userfriendly solutions while also preparing future designers to meet society’s growing demands for accessible design. The Graphic Design for Accessibility course at the University of Wisconsin–Madison is a significant step towards addressing this need. By combining three essential skills—conceptual understanding, practical application, and critical thinking—the course prepares students to grow their professionalism and design with inclusivity.

Throughout the course, students engaged in activities that increased their awareness of accessibility, honed their prototyping skills, and deepened their understanding of design thinking and user-centered design. Using tools such as vision simulator glasses and digital fabrication, students experienced firsthand the challenges faced by visually impaired individuals and developed innovative solutions to address these challenges.

Project-based learning further reinforced these skills by allowing students to tackle real-world problems and create design products that improve accessibility. The iterative process of prototyping and user testing, combined with peer collaboration, enabled students to refine their designs based on feedback, ultimately leading to more effective and user-friendly products.

Reflecting on teaching the course, several areas for future improvement have been identified:

• Encouraging more robust in-class collaboration and user testing to provide valuable insights and improve design outcomes.

• Conducting usability tests with actual visionimpaired users to yield more accurate feedback and enhance the practical relevance of the designs.

• Keeping course materials and readings current with the latest research and best practices in accessibility to ensure students have access to the most relevant information.

• Incorporating other methods, such as screen-based applications, audio feedback, and emerging AI technologies, to enrich the design process and outcomes.

• Partnering with organizations that support visionimpaired individuals to offer real-world contexts for projects and facilitate the implementation of design solutions.

• Presenting the developed design solutions to relevant organizations or institutions to address real needs and promote the adoption of accessible designs beyond the classroom.

• Expanding assignments to cover different sensory experiences beyond vision and touch to help students design more holistically for all users.

• Exploring faster prototyping methods or other digital fabrication techniques to allow for more iterations and improvements within the course timeline.

By continuously evolving and improving the course, we can ensure that future designers are well-equipped to create accessible and inclusive designs that cater to the diverse needs of all users. This approach not only enhances the educational experience but also contributes to a more inclusive society where everyone can access and benefit from well-designed visual communications and better user experience.

Unfortunately, this paper could not include several student works from the class. The website will have more student work and resources, and it will be published and updated. Please visit www.gd-for-accessibility.com.

References

ADA Webinar series. (2022, August 15). Nova Polymers. https://novapolymers.com/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). “Fast facts: Vision loss.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/vision-health/dataresearch/vision-loss-facts/index.html#:~:text=Vision%20 loss%20and%20age,more%20than%20double%20 by%202050

Gibbons, S. (2024, January 12). “Journey mapping 101.” Nielsen Norman Group. https://www.nngroup.com/ articles/journey-mapping-101/

IRIE Braille Buddy (n.d.). IrieAT. https://irie-at.com/ product/irie-braille-buddy/

Kalbag, L., & Pickering, H. (2017). Accessibility for everyone. A Book Apart.

Ku, B., & Lupton, E. (2022). Health design thinking: Creating products and services for better health

The MIT Press.

Lee, T. (2024, June 19). “Seeing through different eyes: The role of vision simulator glasses in accessible design - SEGD - designers of experiences.” SEGD. https://segd. org/resources/seeing-through-different-eyes-the-role-ofvision-simulator-glasses-in-accessible-design/

Lupton, E., & Lipps, A. (2018). The senses: Design beyond vision. Copper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum: Princeton Architectural Press.

Ocularcentrism. (n.d.). In Oxford Reference. Retrieved from https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/ oi/authority.20110803100245338

SEGD 2012 ADA white paper update. (2012). https:// dokumen.tips/documents/segd-2012-ada-white-paperupdate.html

Siu, Y.-T., & Presley, I. (2020). Access technology for blind and low vision accessibility. APH Press, American Printing House for the Blind.

Swell touch paper. (2024, February 7). American Thermoform. https://americanthermoform.com/product/ swell-touch-paper/

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Shades of Empathy

Widening Your Perspective About Color Blindness

Wan-Ting

Lin

MA Exhibition and Experience Design | Freelancer

Abstract

In our world, people put a lot of effort into designing products to help people with color blindness fit into our society, such as color-blind glasses. However, most colorblind people feel it is an uncomfortable situation. Andy Balo, a color-blind person said, “Why do color-blind people have to purchase expensive glasses in order to function in the world when the designers could make very minor changes that make a huge difference for a whole lot of people?”1 As a designer, I took this perspective to start working on my project.

To create a more inclusive environment for our society, I researched empathy thinking design, one of the industry’s important design tools. It helps designers create a solution based on users’ situations and allows the audience to see the world through other people’s eyes. Also, when designers adopt this type of design, they can get closer to understanding the users’ wants, needs, and perspectives. During the process, designers can put themselves in users’ shoes to understand what questions, challenges, and difficulties they would face. Besides, it is essential to interact with the users to gain a deeper understanding of potential problems when designers are working on specific projects. Eventually, the result of the design would achieve positive psychological and emotional impacts.

The exhibition project provides an opportunity for the public to experience what people with color blindness face in their daily lives through diverse materials, mediums, and lighting. In addition, friends and family of colorblind people will have a physical place in which to picture the situations of their loved ones, which guides them to learn what kinds of colors might be confusing in their vision. Additionally, the exhibition establishes a platform for the audience to share their experiences and feedback after experiencing all the processes. During the exhibition’s experiences, the color perception and recognition of visitors will be challenged, which will spark their empathy to be built step-by-step. Furthermore, the exhibition will offer color-blind glasses to ensure that people with color blindness will not have any problem with color perception. Moreover, it guides some people to realize they might have color blindness, and they can use the app to do the color-blind test.

The integration of the thesis and the application of the project encourages the audience to consider individuals with color blindness after experiencing the exhibition. It fosters social awareness of color blindness among the public and inspires the design industry to create spaces where everyone feels welcomed.

Introduction

In this research, I investigate how to make the audience empathize with the color blind through a narrative method, as well as research several materials and lighting to create plenty of sensorial experiences in an exhibition. The document is organized into two parts:

The first section explores the thesis of how empathyfocusing design can be used to bring the audience into the world of color blindness, which provides a more inclusive environment for society. After the research, the application of the design helps the audience understand people with color blindness through shared experiences. It further explores the opportunity to develop empathy, suggesting that empathy is crucial in mitigating bias toward disability.

The second section outlines a proposed project that employs the strategies investigated in my thesis to unveil the daily experiences of individuals with color blindness. This applied project introduces an immersive interaction for the public, aiming to broaden their understanding of color blindness and urging the industry to adopt inclusive considerations in future design projects.

Primary Research

The first case study inspired empathy for visually impaired people by creating an immersive exhibition for visitors. Feedback from the visitors suggested that people gained fresh perspectives after experiencing the exhibition. Furthermore, this exhibition allowed an understanding of this disability, eliminating false sympathy. In the second case, the artist utilized diverse mediums to create abundant experiences and brought specific issues into the public’s sight. The last one demonstrated how to create more inclusive game environments for color-blind users by adding more cues. These studies gave me eye-opening ideas on creating a narrative exhibition and using various mediums to address the concept.

Case 1. Exhibition | Dialogue in the Dark: How exciting would it be to experience our daily lives from a totally different perspective?

This exhibition demonstrates that how to create more sustainable, accessible, and barrier-free environments

for people who are too often excluded. In this case, DES (Dialogue Social Enterprise) effectively bonds the public to disability with vision impairment. Providing a platform for exchange, invites new aspects, and supports the discovery of potential. In the exhibition, people will use their senses to perceive the environment, which makes people gain the novel interaction that they have not experienced in normal lives.

To attract people to connect with the vision impairment of the group, it is important to arouse their commonalities. Also, empathy is our intrinsic capability to perceive and share the feelings and thoughts of another. DES takes advantage of these characteristics to provide a life-changing experience. The experience will bring the audience away from a sighted world to complete darkness, moving through a simulated daily environment with a cane, exploring the unseen, escorted by our visually impaired guides. This action makes people take a look at the world from a different perspective. Furthermore, the visitors need to challenge their other senses of touch, hearing, smell, even taste to “see.” It gives them an opportunity to experience complete darkness, which would develop their senses’ acuity.

Case 2. Exhibition | Olafur Eliasson: Offers human visitors the opportunity to activate their full sensorium

Olafur Eliasson is an artist from Denmark, and his focus is on diverse issues, such as education, sustainability, climate change, perception, and collective activity. People can see his work from photographs to sculpture, immersive environment, public interventions, and architectural projects. In addition, he is good at using simple natural elements to intervene the space, like light, color, and water, which alter the audience’s sensory perceptions.

The importance of his belief is that feelings are facts. He believes that feeling could lead to action. In the exhibition named “Your Blind Passenger” (2010), he created a fog room to make people connect with their senses. When people finished the exhibition, they would be asked a question “What colors did you see there?” Most of them would answer “the blue light.” However, there is no blue light in the exhibition. The truth is the blue light comes from your eyes compensating for the yellow that you

have just been in. There are only two lights in the space: yellow and white. The blue is an “after image.” Also, the other impact is fog that come from being in nature, intervening on the visitor’s perception, which gives rise to renegotiate and reinterpret our perception of reality.

Case 3. Video game | Inside the box: Adding a colorblind mode to borderlands

Gearbox, a video game developer, considers color vision deficiency for specific players, so he created a color-blind mode in its games, which makes them more accessible and delightful for color-blind players. For this upgrade, there is no visual barriers for players to experience the game, and it also demonstrates the company’s statement of creating a welcoming game environment for everyone.

The first thing that the developer adjusted was to change the colors that made people who are color blind feel confused in the game, such as green and red. For them, it is tough to distinguish the difference between these two colors. In their vision, both of these look brown. In addition, the developer uses a technique that can simulate what color-blind people see to modify all colors slightly to avoid making custom changes to each color.

To make the game better, the designer decided to add more information that can help people who are color blindness to understand the content more accessible. In other words, modifying the colors used for items isn’t the only way to improve the game environment. They tried to add text or graphical elements to something to create the contrast. For instance, they changed the color of some of the tiles in the tile-matching game and included a symbol for each tile to make it more distinct. They believed that once the update is released, it would be helpful to color vision deficiency to play the game more enjoyable and painless.

Conclusion

Ensuring everyone has an equal access to information is fundamental, which inspires a sense of belonging and promotes the environment’s inclusivity. This consideration not only enhances the user experience for color-blind individuals but also makes our society more equitable and diverse in the future.

“In the world of design thinking, empathy is a deep understanding of the problems and realities of the people you are designing for.”

IDEO’s Human-Centered Design Toolkit

Figure 1 The exhibition: your blind passenger

Figure 2 The simulation of the technique named Daltonization

Secondary Research

To better understand the daily life of a color-blind person, I created a setting to simulate the daily life of a color-blind person, as follows:

Step 1: Print different colors on the objects and graphics.

Step 2: Choose the dark room and hang the blue light bulbs, making overall look blue.

Step 3: Before entering the room, I will inform the participants to observe the color of the objects and give them green flashlight to find yellow of objects and graphics.

Step 4: After they enter the room, they have five minutes to explore the area and find the yellow objects and graphics.

Step 5: After exploring, I will turn off the blue light and participants can see what the original color on the object is.

Step 6: The light projects on the object and they can understand what differences of the colors are between blue light and white light.

Step 7: People might realize they guess wrong answers when they see the original color of the object.

Step 8: After finishing all steps, I will ask them what they felt about the testing and share the feedback to talk about the experience.

Through prototype testing, it successfully created a confusing situation for the participants to experience what people with color blindness face daily. It also allowed people to understand there were no standard answers to color perception. Everyone might see color in a different way, which motivates people to consider it for the sake of people with color blindness and try to share their feelings with them. Furthermore, it also promotes awareness of people with color blindness. After the prototype testing, allowing participants to learn what color-blind people see in real life, it is an excellent opportunity for them to use the simulator to see the color, which might help some participants to realize they might have color blindness.

Figure 4

The color blind simulator( C: common vision, P&D: red- green color blindness, T: blue- yellow color blindness)

Figure 3 Prototyping photos

Applied Project: Shade of Empathy: Apples to Apples. Creating empathy for color blindness through shared experiences.

To create more inclusive environment for our industry, in my exhibition project, I continued to develop this subject further, and created “Shades of Empathy,” an exhibition held in Powerhouse in Brooklyn, New York City. The features of the exhibition uncover the little-known challenges and differences in the daily life of someone with color blindness. It brings the audience into a colorblind world and helps them experience what people with color blindness face daily. This exhibition will utilize diverse materials, mediums, and lighting to create more immersive environments. Overall, “Shades of Empathy” aims to broaden the audience’s perspective about color blindness through immersive experiences, stimulating their empathy for people who are color blind and raising social awareness in society.

The exhibition’s primary audience is people seeking immersive and interactive experiences. They can explore various scenarios through multiple materials, mediums, and lighting, which gives an opportunity to understand what color-blind people see. The secondary audience is family and friends of color-blind people; they get the chance to put themselves in color-blind people’s shoes to connect with the experiences of color-blind people. The tertiary audience is professional hobbyists. This exhibit will present some guides to teach people how to design friendly colors for color blindness, allowing people to take into account color blindness when they are working on cases in reality.

A series of eight zones functions to generate an understanding of color blindness. The audience can learn the fundamental knowledge, stories, challenges, myths, and facts of color blindness. Furthermore, the exhibition will challenge the audience’s color recognition and optical perception, confusing them and inspiring them to explore further answers. Eventually, the exhibition encourages people to embrace ambiguity, allowing both/and understanding instead of thinking exclusively. It gives us a new opportunity to explore more potential possibilities.

After completing the exhibition, some visitors might discover that they are potentially color-blind. They can take an online test through the app and share their results with the exhibition. This feature would significantly contribute to raising awareness about this issue.

Feedback

Striving to showcase the practical implementation of the theoretical framework of empathy-focused design within exhibition design, the project seeks to establish a multi-sensory experience for a more inclusive environment for individuals with color blindness. Furthermore, it endeavors to expand the audience’s understanding of color blindness by employing diverse materials, mediums, and lighting. This method allows visitors to immerse themselves in the daily experiences of individuals with color blindness, facilitating an emotional connection between the audience and those with color vision challenges.

When the project was presented to industry professional experts, I received widely various reactions. The majority of the judges acknowledged the effective integration of my research into the exhibition design. Throughout the briefing process, they had the opportunity to undergo the entire experience through narrative techniques. The visual system I devised, and the execution of the concept were highly praised for their clarity and maturity. The renderings effectively conveyed the ambiance of the exhibit, providing an excellent sense of the overall feel.

“This project gave a great sense of perspective. It provided useful comparisons, information on different blindness’s struggles that color blind people face, and how these people live.”

Joseph DeLaunayExperiential Designer

Interpretive Approach

The exhibition uses role-playing as an approach to allow the audience to experience what people who are color blind face in their daily lives, bringing the audience into the world of color blindness. Role-playing is a comprehensive, creative, and interactive method that allows the audience to view the world from a color-blind perspective through the exchange of roles. The audience can mainly be separated into two types of audiences based on vision capability. The first one is people who are color blind. This audience can be categorized according to the four types of color blindness: Protanopia (Red color vision deficiency), Deuteranopia (Green color vision deficiency), Tritanopia (Blue-yellow color vision deficiency), and Achromatopsia (Complete color vision deficiency). Different types of Exhibition Floor Plan

01A Entry

02A What is color blindness

03A What do you see 04A Between us

05A Color blindness fits into daily life

06A Myths and facts

07A What is typicality

08A Everyone is unique

09A Testing

Figure 5 The exhibition posters will be published in nearby subway stations

Figure 6 03A Bwteen Us

By constructing daily scenes, people can activate the stories of color-blind individuals through instructions. Additionally, they can scan a QR code to use a simulator that presents the vision of color-blind people.

Figure 7 05A Color Blindness Fits Into Daily Llife

By constructing daily scenes, people can activate the stories of color-blind individuals through instructions. Additionally, they can scan a QR code to use a simulator that presents the vision of color-blind people.

Figure 8 07A What Is Typicality?

Visitors will receive a green flashlight to find yellow objects, while the blue light will confuse people with typical vision in discerning the real color. This activity mimics the real situation of color blindness.

Figure 9 07A What Is Typicality?

This area educates viewers on the importance of color choice, allowing them to learn which colors are color-blind friendly.

Figures 10 07A What Is Typicality?

The blue light doesn't just tint everything blue, it removes your eye's ability to see the full color spectrum. Additionally, people are able to activate the sensor to turn off the blue light.

Figure 11 07A What Is Typicality?

This area is a completely color-blind zone, and allowing people to look for specific grayscale tones through Pantone. It aims to educate the audience that people with color blindness don't only use color as an sole indicator to identify objects; they focus more on an object's shape, texture, etc.

Figures 12 08A Everyone Is Unique

This area provides a communicative field filled with various colors of

giant apples to challenge people's color perception.

Resources

Rikke Friis Dam and Teo YU Siang, “What is empathy and why is it so important in Design thinking?,”

Interaction Design Foundation, June 12 2023, https:// www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/designthinking-getting-started-with-empathy

Debble Gregory, “The Power of Having a Voice: Empathy and Courage,” Sage Journals, June 12 2023, The Power of Having a Voice: Empathy and Courage - Debbie Gregory, 2020 (sagepub.com)

DIALOGUE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE, June 16 2023, https:// www.dialogue-se.com/what-we-do/dialogue-in-thedark/exhibition

Alex Landon, “This Incredible, Immersive Sensory Exhibition Takes Place In Complete Darkness,” Secret London, June 16 2023, https://secretldn.com/dialogue-inthe-dark-exhibition/

Juliana neira, “Olafur eliasson floods foundation beyeler’s interiors and exteriors with green water,” Designboom, June 15 2023, olafur eliasson floods fondation beyeler’s interiors and exteriors with green water (designboom. com)

Mark Godfrey, “Olafur Eliasson’s impact explained by Tate curator,” WePresent, June 15 2023, WePresent | We asked Tate: Who is the artist Olafur Eliasson? (wetransfer.com)

Gunseli Yalcinkaya, “Olafur Eliasson installs giant blocks of glacial ice across London,” Dezeen, June 15 2023, https://www.dezeen.com/2018/12/12/ice-watch-olafureliasson-installation/

Cleveland Clinic, Nov 12 2023, “Color Blindness: Types, Causes & Treatment” (clevelandclinic.org)

Gearbox, Nov 12 2023, https://www.gearboxsoftware. com/2014/01/inside-the-box-adding-a-colorblind-modeto-borderlands-2/

Inchara Prasad, “A design’s guide for color blind,” Medium, Nov 12 2023, https://medium.com/kubo/seeingthe-unseen-a-designers-guide-for-the-color-blind8a6da64fe14c

“Accessibility for color-blind users,” Smashing, Nov 12 2023, https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2016/06/ improving-color-accessibility-for-color-blind-users/

Colblindor, “Coblis-Color Blindness Simulator”, Oct 20 2023, https://www.color-blindness.com/coblis-colorblindness-simulator/

Inchara Prasad, “A Designer’s Guide for the Color Blind,” Medium, Oct 20 2023, https://medium.com/kubo/seeingthe-unseen-a-designers-guide-for-the-color-blind8a6da64fe14c

Melissa Harris, “Exhibition design for Fondazione Prada’s ‘Role Play,’” Random Studio, Oct 20 2023, Exhibition design for Fondazione Prada’s ‘Role Play’ - Random Studio

Exploratorium, “Monochromatic Room,” Exploratorium, Oct 20 2023, Monochromatic Room | Exploratorium Museum Exhibit

colormax.org, “How people live with color blindness,” Oct 20 2023, https://colormax.org/2019/03/how-peoplelive-with-color-blindness/#

Abstract

Site Specific Cultural Entanglement

Dr. Tonya Meyrick

Senior Lecturer | Screen and Design

Deakin University t.meyrick@deakin.edu.au

Dr. Russell Kennedy

Senior Lecturer | Screen and Design

Deakin University russell.kennedy@deakin. edu.au

Complexity in environmental graphic design often encompass multiple sites, stakeholders, and audiences, demanding a nuanced approach from communication designers working in the field. Documented literature and practical guides to tackle such multifaceted projects are limited in their capacity to support this work. The Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, situated on the ancestral lands of the Kulin Nation in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia, holds immense social, cultural, and historical significance. Researchers collaborated with the Gardens, to navigate and interpret shared and contested histories addressing the entanglement of First Nation and colonial narratives within this revered site. Given the site’s systemic traces of coloniality and the location of the site, the project required comprehensive management of stakeholders’ needs and cultural representations. The researchers actively interrogated this premise via the relational and inclusive guidelines of both the Australian and International Indigenous Design Charters (AIDC and IIDC). Employing a methodology amalgamating Design Thinking with both Charters, the researchers developed an environmental design strategy brief for industry tender. Critically examining whether Design Thinking, rooted as it is in a Western tradition, was suitable for projects within complex institutional and cultural power dynamics. By embracing the inclusive guidelines of the AIDC and IIDC, the team fostered respectful processes of communication and collaboration, particularly regarding Australian Indigenous culture within the international agenda of a botanical garden. Their approach sought to unpack site-specific complexities through empathetic design solutions that honoured Indigenous Cultural Knowledges. The project’s success was recognized with a Victorian Premier’s Design Award in 2023, highlighting its excellence in Communication Design. This research not only addresses the complexities of environmental design in contexts marked by colonial legacies but also contributes to a deeper understanding of how to navigate such challenges. The insights gleaned from this project will inform future scholars and practitioners engaged in environmental graphic design in similarly intricate conditions.

Introduction

Complex design challenges within the environmental design field are atypical, frequently involving multiple sites, stakeholders, and audiences. For communication designers working within this landscape, a nuanced approach is required to successfully navigate the complexity that such design projects offer. However, there remains limited literature or practical guides to support the multifarious challenges faced in this context. The Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, in Naarm/ Melbourne, Australia is located on the ancestral lands of Aboriginal group, the Kulin Nation. Naarm, known as Melbourne, means ‘place’ in the Woiwurrung (woia-rung) language of the Kulin Nation. A revered site in Naarm, the Gardens embody rich social, cultural, and historical significance within the Australian context. The researchers/authors of this paper were invited by the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria to join their project which involved the complex amalgam of First Nation and colonial narratives. This site specific, environmental graphic design challenge necessitated detailed navigation and interpretation of shared and contested histories to enable the successful routing of stakeholder needs.

Comprised of distinct yet interelated areas to support the practical and symbolic functions that environmental graphic design performs the researchers fostered a critical approach to stakeholder management and cultural representation in what remains a site with systemic traces of coloniality. Framed by a methodology that comprises design thinking coupled with the Australian and International Indigenous Design Charters; the researchers approach permitted the successful development of an environmental design strategy brief. A key question of this research asked, is the design thinking method appropriate to use in environmental design projects within the context of institutional, organisational and cultural power base complexity? Design thinking is a collaborative, humancentred approach to problem solving that helps people and organisations become more innovative and creative. Design thinking emerges from a distinctly western design tradition that preferences the ‘hegemonic paradigm of innovation in terms of its framing of who generates innovation, its values, and who benefits (Tunstall, 2023). The research team actively interrogated this premise via the relational and inclusive guidelines of both the Australian and International Indigenous Design Charters (AIDC and IIDC). The AIDC is a best practice

guide that presents a concise, workable set of protocols for Australian communication designers to follow. The focus is squarely on design practitioners to develop respectful processes of communication, consultation and collaboration whenever Australian Indigenous culture is referenced in commercial applications (Kennedy and Kelly, 2017). Moreover, the IIDC provided similar guidance but nuanced to emphasise the common global sensibilities relating to the impact of colonisation on Indigenous culture. Both Charters were deemed relevant to the project due to the international agenda of a botanic garden located on traditional Australian land.

This paper informs understanding of how an environmental design project re/dressed all these complexities by unpacking site-specific cultural entanglements through a dialogic, empathy-based design solution that sought to actively nurture Indigenous Cultural Knowledges. Our solution proposed eleven objectives from our research that subsequently underpinned the design brief delivered to stakeholders. These objectives established the foundations of the design work to proceed. This work then resulted in a successful project for all stakeholders with State Government recognition in the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Design Awards (best in category - Communication Design), a distinction of the highest calibre for this multifaceted project.

Australian Context

In 2021, the authors of this paper were invited by the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Australia to join their wayfinding design project which involved the complex amalgam of First Nation, colonial and settler narratives. The work comprised in this project involved research, scoping and desktop review, cultural and stakeholder mapping and management, writing the environmental graphic design brief, and shortlisting of candidates for the tender. The project resides within the realm of environmental graphic design, defined as the graphical communication of information within the constructed environment.

Hunter, Anderson, and Belza (2016) define wayfinding as the process through which individuals utilize environmental cues to orient themselves and navigate from one place to another. The authors broaden the concept to encompass wayfaring, which involves traversing between structures or across vast expanses

using various modes of transportation. Environmental physiologists stress the significance of mental mapping in navigation, highlighting the interplay between physical movement and cognitive processing.

As cities grow and mobility increases the built environment grows more complex, and peoples’ need for information to better understand, navigate, and use their surroundings also grows (Calori and Vaden-Eynden (2015, p.3). This contemporary notion of mental mapping in the environment aligns resonantly with Indigenous Australian tradition of “song lines” where extensive territories are traversed, and familial routes are preserved through oral traditions across generations. ‘Songlines are the singing celebration of Country, a cultural passport when walking on the lands of neighbouring Nations and a way to acknowledge the great Creator Spirits and their footprints in the land’ (Deadly, 2024). For example, with respect to songlines about flora and fauna, Page and Memmott (2021, p.89) tell us that,

‘…in traditional times the average [Indigenous Australian] person knew important facts about hundreds of plants at different locations: when they flowered, which parts could be used for potions and which parts were poisonous. Stories about plants personified were able to add more and more layers of data so that facts eventually became embodied knowledge.’

This process of embodiment is articulated as songlines and describes how ‘songlines work as a system for retention and transmission of knowledge to enhance Indigenous Australian lives’ (2021, p.10). Neale (2020, p.9) explains, ‘songlines connect sites of knowledge embodied in features in the land and it is along these routes that people travelled to learn from Country.’ Passed on through generations over 65,000+ years by way of oral histories and ‘songlines’, navigating vast swathes of land and seas for Australian Indigenous people resulted in developing stories and myths. According to Smith, (as cited in Neale, 2020, p.30) the closest we can come to understanding this as a framework for relating people to the land, and to shape that, is that this relationship is inalienable’.

Through Australian Indigenous Cultural Knowledge systems ‘songlines’ are one part of a large contribution to design in the environment. Message sticks, tree marking, rock painting and celestial sky referencing have been

successfully developed and applied in the navigation of the land for millennia (Page and Memmott, 2021). When colonist arrived in Australia, they used Aboriginal Songlines for their horse drawn vehicles because paths had already been cleared. Over time, the traditional routes became cart tracks then gravelled paths, to the bitumen covered today. In Melbourne roads that were once used as Aboriginal Songlines include Geelong Road, Nepean Highway and Dandenong Road (Deadly, 2024). The practise of deep listening in oral traditional, the passing down of myths and stories through generations reflects fundamental aspects of relational empathy. These and other methods of communication as described above were deployed when traveling through ‘country’ and engaging with people from different language groups. This traditional, and richly historical relational communication imperative also dually applied to the present Royal Botanical Gardens wayfinding project brief.

In undertaking the work of developing a design brief that guides the navigation of people around a physical site, the researchers readily drew parallels with this task and the work conducted over many generations by First Peoples from Australia (as briefly described above), Greenland and Canada among others. For example, in North America is an Inukshuk, is a system used by Inuit, Inupait, Kalaaliit and Yupik peoples in the far north of the continent of arranging stones in the environment that resemble the human form (Girard, 2005). These forms are also found throughout the ‘circumpolar world’ (Hallendy, 2001) in Greenland, Canada and around the North of the Arctic region. This arrangement of stones is deployed as navigational aids to mark hunting grounds, to guide people to food or supplies and to mark sacred ground (2001). ‘These stone cairns embody strong spiritual and ancestral connections and have been erected by Inuit on the Arctic tundra for many generations’ (Girard, 2005, p. 14). According to Hallendy (2001) each of these mysterious stone figures is unique and the most important objects placed by humans upon the vast Arctic landscape. Building navigational aids observed over distant landscapes is as important today as it was when these stone cairns were built.

Botanic Gardens have a 500-year history in our era. Established in 1545, the Padua Botanic Gardens in Venice, Italy, are widely recognized as the earliest examples of modern botanic gardens (Water Museum of Venice: The Padua Network, 2023). These gardens were created to symbolize scientific progress and its

dissemination, aiming to deepen the understanding of the interplay between nature and culture (TerwenDionisius, 1994). As early as 1915, AW Hill highlighted the multifaceted roles of botanic gardens, encompassing economic, aesthetic, medicinal, social, and cultural dimensions (Hill, 1915). More recently, botanic gardens have embraced their responsibility in conservation and biodiversity efforts (Krishnan and Novy, 2016). Despite documentation of these diverse functions, the cultural intricacies of botanic gardens remain largely unexplored (Zaheer, 2016), particularly regarding their role in colonial settings and how this history continues to influence postcolonial contexts.

For Indigenous Australians, the fundamental principles of science, economy, culture, and sustainability are deeply rooted in Aboriginal culture and their connection to land and water. This lifestyle was practiced at the site of the botanic gardens in Naarm/Melbourne prior to European colonization (RBGM., N.D, p. 5). The Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) occupies land that served as a traditional and profoundly significant camping and gathering place for the local custodians—the Boonwurrung and Woiwurrung of the Kulin people—for many generations (N.D, p. 7). This area held significant importance for clan gatherings, with clans tasked with the responsibility of preserving the ecological well-being of the lands (N.D, p. 8).

Brief HistoryRoyal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

The initial attempt by the English to settle in this region of ‘New Holland’ was made in 1803, but it was not until John Batman’s arrival in 1835 at Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne that Kulin life underwent significant changes (N.D, p. 8). The selection of the site for what is now the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne was influenced by its diverse and abundant flora and fauna, with Ferdinand von Mueller and William Guilfoyle commencing transformation efforts in 1853 (Victoria, 2023). Ferdinand von Mueller, serving as the Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens from 1857 to 1873, played a pivotal role in establishing the Herbarium at RBGV as a hub for research (2023). Central to von Mueller’s work was the dissemination of information and specimens of Australian plants. However, it’s important to acknowledge that von Mueller was also implicated in the trade of stolen Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestral remains. His actions reflect his engagement within the framework of nineteenthcentury European natural history, influenced by European colonialism and its associated motivations (McCarthy, 2018).

Figure 1.  Ben King, Outcome of environmental and wayfinding signage: Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens by Studio Binocular, Aspect Studios and Greenaway Architects, 2023. Digital Photograph. Copyright Ben King. Courtesy of the artist.

Unpacking Relational Empathy In The Project

With all that this project presented, the researchers approached this design challenge, as a process for dialog, as interlocutors bringing our expertise and experiences to the task. This position reflects our method and attitude to the spirit of design in that we do not hold all the knowledge. We live in a world with many centres and intended to engage in robust dialogues with the many stakeholders and project partners to generate novel understanding for this project and our clients. This approach diverges from the traditional European conception of design whereby an expert conceives and develops designs for production (Manzini, 2016, p.53). In his article, Design Culture and Dialogic Design, Manzini, argues that this new way of working is markedly different to the dominant discourse in the twentieth century, where now our contemporary focus on design has “shifted from “objects” (meaning products, services and systems) and toward “ways of thinking and doing” (meaning methods, tools, approaches…and design cultures) (2016, p.52). As interlocutors on this design challenge, we were not engaged to design the end product, per se, rather we established the design framework for others to succeed in this complex brief.

Strategy

Initially, we employed the Stanford University ‘Design Thinking’ 5-Step method in this design challenge for its broad applicability and adaptability to the diverse range of stakeholders involved in our project. Design Thinking is a collaborative, human-centered problemsolving approach that can help to foster innovation and creativity. The method consists of five steps—empathy, define, ideate, prototype, test—though these steps need not always follow a linear sequence and can occur simultaneously. This flexibility proved important for our research team, given the prominence of stakeholder influences and the project’s requirement for simultaneous work on various project components. Considering the specific post-colonial context of our work, we recognized the significance of carefully selecting design methods, approaches, and tools, as these choices can either enable or constrain which voices are heard in the design process and how they are heard, if at all. Our awareness of the implications of different design methodologies is crucial not only for preventing design from perpetuating neo-colonialism but also for fostering environments that honour and embrace diversity and interconnectedness.

The researchers recognise the diverse range of design research methods available, acknowledging that Design Thinking, as an extension of human-centered design, originates from a Western tradition that tends to favour a hegemonic paradigm of innovation, shaping who is perceived as the innovator, the values upheld, and who ultimately benefits (Tunstall, 2023, p.236). Our decision to utilise the Design Thinking method for this project was influenced by its familiarity to the stakeholders involved and the broader context of the project. Design Thinking has become a prominent aspect of business literacy due to its commercialisation, permeating business discourse (Tracey and Baaki, 2022). This familiarity provided a tangible connection with our initial processes for the diverse stakeholders involved in the project, enabling them to readily grasp the value of this approach. However, we proceeded the application of Design Thinking cautiously, mindful of Tunstall’s observation that the values inherent in Design Thinking often align with a progressive narrative of global salvation, disregarding non-Western ways of thinking rooted in traditional craft practices that coexist alongside modern manufacturing techniques (Tunstall, 2023, p. 236).

The researchers were proactive in addressing rather than disregarding this position, which entailed exploring concepts beyond the boundaries of the design domain to facilitate early-stage innovation. We critically examined this premise by employing the Australian and International Indigenous Design Charter (AIDC and IIDC) (Kennedy, Kelly, Martin, Greenaway, 2018), which serves as a comprehensive guide outlining protocols for communication designers to adhere to. Emphasizing the responsibility of design practitioners, the AIDC advocates for the development of respectful processes involving communication, consultation, and collaboration whenever Australian Indigenous culture is referenced in commercial applications (Kennedy, and Kelly, 2017). The IIDC place emphasis on the common global sensibilities relating to the impact of colonisation on Indigenous culture. The Charters spoke to both the broader international agenda of botanic gardens as well as the specifics for those located on traditional Aboriginal land.

The Australian Indigenous Design Charter (AIDC) was created by Deakin University researchers to address the increasing need for designers to understand their ethical obligations when undertaking projects that depict Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. In addition, researchers at Deakin University developed

2.  Ben King, Outcome of environmental and wayfinding signage: Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens by Studio Binocular, Aspect Studios and Greenaway Architects, 2023. Digital Photograph. Copyright Ben King. Courtesy of the artist.

an International Indigenous Design Charter (IIDC) through an extensive research initiative engaging Indigenous communities, universities, and design associations globally. The researchers’ strategy for the project involved integrating the protocols outlined in the Indigenous Design Charter with the Design Thinking process.

In working with our client to foster a project environment to honour and embrace diversity and interconnectedness, a primary focus for the researchers was to evaluate the feasibility of integrating the Charter into the process, alongside Design Thinking as a core methodology. As our services were sought for our relationship to the Australian Indigenous Design Charter, the introduction and overlay of the charter to the project was embraced by our client. Initially, we observed point 1 of the Charter, Indigenous Led, and enlisted Indigenous Australian architect Jefa Greenaway (Wailwan/Kamilaroi) as a principal researcher to advance the implementation of the AIDC within the framework of Design Thinking. Both the Design Thinking method and the Indigenous

3.  Ben King, Outcome of environmental and wayfinding signage: Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens by Studio Binocular, Aspect Studios and Greenaway Architects, 2023. Digital Photograph. Copyright Ben King. Courtesy of the artist.

Design Charters place significant emphasis on empathy. In any design endeavour, empathy plays a crucial role, enabling designers to gain genuine insight into the needs, perspectives, and experiences of their users. ‘In design, empathy is the intention behind the creative act’ (Zingoni, p.353, 2019). Empathy has been a concept explored in the design field for over four decades, dating back to the 1980s (Frascara, 2022; Tracey and Baaki, 2022).

Writing about the shift towards empathy in the design field Mattelmäki, Vaajakallio, and Koskinen in the 1990s, observed that designers and design researchers began probing into new areas such as emotions and moods, seeking connections to design solutions (2013, p.67). This shift facilitated new design approaches capable of addressing ambiguous topics such as experience, meaningful everyday practices, and emotions, resulting in innovative solutions (2013, p.67). Tracey and Baaki (2022) highlight that empathy in design involves fully embodying the perspective of others while retaining one’s authenticity. This highlighted our approach, which was aligned with our clients understanding that in the

Figure

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early empathy stage of the project, it was fundamental to bring in those voices of undefined stakeholders, or as Leonard and Rayport (1997) state – the intangible aspect. Consequently, there arose robust dialogues between the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria and the research team not only about the intended recipients of the final designs but also regarding whose voices were significant to the narrative throughout the entire journey. This approach highlights our roles as interlocutors, where we actively sought alternative voices and stakeholders in the production of this challenge. For us, the purpose was to develop a comprehensive environmental graphic design brief, and in undertaking this challenge, the complexities in the project became apparent. In identifying these complexities, we unpacked the provenance of the site, seeking to untangle the cultural knowledge as it applies to appropriate representation and respectful application.

Another aspect of our approach to the knowledge generation in this project was resolved by way of desktop research. Time did not allow for a formal user study, instead we gathered a wealth of informal information both from primary sources emerged from previous research conducted and secondary sources from public websites where people who had visited the gardens site left feedback. This secondary research path of non-solicited feedback assisted the researchers to consider the end user in meeting the expectations of the client in writing the design brief. Examples of this feedback from sites including Google, and Trip Advisor are summarised in the following points: a lack of bilingual signage, a lack of physical maps, no digital maps, hard to navigate sites, no signposting, inaccessibility of site and provided brochures. These informal yet pertinent responses gleaned from public sources validated the clients need for a new framework to navigate the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria sites and alerted us to the importance of these features for our audiences.

Following the desktop review, we organized one-to-one semi-structured interviews designed as ‘Dialogue and Storytelling’ sessions with Gardens’ staff occupying front-facing customer roles. Additionally, we facilitated a ‘Knowledge Discovery Session’ involving managers and executive staff, along with an ‘Indigenous Cultural Knowledge’ session with the same group. The ‘Dialogue and Storytelling’ sessions enabled intimate sharing space with internal stakeholders, resulting in five sessions. Participants were nominated by internal project leads

based on their significant personal investment in the project, even if they were not part of the current project team or decision-makers within the organization. Participants personal investment stemmed from various factors, including length of service and job roles.

Utilising both video conferencing and telephone communication to accommodate disparate geographical locations, we engaged with staff from the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Cranbourne, and the Melbourne site. These staff members ranged from individuals with over 30 years of tenure to those who had just begun their roles a month prior. The ‘Dialogues and Storytelling’ sessions followed a semi-structured interview format, initially focusing on four key questions: clarifying the individual’s role, delineating responsibilities and limitations, exploring the participant’s professional and personal experiences with wayfinding at the gardens, and exploring their perceptions of the practical and symbolic significance of navigation on site. By actively listening and allowing ample time for responses, we established a good rapport with participants, fostering an environment where they felt comfortable to veer off-topic and raise new concerns specific to their experiences.

Listening to these perspectives proved invaluable in generating a comprehensive understanding of how the wayfinding system had functioned and was currently operating from the viewpoint of those directly involved. We probed into the myriad ways stakeholders sought to interpret and comprehend the functions of the wayfinding system in need of improvement. This exploration encompassed the tensions staff encountered in their roles while collaborating with other stakeholders, both internal and external, as well as the diverse array of physical wayfinding assets dispersed throughout the site. We heard compelling accounts of staff members safeguarding outdated signage hardware in a secluded shed on site, as well as anecdotes of shared journeys with visitors to locate garden sites, resulting in moments of joy and fleeting companionship. Establishing strong connections and fostering dialogue with individuals at all levels of the organization we were designing for proved crucial in addressing the various perspectives and insights held by these stakeholders. We consider this method integral to our empathetic approach in this project.

A recurring theme that surfaced across all these sessions was the profound and, at times, emotional attachment individuals felt toward the Gardens, irrespective of their role or level of involvement with the two sites. This sentiment was exemplified by one member of the research team who had lived adjacent to the Melbourne site for over seven years, echoing a deep emotional connection to the place. Considering this empathetic understanding and the diverse ways stakeholders were invested in the project, guided the structuring of subsequent activities. Building on this foundation, we initiated two workshops. The first workshop centred on a ‘Knowledge Discovery Session,’ engaging numerous key staff members. The second workshop focused on ‘Indigenous Cultural Knowledge’ and was led by Jefa Greenaway (Wailwan/Kamilaroi), who joined the project for its duration. While our involvement in the project would conclude at the tender stage, Greenaway would continue to collaborate with the incumbent organisations as the Indigenous lead, aligning with the principles outlined in the Australian/International Indigenous Design Charters. The participants in the second workshop included individuals in executive positions

within the Royal Botanic Gardens, such as the Executive Director and heads of departments spanning areas comprising Interpretation, Placemaking, Science, Finance, and People Management.

The ‘Knowledge Discovery Session’ played a pivotal role in addressing diverse perspectives within a group setting. This format facilitated collaborative ideation, and the breakout sessions provided an opportunity for individuals to express candid, personalized responses, particularly if they felt uncomfortable articulating contested views in a larger group setting with line managers present. Key observations from this session highlighted the necessity for the Gardens precinct to be interactive, hands-on, and visually appealing. Participants emphasized that static displays with extensive text were not engaging. As well, underscoring the importance of prioritizing First Nations representation through the many methods of information dissemination. Additionally, there was consensus on the importance of translations and maintaining consistency across all wayfinding elements, along with enhancing accessibility for visitors and also providing updated information on plants.

Figure 4.  Ben King, Outcome of environmental and wayfinding signage: Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens by Studio Binocular, Aspect Studios and Greenaway Architects, 2023. Digital Photograph. Copyright Ben King. Courtesy of the artist.

The ‘Indigenous Cultural Knowledge’ workshop, facilitated by Jefa Greenaway (Wailwan/Kamilaroi), evolved to a ‘truth-telling’ session. During this session, Greenaway drew upon his personal and his family’s lived experiences and cultural knowledge to share unique perspectives and generational histories. It wasn’t simply the researchers who engaged in empathetic deep listening during this session; all participants acknowledged that the session became a new source of knowledge, fostering profound admiration among those in attendance. Through these participatory events, along with the ‘Storytelling and Dialogue’ sessions, we observed a notable shift. By engaging in these relational activities and being invited to actively participate in the project, staff members, recognized as key stakeholders, expressed that the empathetic approach we adopted made them feel truly valued. Staff articulated that their voices were heard, and their inputs were genuinely appreciated, a new sentiment for them. This feedback reinforced our confidence in the appropriateness of our approach.

In this project, our contributions included enhancing the organisation’s capacity for the project, creating a cohesive ‘insights’ document to accompany the design brief, drafting the design brief itself, facilitating the inclusion and onboarding of Greenaway Architects into the project, networking with Australian design companies to gauge their interest in the tender, and collaboratively shortlisting and awarding the tender. The winning consortium, comprising Studio Binocular, Aspect Studios, and Greenway Architects, secured the tender in 2021. Three years after our project initiation, in March 2024, the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Wayfinding and Navigation Project received the prestigious ‘Communication Design’ award at the Victorian Premiers Design Award. This recognition, in a highly competitive category, marks a significant achievement in national design excellence.

Project lead at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Émer Harrington offered,

The process of respectfully imbedding Indigenous knowledge into a new environmental and wayfinding signage at the Melbourne and Cranbourne sites of Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria was complex. It involved a detailed strategic process of Indigenous led, cultural consultation underpinned by the adherence to established cultural design protocols. The project

was both exciting and challenging, and the result was well worth it. We believe it will act as a benchmark for other gardens around the world. It must be said that the process of following the best practice guidelines of the International Indigenous Design Charter did add time, and with that additional cost but most importantly it added undeniable value to the project. The installation is currently rolling out and so far, the results are nothing short of outstanding. It is certainly shaping up to be a strong case study of how to achieve sensitively considered Indigenous consultation and design as a core foundation of a project through the theory and process of design practice (Harrington, 2022).

Outcomes

The researchers set out on this journey to bring together design expertise and Indigenous Cultural consultation in collaboration with the dynamic team at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Our goal was to unpack the site-specific complexity of the project and to develop a client focused result that met the Gardens’ needs as well as a considerate positioning of the specific requirements of the Gardens for their wayfinding project. The outcomes of this research address the complexities of environmental graphic design in contexts marked by colonial legacies but also contributes to a deeper understanding of how to navigate such challenges. Key findings emerged as objectives providing a framework for the resultant design consortia. These eleven objectives were:

1) Enhance the vision, purpose and aims of RBGV, to engage more deeply with a wide and diverse audience through information design.

2) Greater recognition and celebration of First Peoples culture and continuing connection to the land and the RBGV sites (Melbourne and Cranbourne Gardens).

3) Follow the Indigenous Design Charter, respect, consult and embed Traditional Owners perspectives where relevant.

4) Adoption of a community/user-driven vision emphasising RBGV’s cultural and civic impact and the need to enliven the RBGV sites (Melbourne and Cranbourne Gardens) with captivating experiences.

5) Respond empathetically and innovatively to the design, architecture, plants and surrounds of the RBGV’s sites through human-centered information design.

6) Embed best practice principles of accessibility, sustainability, and safety. With a focus on systematic environmental management approaches at all project stages as consistent with international standards.

7) Recycle and reuse existing infrastructure (where possible) and follow a manufacturing and fabrication roadmap which champions sustainability and material reductions through design methods.

8) Build local to produce all fabrications of hardware in Victoria where possible.

9) Support and extend the visitor experience, effectively communicating information and wayfinding to the visitor through physical and digital information design methods.

10) Utilise (where strategically relevant) technology that allows flexibility in approach to accommodate future potential technology.

11) Adherence to design principles regarding wayfinding and signage strategies to ensure any future physical or digital changes remain sympathetic to the aspirations and vision of the RBGV.

Discussion

The environmental graphic design challenge in the built environment contributes to the rich legacy of the field. In today’s context, wayfinding transcends mere signage; it becomes a narrative journey guiding individuals through physical or digital spaces. The researchers found that dialogue and empathy are intrinsic to wayfinding, as they offer a practical means to delineate and comprehend cultural and spatial boundaries. Identifying and integrating distinct markers that embody the stories of a place into the landscape involves creating clear, functional, practical, and visually appealing indicators that also encourage individual creative engagement. This understanding is supported by Iftikhar, Shah and Luximon, (2020), who state that, ‘environmental complexity, wayfinding metrics, environmental familiarity, experimental settings, signage design, and cultural differences are mitigating factors in the success of navigation’.

Work in the environmental graphic design field is complex, when adding in cultural knowledge dimensions, complexity expands exponentially. Combining the Design Thinking method with the Indigenous Design Charters (AIDC and IIDC) aimed to help comprehend, navigate and decode the multifaceted and often interconnected

Figure 5.  Ben King, Outcome of environmental and wayfinding signage: Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens by Studio Binocular, Aspect Studios and Greenaway Architects, 2023. Digital Photograph. Copyright Ben King. Courtesy of the artist.

concerns of stakeholders, and the complex site in this project. It necessitated the researchers to adopt flexible, expansive, and inclusive strategies to accommodate this diversity. Our method involved exploring storytelling and attentive listening to foster empathy towards each other’s viewpoints, needs, and aspirations for the future of the gardens. This initiative aimed to redefine the dissemination and construction of knowledge within this specific context, diverging from Euro-centric design methodologies to incorporate diverse knowledge sources, particularly First People’s Indigenous Cultural Knowledge. This integration enriched both the process and outcomes of our engagement.

By embracing a human-centered approach to knowledge construction, we achieved our goals of unpacking the complexities of the site and the task, beyond simply crafting a design brief. With our client we paved the way for design practitioners in colonised territories, to advocate for a more inclusive and respectful approach to design practice where narrative, dialogue, and deep listening are pivotal components. We were privileged in this frame that our client, the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria sought our services due to the teams championing of the Indigenous Design Charters. The client never required us to frame why we were taking the approach of Indigenous leadership and Indigenous led, rather the client sought our services as they knew this was the approach we would offer in the collaboration.

Conclusion

Although debate surrounds the most appropriate research method for studying design artefacts the researchers assert that combining Design Thinking and International Indigenous Design Charter/Australian Indigenous Design Charters as design research methods is an effective model to navigate the complexities of environmental graphic design allowing for a nuanced understanding of the area. In their article, Design Culture and Dialogic Design, Manzini, argues that this new way of working is markedly different to the dominant discourse in the twentieth century, where now our contemporary focus on design has ‘shifted from “objects” (meaning products, services and systems) and toward ‘ways of thinking and doing’ (meaning methods, tools, approaches…and design cultures)’ (p.52, 2016). As interlocutors on this design challenge, we were never going to design the end product, rather we worked to establish the design framework for others to succeed in this complex brief.

The project described in this paper underscore the critical importance of a culturally respectful and nuanced approach to environmental graphic design, in contexts marked by colonial legacies and complex stakeholder dynamics. The Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria project illustrates how integrating Indigenous Design Charters with Design Thinking can successfully navigate these complexities, fostering inclusive and respectful stakeholder engagement. Distinguished recognition of this project by the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Design Awards highlights its exemplary approach to design. The insights gained from this research contribute valuable guidance for scholars and practitioners, offering a robust framework for addressing the multifarious challenges inherent in environmental graphic design projects situated within contested cultural landscapes. By prioritizing empathy-based, dialogic solutions that nurture Indigenous Cultural Knowledges, this work paves the way for more inclusive and culturally attuned design practices in the future.

Works Cited

https://deadlystory.com/page/culture/Life_Lore/Songlines

Calori, C., and Vanden-Eynden, D. Signage and Wayfinding Design: A Complete Guide to Creating Environmental Graphic Design Systems. John Wiley and Sons, USA. 2015.

Frascara, J. Design and the Social Sciences Making Connections. Contemporary Trends Institute Series. Vol. 2. New York, Taylor and Francis. 2002.

Fuller, R. S. How ancient Aboriginal star maps have shaped Australia’s highways. University of New South Wales, Sydney. 2016. https://www.unsw.edu.au/ newsroom/news/2016/04/how-ancient-aboriginal-starmaps-have-shaped-australias-highways Accessed 17 April 2024.

Gibson, D. The Wayfinding Handbook: Information for Public Places. Princeton Architectural Press: New York. 2009

Girard, J, P. The Inukshuk: A Canadian Knowledge Management Model. KMPRO Journal. 2005. https:// www.researchgate.net/publication/255606796_The_ Inukshuk_A_Canadian_Knowledge_Management_ Model.

Greenaway, J. Director, Greenaway Architects. Email communication. April 2024.

Hallendy, N. Inuksuit: Silent Messengers of the Arctic. Douglas and McIntyre, USA. 2001

Hassan Iftikhar, Parth Shah and Yan Luximon. “Human wayfinding behaviour and metrics in complex environments: a systematic literature review.” Architectural Science Review, vol. 64, no.5, 2021. pp. 452-463, DOI: 10.1080/00038628.2020.1777386

Harrington, E. Head of programming and audience development, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Email communication. October 2022.

Hunter, R., Anderson L., and Belza B. Introduction to Community Wayfinding. In: Hunter, R., Anderson, L., Belza, B. (eds) Community Wayfinding: Pathways to Understanding. Springer, Cham. 2016. https://doi-org. ezproxy-b.deakin.edu.au/10.1007/978-3-319-310725_13

Kennedy, R, Kelly, M, Martin, B, and Greenaway, J. International Indigenous Design Charter: Protocols for sharing Indigenous knowledge in professional design practice. Deakin University. Melbourne. 2018. https://indigenousdesigncharter.com.au/international-

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Kennedy, R, Kelly, M, and Martin, B. and Greenaway, J. The Australian Indigenous Design Charter –Communication Design. 2017 https://www.theicod.org/ storage/app/media/resources/International_IDC_book_ small_web.pdf.

Krishnan, S. and Novy, A. “The role of botanic gardens in the twenty-first century.” CAB Reviews, vol. 11, 2016, pp. 1-10.

McCarthy, C. Indigenisation: Reconceptualising Museology. Routledge: UK. 2018.

Manzini, E. “Design culture and dialogic design”. Design Issues, vol. 32, no.1, Winter, 2016. MIT.

Mattelmäki, T., Vaajakallio, K. and Koskinen, I. ‘What Happened to Empathic Design?’, Design Issues, 30(1), 2014. pp. 67–77. Available at: https://research.ebsco. com/linkprocessor/plink?id=ad6bde88-22e9-3a6094d8-2201f3b14949

Mollerup, P. Wayshowing – a guide to environmental signage: Principles and practices. Baden: Lars Müller Publications. Zurich. 2005.

Page, A, and Memmott, P. First Knowledges Design: Building on Country, Thames and Hudson Australia Pty Ltd, La Vergne. 2021.`

Terwen-Dionisius, E. M. Date and design of the botanical garden in Padua The Journal of Garden History, vol. 14, no(4), 1994. pp.213-235. DOI:10.1080/01445170.1994.1 0412510

Tracey, M. and Baaki, J. Cultivating professional identify in design: Empathy, Creativity, Collaboration, and Seven more cross-disciplinary skills, Taylor and Francis. USA. 2022.

Vandenberg, A, E., Human wayfinding: Integration of mind and body. in Community Wayfinding: Pathways to Understanding, Springer, USA 2016. https://wayfoundvictoria.vic.gov.au/what-is-wayfinding/ Zaheer, B. The plants of empire: botanic gardens, colonial power and botanical knowledge. Journal of Contemporary Asia, vol. 46, no. 4, 2016. pp.659-679. DOI: 10.1080/00472336.2016.1185796.

Zingoni, M. “Beyond Aesthetics, Empathy First”. The Design Journal, vol. 22, no, 3. 2019, pp 351-370. DOI: 10.1080/14606925.2019.1592808.

*With a special note of sincere thanks to Jacinta Kay & Dennis Ioannou, our project team.

Stuck In Suburbia A Filipina-American Experience

Alexandra Narciso

Experiential Designer

Francessca Teng

Experiential Designer

Abstract

Stuck in Suburbia: A Filipina American Experience is an immersive exhibition that is a poignant exploration of the intricate and often challenging journey experienced by Filipina-Americans from birth to early adulthood. Central to its narrative are the themes of shame and acceptance, especially within the context of navigating predominantly white spaces. Through a rich tapestry of visual storytelling techniques, ranging from multimedia installations to personal narratives and symbolic art pieces, the exhibition offers a deeply intimate portrayal of the struggles and triumphs inherent in crafting one’s identity.

At the heart of the exhibition are the multifaceted emotions that accompany this journey. It delves into the internal conflicts, external pressures, and moments of self-discovery that shape the lived experiences and perceptions of Filipina-Americans. Through evocative storytelling, viewers are invited to immerse themselves in these narratives, gaining a nuanced understanding of the challenges and hurdles faced in embracing one’s cultural identity.

Introduction

One of the exhibition’s key strengths lies in its ability to create a space for active engagement and introspection. It goes beyond mere presentation, prompting visitors to reflect deeply on their own beliefs, biases, and experiences related to cultural identity and belonging. By fostering empathy and encouraging meaningful dialogue, the exhibition catalyzes personal growth and collective understanding.

Central to the exhibition’s mission is to foster a deeper appreciation of the intersecting forces that shape cultural identity. It challenges stereotypes and misconceptions, celebrating the resilience and diversity within the Filipina-American community. Through its thought-provoking displays and interactive elements, viewers are encouraged to challenge societal expectations and embrace the complexities of their identities. The exhibition confronts uncomfortable truths and encourages viewers to grapple with complex emotions. It invites a reexamination of societal norms and expectations. In doing so, it opens up space for dialogue and mutual understanding, bridging divides and fostering a sense ofunity within diversity.

Research

As we walk through this exhibition, we focus on a story that has deeply affected the Asian American community. Dr. Jenny Wang, the author of “Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans” we are showcasing, points out the big changes and challenges this diverse group faces. These challenges make us think about how adapting to American culture has influenced people’s identities. This exhibition isn’t just about identity; it’s about how these identities impact mental health. Dr. Wang shares a powerful thought: “When we lack awareness, we react out of impulse or instinct to triggers and situations, instead of responding with intention. We replay old dynamics and maintain patterns of living that keep us stuck.” This idea is central to our exhibition. It highlights why it’s so important to act with intention, not just instinct, and shows how old habits can keep us from moving forward. This message has struck a chord with many in the Asian American community, sparking discussions about the need for better mental health resources.

Often, being Asian American is disconnecting. Many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders share experiences

talking about others’ assumptions or misconceptions about their identity, revealing the pervasive impact of societal biases and stereotypes. This disparity often led to maltreatment, particularly during significant moments in American history such as Japanese incarceration during WWII, the aftermath of 9/11, and the COVID-19 pandemic. “Focus group participants often noted a disconnect between their self-perception and how others viewed them, leading to maltreatment, especially during critical moments in American history like Japanese incarceration during WWII, the aftermath of 9/11, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Many shared experiences revealing others’ assumptions or misconceptions about their identity.” — Pew Research Center.

Approach

While researching how to make a thoughtfully designed exhibition that touches upon multiple complex emotions, such as shame, acceptance, and anger, a book of reference was “Design is Story Telling” By Ellen Lupton. This book aided the development of this exhibition thinking about how each room would represent differing emotions from early childhood to adulthood. “Emotional engagement mapping” was key in planning the visitor’s user journey to make these complex emotions more digestible. Understanding when to anticipate the highs and lows of the experience was vital to ensure a smooth user journey. While keeping that in mind it’s also imperative to notice how “a story’s emotional arc shifts over time. Designers use color, light, texture, and sound to modulate the mood of a product, service, or place. Allowing these elements to change in pace or intensity” (Lupton, 2017). . In addition, referencing the Don Norman’s Three Layers of User Experience (Figure 1) was important to divide the experiences into one that is visceral, behavioral and reflective. This segmentation helps in understanding how users interact with designs on different levels, from initial impressions and usability to deeper emotional connections and meanings.

While keeping the emotional journey in mind, we split up the rooms starting from feelings from early childhood, to early adulthood. It was important to have a clear and distinct narrative while creating this exhibit. Each phase of life was often paired with an overarching feeling and memory; These feelings are deeply personal and often hard to talk about, which is why this exhibit talks about each and every one of them. The goal with having interactive elements along with traditional exhibits was to aid the audience in stepping into these uncomfortable feelings many of us have had to endure our entire lives.

Museum Case Study

Central to its narrative are the themes of shame and acceptance, especially within the context of navigating predominantly white spaces. This exhibition takes inspiration from the approach of artists like Pepón Osorio, who uses richly textured sculptures and installations to delve into political, social, and cultural issues affecting Latino and working communities in the United States.

Much like Osorio’s “No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop (En la barbería no se llora),” which was installed in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in Hartford, Connecticut, our exhibition seeks to engage directly with the community it represents. Osorio’s work, described as an “eye-dazzler and mind-zapper,” uses vibrant, densely packed environments to challenge cultural norms and provoke thought. In our exhibition, we adopt a similar method of immersing viewers in a richly detailed, sensory experience that captures the essence of the FilipinaAmerican journey.

Moreover, our exhibition addresses the pervasive impact of societal biases and stereotypes on Asian Americans, drawing parallels to Osorio’s work that critiques both external and internal cultural issues. Osorio’s installations, such as “Scene of the Crime (Whose Crime?)” and “Badge of Honor,” confront viewers with stark realities and invite them to reconsider preconceived notions. Similarly, our exhibition aims to reveal the

disconnect between self-perception and external perceptions, particularly during critical moments in American history, such as the aftermath of 9/11, and the COVID-19.

Engagment

One of the exhibition’s key strengths lies in its ability to create a space for active engagement and introspection. It goes beyond mere presentation, prompting visitors to reflect deeply on their own beliefs, biases, and experiences related to cultural identity and belonging. By fostering empathy and encouraging meaningful dialogue, the exhibition catalyzes personal growth and collective understanding.

Central to the exhibition’s mission is to foster a deeper appreciation of the intersecting forces that shape cultural identity. It challenges stereotypes and misconceptions, celebrating the resilience and diversity within the Filipina-American community. Through its thought-provoking displays and interactive elements, viewers are encouraged to challenge societal expectations and embrace the complexities of their identities. The exhibition confronts uncomfortable truths and encourages viewers to grapple with complex emotions. It invites a reexamination of societal norms and expectations. In doing so, it opens up space for dialogue and mutual understanding, bridging divides and fostering a sense of unity within diversity.

Figure 1. Don Norman’s Three Layers of User Experience

Figure 2. Pepón Osorio’s “No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop (En la barbería no se llora),” 1994

Narritive Arc

The exhibition is designed to take visitors through different emotional stages, each room representing a key emotion in this journey, beginning with shame and culminating in acceptance. The journey begins with a room dedicated to the emotion of shame. Growing up, Sunday mass and hearing prayers before we could comprehend words was a way of life. The indoctrination into the Catholic religion molded us into who we are today, yet we never conformed to the Catholic ways as our parents did. This divergence brought about a profound sense of shame. We felt different, and this difference was a source of deep discomfort and embarrassment.

Next, visitors move into a room that embodies insecurity. The seeds of shame planted in childhood began to grow, and we started to feel insecure. Not understanding why we were treated differently, and then realizing it was due to our race, was a painful and pivotal experience. The desire to fit in, to be like everybody else, was everpresent, yet always out of reach. This unattainable goal fostered a deep sense of insecurity. Insecurity eventually morphed into anger, a powerful emotion captured in the next room.

As we grew older and sought love, we discovered that we were often fetishized and hypersexualized, never seen as worthy of real relationships due to our race. This realization was infuriating, particularly because it was such a common experience. The anger stemmed not only from personal rejection but from the systemic nature of this dehumanization. The journey continues into a room filled with loneliness.

Moving away from home brought a torrent of mixed emotions, but loneliness was the most overwhelming.

The transition from a noisy, crowded home to the silence of a studio apartment was jarring. Missing home and feeling isolated from the culture that raised us was a new and heart-wrenching experience. This room encapsulates the deep longing and solitude felt during this period.

The final room celebrates acceptance. Creating a life that integrates our culture is an active choice, especially now that we are no longer living with our parents, our direct link to our heritage. This choice is not only a celebration but a reclamation. We may not have always loved being Filipino, but now we do. The culture that was once shunned is now revered. This room symbolizes the full-circle journey from shame to acceptance, highlighting the pride and joy found in embracing our identity.

Implications for Theory

Stuck in Suburbia: A Filipina American Experience offers significant contributions to the theoretical understanding of cultural identity formation in minority communities, particularly within diasporic contexts. The exhibition underscores the complexity of navigating identity in predominantly white spaces, bringing to the forefront the themes of shame, acceptance, and resilience. By emphasizing personal narratives and emotional journeys through visual storytelling, the exhibition challenges and enriches existing theories on cultural assimilation, intersectionality, and identity negotiation. It provides a concrete embodiment of abstract theoretical concepts, illustrating how external pressures and internal conflicts contribute to the multifaceted process of identity formation. Theoretically, it suggests that identity is not a static construct but a dynamic and ongoing negotiation shaped by various socio-cultural factors. This can prompt a reevaluation of theories that oversimplify the cultural assimilation process or neglect the emotional and psychological dimensions of identity formation.

Implications for Practice

Practically, the insights gained from Stuck in Suburbia have profound implications for the design of diversity and inclusion initiatives, particularly in educational, corporate, and community settings. By highlighting the nuanced challenges faced by Filipina-Americans, the exhibition serves as a powerful tool for fostering empathy and understanding across diverse groups. It advocates for a more nuanced approach to diversity training that goes beyond surface-level acknowledgments

Figure 3. Narritive Arc for Stuck In Suburbia

of cultural differences to deeply engage with the emotional and psychological aspects of cultural identity. For policymakers and practitioners, it underscores the importance of creating spaces that validate and celebrate diverse identities, encouraging practices that are inclusive of minority narratives and that actively combat stereotypes and misconceptions. The exhibition also demonstrates the value of storytelling and art as mediums for dialogue and education, suggesting that these approaches can be effectively integrated into diversity and inclusion programs to facilitate deeper, more meaningful conversations about identity, belonging, and community. Ultimately, it calls for a collective reimagining of societal norms and expectations, encouraging a shift towards greater inclusivity, understanding, and respect for cultural complexity. shaped by various socio-cultural factors. This can prompt a reevaluation of theories that oversimplify the cultural assimilation process or neglect the emotional and psychological dimensions of identity formation.

Graphics

Incorporating quintessential American imagery, such as the white picket fence and the classic portrait of a heteronormative nuclear family with a dog, was essential in setting the stage for our exhibition. These symbols are deeply ingrained in the collective consciousness as representations of the idealized American dream. By integrating these familiar elements, we aimed to evoke a sense of nostalgia and recognition, while simultaneously challenging and subverting the very ideals they represent.

stuck in

S uburbia

Our intent was to deconstruct the unattainable notion of the American dream, a vision that many, including ourselves, find impossible to achieve. To convey this message, we employed a series of deliberate artistic choices. We cut out the family figures from the portrait, leaving behind a haunting void that speaks to the absence of this idealized life. The white picket fence, once a symbol of stability and perfection, was given a crumpled texture and a noticeable tilt, suggesting decay and instability. These alterations serve to disrupt the conventional narrative, inviting viewers to question the authenticity and attainability of the American dream.

Through this visual metaphor, we hoped to engage the audience in a deeper conversation about the realities of striving for an ideal that is often exclusive and unrealistic. Our exhibition aims to resonate with those who have felt marginalized or excluded by these traditional ideals, offering a space for reflection and critique.

“A Filipino-American Experience”

Figure 4. Main Graphic for Stuck in Suburbia

Sacred Reflection

Sacred Reflection encapsulates the profound sense of shame and disconnection experienced when one feels alienated from the religion they were raised in. Growing up in a Filipino household, religion permeates every aspect of daily life, with Sunday mass, prayers before meals, and daily rosary recitations forming the bedrock of family traditions. The influence of religion is deeply woven into the cultural fabric, shaping values, behaviors, and social norms.

However, what happens when this spiritual connection frays? When the bond with God weakens, prayer becomes an empty recitation of words, devoid of meaning or comfort. Sunday mass, once a communal and sacred event, transforms into a distorted and jarring experience, a ritual that feels alien and uncomfortable. This sense of disconnection turns a space meant for solace and community into one that is isolating and painful.

The installation embodies this turmoil. The room is dominated by an atmosphere of uneasiness, enhanced by the presence of large crosses and the unsettling hue of blue lighting. These elements work together to mimic the familiar environment of a church, but with an unsettling twist. At the center of the room stands a holy water stoup, traditionally a symbol of purification and blessing. However, instead of water, it features a video projection of a Filipino Sunday mass ceremony. This projection serves as a poignant reminder of the religious rituals that once felt meaningful but now seem distant and disorienting.

Sacred Reflection invites viewers to explore the complexities of faith and identity, particularly the struggle of feeling disconnected from a religious tradition that has been an integral part of one’s upbringing. It speaks to the pain of spiritual alienation and the quest for personal meaning in the midst of cultural expectations. Through this immersive experience, the installation encourages reflection on the multifaceted relationship between religion, culture, and personal belief.

Figure 5. Sacred Reflection

Figure 6. Warped Reality: Televison Wall

Warped Reality

Warped Reality emobides what it is like growing up in a predominantly white society often means grappling with a sense of invisibility and exclusion, particularly in the media. During the early 2000s, popular movies were dominated by the image of a beautiful, thin, blonde, white woman who invariably found love with a conventionally attractive white man, culminating in a fairy-tale ending. This ubiquitous representation fostered deep-rooted insecurities among those who didn’t fit this narrow mold, who rarely saw themselves reflected in the stories that shaped cultural norms and ideals.

This profound sense of alienation is vividly captured in the room we have created. The installation juxtaposes the quintessential all-American bedrooms, which many of us never grew up in, with vintage box TVs playing a continuous loop of classic early 2000s romantic comedies.

These films, once beloved, are now presented in a way that elicits an uneasy feeling, as if something is fundamentally amiss. The room is meticulously designed to evoke a sense of discomfort and dissonance, mirroring the internal struggle experienced by those marginalized by mainstream media narratives. The meticulously recreated bedrooms feature pastel walls adorned with

posters of iconic white celebrities, pristine bedspreads, and shelves lined with trophies and mementos that symbolize an idealized version of American adolescence. Yet, this facade of perfection is disrupted by the constant flicker of the box TVs, each screen replaying scenes of love and happiness that feel increasingly hollow and exclusionary.

As visitors step into this space, they are invited to confront the pervasive impact of media representation on self-identity and self-worth. The installation serves as a powerful commentary on the ways in which these idealized images perpetuate feelings of inadequacy and exclusion. By immersing viewers in a world that is both familiar and unsettling, the room challenges them to reflect on their own experiences and the societal structures that shape our perceptions of beauty, success, and belonging.

Ultimately, this room is not just a depiction of insecurity, but a call to action. It urges us to recognize and dismantle the unrealistic and homogeneous standards perpetuated by the media, to create a more inclusive and representative landscape where everyone can see themselves reflected and celebrated. Through this immersive experience, we hope to foster a deeper understanding of the emotional and psychological toll of growing up unseen and to inspire change.

Figure 7. Warped Reality: Perfect Bedroom

Teenage Nightmare

Teenage Nightmare is a poignant representation of the dehumanizing gaze of hypersexualization that Asian women have long been subjected to. This insidious narrative, deeply embedded in pop culture and media, has perpetuated an inaccurate and harmful portrayal of Asian womanhood, reducing them to mere objects of desire and exoticization. Through this immersive installation, we seek to confront and challenge these damaging stereotypes, fostering a space for reflection, dialogue, and change.

Central to the exhibit is a large fabric installation, a tapestry of voices and experiences. Visitors are invited to actively participate in the dialogue by reflecting upon the stereotypes and misconceptions that have been perpetuated about Asian women.

Note cards are provided for guests to answer thoughtprovoking questions such as: “How can we amplify

the voices of Asian women and promote authentic representation in all forms of media?” and “What steps can we take to dismantle the harmful stereotypes that have been perpetuated about Asian women?”

After writing their responses, visitors are encouraged to pin their note cards onto the fabric installation. This act of pinning is symbolic, representing the collective effort to stitch together a more accurate and respectful narrative of Asian womanhood. As more and more cards are added, the tapestry grows, transforming into a powerful visual representation of community and solidarity.

Guests can read the contributions of others. By reading the thoughts and reflections of previous visitors, guests are invited to engage in a deeper dialogue, both internally and with others present in the space. This fosters a sense of connection and understanding, encouraging visitors to consider perspectives they may not have encountered before.

Figure 8. Teenage Nightmare

Additionally, the room features interactive multimedia elements, such as video interviews with Asian women from diverse backgrounds, sharing their personal stories and insights. These interviews provide a rich and nuanced understanding of the impact of hypersexualization and exoticization, adding depth and authenticity to the exhibit.

Throughout the room, subtle yet powerful design choices reinforce the themes of the installation. Soft, ambient lighting creates an intimate atmosphere, encouraging contemplation and introspection. The use of fabric and textiles evokes a sense of warmth and humanity, countering the cold, objectifying gaze of hypersexualization.

In the center of the room, a sculpture represents the collective strength and resilience of Asian women. Made from interwoven materials contributed by Asian women from various communities, the sculpture stands as a testament to their voices and experiences. It serves as a focal point for the installation, drawing visitors together in a shared space of reflection and empowerment.

Figure 9. Teenage Nightmare: Activity

Empty Chairs

Empty chairs symbolize the profound sense of loneliness that accompanies moving out on your own for the first time. Transitioning from a bustling, laughter-filled home to an environment of stillness and quiet was an incredibly challenging adjustment for me. Growing up in a lively household, dinners were a cherished ritual, a time when my family gathered to share Filipino cuisine and watch television together. This daily tradition was not just about nourishment; it was a moment of connection, culture, and comfort.

When I moved out of my parents’ house into a studio apartment, the stark silence and solitude were overwhelming. The absence of familial warmth and the familiar sounds of home created a deep void, making loneliness the most pervasive emotion I experienced. I found myself longing for the rich tapestry of my culture and the presence of my family, whose voices and laughter had always filled the spaces around me.

This room is a retelling of that poignant feeling of isolation and longing. As visitors enter, they are greeted

by a carefully curated soundscape of city noises that reverberate through the space, amplifying the sensation of loneliness. The urban sounds, although busy and alive, contrast sharply with the quiet emptiness of the room, enhancing the experience of solitude.

The artifacts on display have been thoughtfully selected for their connection to family and shared experiences. Each item tells a story, evoking memories of home and the intricate cultural practices that bind families together. Central to the exhibit are objects related to dining, a significant aspect of Filipino culture. A table set for dinner, complete with traditional Filipino dishes, stands as a silent witness to the gatherings that once brought my family together. The empty chairs around it echo the absence of those loved ones, symbolizing the spaces they once occupied in both the physical and emotional sense.

Dining has always been a pivotal part of Filipino culture, a time for families to come together, share stories, and bond over meals. In this exhibit, the dining setup morphs and changes, reflecting different scenarios and the

Figure 10. Empty Chairs

evolution of family dynamics when one is removed from the communal setting. The once vibrant and noisy family dinners are contrasted with the solitary act of eating alone, highlighting the stark difference and the sense of loss that accompanies such a transition.

Lost Moments

Lost Moments uses cut-out images of Filipinas during their childhood, capturing moments overshadowed by the burden of shame. These visuals invite reflection on how cultural expectations and personal experiences impact their lives, highlighting the emotional toll of societal pressures. We included our own childhood photos to add authenticity and intimacy to the project, aiming to evoke self-reflection and connection for both us and the viewers.

An infographic reveals a hidden mental health crisis within the AAPI communities. A MetroPlusHealth survey shows that Asian women in New York City have significantly less support and fewer mental health resources compared to the city average. This data

highlights the gap between high demand for services and the limited availability of culturally and linguistically appropriate providers, underscoring the urgent need for better support and resources.

For our final interactive element, guests can engage with the “Stuck in Suburbia” photo booth. This setup allows visitors to capture photos with friends and family in a way that celebrates their culture and creates new, prideful memories. This experience is designed to foster a sense of hope, community, and renewal, helping participants redefine their suburban experience with positive emotions.

Figure 11. Lost Moments

Resources

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Mental health among Asian-Americans. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/ ethnicity-health/asian-american/article-mentalhealth#:~:text=Recent%20data%20collected%20 from%20the,mental%20health%20services%20 than%20Whites.

Bulosan, C., Castillo, E., San Juan, E., & Cabusao, J. A. (2022). America is in the heart. Penguin Books.

Hong, C. P. (2021). Minor feelings: An asian american reckoning. One World.

MetroPlusHealth. (2022, May 2). MetroPlusHealth survey finds aapi women face increased barriers to mental health access and support in NYC. PR Newswire: press release distribution, targeting, monitoring and marketing. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ metroplushealth-survey-finds-aapi-women-faceincreased-barriers-to-mental-health-access-andsupport-in-nyc-301537224.html#:~:text=AAPI%20 Survey%20Results.,general%20New%20York%20 women%20population.

Neil G. Ruiz, C. I. and Z. T. (2023, November 30). 3. Asian Americans and the “model minority” stereotype. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch. org/2023/11/30/asian-americans-and-the-modelminority-stereotype/

Schlossberg, J. A. (2023, May 9). Confronting mental health barriers in the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community. UCLA Health. https://www. uclahealth.org/news/article/confronting-mental-healthbarriers-asian-american-and-2

Wang, J. T. (2022). Permission to come home: Reclaiming mental health as Asian Americans. Hachette Audio.

Voices of Design A Design Workshop for Community Building, Student Engagement, and Academic Success

Debra Satterfield, Kate Lynch, and Julie Hurley Department of Design, California State University

Long Beach

Abstract

Voices of Design (VOD) is a 10-week workshop series of events designed to build community, enhance student engagement, and improve academic success for all students including those at-risk and from underrepresented groups. VOD was conducted in a design department at a public university with approximately 600 students in the majors or experiential graphic design, interior design, and industrial design. The VOD-branded events include: an evening lecture series with three keynote speakers on community building topics; a 10-week series of lunchtime experiential learning activities; a semester-long community art project; and two six-week sponsored classroom projects on topics of personal narratives and community identity themes. The lunchtime events were free of charge and used to engage students in design activities and engagement with professionals from the design community to give students the opportunity to make new friends, participate in creative activities, and expand their professional networks in a lowstakes format. The events were designed to distribute food and art supplies to the participants in a non-judgmental way that would reward participation in the events. This paper will discuss the structure of the events, strategies for funding, and twelve guidelines for designing a successful design outreach event for community building community and academic success.

Introduction

Voices of Design (VOD) is a series of events in the design department at California State University Long Beach (CSULB) for students studying experiential graphic design, interior architecture, and industrial design. The purpose of these events was to build our community, enhance student engagement, and improve academic success. This is especially important for students who are at-risk and those from underrepresented communities within the Design department. The goals and activities were aligned with the needs of the department and student body. High Impact Practices (HIPs) were identified and applied to the courses, workshops, and events to give students greater incentives to participate. The events were designed to address the financial needs and food insecurity issues of our students while encouraging authentic participation, self-exploration, and community building.

The funding was identified and used according to the amounts and restrictions of the sources. While conducting the first iteration of the VOD events, data was collected and analyzed to determine best case strategies for student attendance and best outcomes. The events were carefully branded and marketed on campus and social media for promotion and awareness.

Student Success

The design department at CSULB serves students with majors in experiential graphic design, Interior architecture, and industrial design. As a minority serving institution, CSULB is ranked in the top 10% nationwide for return on investment. Of the students receiving degrees, 54% are the first in their family to receive a degree and 50% of the undergraduate students are eligible for Pell Grants. Approximately 85% of the students identify as non-white and 72% receive some form of financial aid with the average need-based scholarship award being $8,000. (CSULB University Relations and Development “Beach Facts” CSULB Division of University Relations and Development URL: https://web.csulb.edu/divisions/urd/beachfacts/ ).

Student success is a key indicator of the quality of an educational institution. As a commuter campus, students often live at a longer distance from campus than their non-commuter peers and are more actively engaged with other aspects of their lives such as family, friends,

social and leisure activities, and employment. All of which have an impact on student retention and student engagement (Tight, M. p.697). Also, transfer students often receive limited access to transitional activities and resources compared to first year students and may experience transitional trauma or shock. These students are transitioning from other higher education institutions and tend to be more likely to be older, married, working full-or-part time and are less likely to be in the top 10% of achievement brackets. Therefore, addressing their sense of belonging through increased institutional support is critical to their academic success (Thomas, D. et al. p. 245). Inclusive approaches to these supports that incorporate a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and viewpoints are key to supporting academic success (Crosling, p. 314).

Student success itself is measured by a broad set of factors that include things such as prior academic success, student demographics, entrance exams, and GPA (Alyahyan, et al., p. 18). These factors also impact academic achievement. The proven indicators of student success are grade point average (GPA), D/F/W rates, year-to-year retention rates, graduation rates, and advancement to upper division courses.

For Art majors, student success may also be measured through the successful completion of a portfolio.

Enrollment numbers are currently trending down across university campuses nationwide, therefore academic leaders must find new ways to engage and retain today’s students. There is also a need to close achievement gaps for underrepresented minority students and first-generation students.

Online courses are also gaining in prevalence; however, little research exists regarding the role of high impact practices on student success for students in online courses. The correlation between time to graduation and student success as they relate to online course participation is not well understood (Fischer, et al. p. 357). If online courses are perceived as less appealing than face-to-face courses, they may be less likely to contribute to student success (Fischer, et al. p. 376).

Integrating learning community strategies

The term “high-impact practices” was coined by Dr. George Kuh in 2007 and describes evidence-based practices that have significant educational benefits. HIPs as a transformative learning method go beyond the traditional classroom experience. The VOD event was designed with the goals of improving student engagement, retention, and success, especially for under-resourced and at-risk students. We chose the framework of high-impact practices (HIPs), specifically learning communities, because of the abundance of research demonstrating its positive effect on these measures. Participation in HIPs is proven to promote student retention and help close achievement gaps between historically marginalized populations and advantaged peers. Examples of effective strategies for building community and enhancing student engagement include learning communities, first-year programming, service learning, portfolio development, study abroad experiences, undergraduate research, internships, and capstone/writing intensive courses.

Murals as a form of community art are often used to create student engagement as a HIP. Participants are exposed to cooperative learning strategies and methods that are interactive and have a shared purpose. It often takes place in settings outside of a traditional classroom and provides students the opportunity to work alongside peers, mentors, and experts to apply the knowledge they are gaining in experiential and authentic ways (Blatt-Gross, pp. 1-3). Combining talent and social consciousness is seen as increasingly important as artificial intelligence (AI) is used increasingly in the arts. Community art can cultivate both analytical and critical thinking in ways that combine subjectivity and originality (Huang and Zhu, p. 2). As additional benefits, community art supports critical, social responsibility, collaborative processes of making, and encourages a spirit of volunteerism (Lim, A. et al., pp. 7-13).

While there is extensive research proving the general efficacy of HIP’s, there is a lack of research highlighting examples of HIPs in the design discipline. In addition, research suggests that the incorporation of HIPs in the second and later years is also instrumental in improving retention outcomes and help avoid a slump in student engagement that is often experienced by sophomores and transfer students due to a lack of meaningful

engagement strategies (Provencher, A. and Kassel, p. 221-3). This paper explores the development and implementation of HIPs for students across all levels of study in design.

High-Impact Practices

One example of HIP’s is an internship experience. Internships have long been viewed as a steppingstone to establishing a career in design. Students who possess impressive portfolios, excellent academic records, and a strong professional network are better equipped to navigate the intricacies of securing top-notch internships and early career networking prospects. Nevertheless, many students lack the necessary skills to secure internships due to uneven college preparation and economic challenges. Integrating experiential learning and real-world work experience into curricula is particularly pertinent for colleges with high numbers of students facing financial hardships. For these individuals, forgoing a full-time income is often an insurmountable obstacle to gaining professional experience.

Incorporating industry partners into online courses offers students the opportunity to benefit from topnotch industry collaborations and interactions, providing an internship-like experience within the classroom environment without adding additional hardships. The digital platform enables an extensive range of guest speakers and partners from around the globe to join in without substantial expenses or geographical constraints, providing students with the chance to enhance their technical, professional, and communication skills. This internship-based exposure effectively equips them for roles in the industry.

Methodology

The method used to create the VOD event consisted of identifying a series of goals and aligning them with framing questions. The four goals were:

• Build Trust in the Design Department Community

• Identify the department as a Safe Space for Creativity and Learning

• Create a Shared Community Identity

• Engage students in the Co-Creation of Public Art to physically embody our Community and our Commitment to Social Justice

To help meet these desired goals the following framing questions were utilized:

1) “How might we use events to engage our early college students in community building activities?” (Duncan Anderson Lecture Series Keynote Speakers)

2) “How might we distribute art supplies to students who are financially insecure?” (Design Pros)

3) “How might we provide food at our events to students who are experiencing food insecurity?” (Design Pros)

4) “How might we engage our students in activities that are authentic, affirming, and inclusive and also build their confidence and networking skills?” (Visiting Designer Mural Painting and Sponsored Projects)

Discussion

Students are constantly evolving in their needs and expectations. They have a deep set need to feel connected to their peers and their communities. Traditional teaching methods are less effective than in previous years and in many ways, this is due to the disconnect caused by a global pandemic and the latent fears instilled in our society. Students are seeking places where they can learn but also where they can be seen, valued, and feel safe. These specific issues of how to connect with students and help them grow in their authentic and affirming identities are important in higher education. The VOD event has implications for how to reach students at a deeper level and engage them in meaningful personal, professional, and academic ways, while at the same time discretely and respectfully connecting them with basic needs like food and educational materials for their classes.

The VOD event featured guest speakers who have found their voices in their individual fields of design on personal, local, and global levels in their lives and careers. It was comprised of four unique components: guest lectures on topics of design and social justice (Duncan Anderson Lecture Series); lunchtime activities/ speakers (Design Pros); class sponsored projects on identity and community; and a designer-in-residence program. The goal of the event was to allow participants to discuss, explore, and identify their voices as designers and for students to learn how to use their talents for the benefit of their lives and shared communities. The VOD

Brand Identity and poster design were created for the VOD events

speakers and the lunchtime DESN Pros workshops were created to help student participants understand how design can be a catalyst for good in their lives and future careers. ways, while at the same time discretely and respectfully connecting them with basic needs like food and educational materials for their classes.

The VOD event featured guest speakers who have found their voices in their individual fields of design on personal, local, and global levels in their lives and careers. It was comprised of four unique components: guest lectures on topics of design and social justice (Duncan Anderson Lecture Series); lunchtime activities/speakers (Design Pros); class sponsored projects on identity and community; and a designer-in-residence program. The goal of the event was to allow participants to discuss, explore, and identify their voices as designers and for students to learn how to use their talents for the benefit of their lives and shared communities.

“Students are seeking places where they can learn but also where they can be seen, valued, and feel safe..”

Guest Lectures

The guest lectures were used to connect the larger VOD themes of social justice and design to the lives of our students by highlighting speakers who embodied those

ideals in their own lives. The three keynote speakers were sponsored in conjunction with an upper division elective course, the “Duncan Anderson Lecture Series.” These specific speakers were selected to align with the first framing question, “How might we use events to engage our early college students in community building activities?” Each of these three keynote speakers represented the viewpoint of a minority

or underrepresented designer or CEO whose work focused on issues of design and social justice. Jason Foster – President and CEO of Destination Crenshaw; Nu Goteh – Deem Journal and Room for Magic; and Thokozani Mabena, Design Strategist and Professional Speaker. Of their accomplishments, Jason Foster as CEO of Destination Crenshaw transformed 1.3 miles of the city of Crenshaw into an open-air museum of art and culture in celebration of black excellence and civic pride (https://destinationcrenshaw.la/ ). Nu Goteh described himself as a strategist, educator, designer, refugee, and dad. He works in a variety of audio, visual, and written mediums and is the co-founder of Room for Magic and co-publication partner of Deem Journal (https://www.

Evening Lecture Series

deemjournal.com/ ). He is a Liberian-born refugee who uses his dedication to design to build platforms that enable people and communities to engage in shared experiences with a focus on design as social practice. Thokozani Mabena is a senior UX researcher and design strategist. His journey was that of an immigrant who faced a multitude of personal, cultural, and financial challenges and found his life’s purpose in using design to create shared visions and human connections. Each of the keynote speakers very effectively addressed the concept of using design to build community in their work and in their lives. In addition, each of the three speakers were connected to the National SEGD organization and had direct ties to the greater Los Angeles communities or worked in them.

Lunchtime Activities and Speakers

The Design Pros (DESN Pros) workshops featured weekly lunchtime lectures, activities for goal setting, personal story telling, mentorship, and professional network development for the first 10 weeks of the semester. The topics were on subjects such as IKIGAI, personal storytelling, EGD, lighting design, and other design topics.

The VOD lunchtime events were branded as “DESN Pros” and were scheduled for one event per week. As a commuter campus, the DESN Pros events were scheduled alternately on either a Tuesday or a Wednesday each week to give as many students as possible the chance to attend. Students were more likely to attend an event if held immediately after their on-campus morning class. These events were set up in a gallery space with a podium and projection screen in the front for the guest speaker. Approximately 10 tables arranged around the room to seat groups of 6-8 students for the collaborative design activities. To ensure good attendance, announcements were made the morning of the event to inform students about the free food and art materials provided for participants.

The lunch workshops served as a time of discussion and personal exploration about design. This was used to encourage participants to think about their own skills, passions, and gifts in new ways. It was designed to be a time to freely “try on a new identity” or “explore a new belief about yourself or your purpose.”

Lunchtime Activities and Speakers

Class Sponsored Projects

Two class projects were highlighted as part of the VOD events. The classes were both upper division courses, one a senior EGD class that is required for the major and a second upper division elective course that is open to all students in the department.

The first VOD sponsored project, “We are Design” Window Clings, was conducted in an upper division EGD class. The project was conducted over a 6-week period and was guided by the instructor with the campus planning and facilities manager acting as the client. For this project, teams of 3-5 students created a series of designs for window clings to be installed in the front entrance of the design building. Students made a series of client presentations and revisions of their designs. The final design was selected by a committee representing the university facilities department, faculty, and the design department chair. The winning design was installed as part of the VOD class sponsored project.

A second VOD sponsored project, Identity Shoes, was conducted in an upper division elective class in soft goods. The premise for the project was to work with the soft goods instructor and the dean of the College of the Arts to design shoes based on the personal identity of each of the students. Also, the dean of the college served as a client for the class and requested his own pair of shoes to be worn and featured during the college graduation ceremony. The class exhibited the Identity Shoe designs during the senior celebration week held during graduation.

Designer-In-Residence

VOD Designer in Residence Community Enrichment: The VOD designer in residence, Mer Young, was a local mural artist active in the Long Beach mural painting community. She visited classes and engaged our lower-division students in DESN Pros activities over the entire 10-week period. The significance of a designer

Class sponsored project: Identity Shoe Design

Class sponsored project: “We are Design” Window Cling

in residence was to allow that person to meet the students in a variety of settings from visiting classrooms, conducting one of the DESN Pros workshops, and working on site to create a mural. The mural painting process took about 2 weeks and allowed students to learn in a natural and unstructured way techniques of designing, gridding, and painting a mural on site and side-by-side with a professional designer. This slow and methodical process invited moments teaching about designing a mural and sharing stories about life. Through this mural, we connected our design community and our students to the larger community of muralists in Long Beach, California. The significance of the mural event was the making of meaningful memories for the participating students.

Funding Strategies

Funding large events is often challenging and can be a significant barrier. The VOD series of events and activities was conducted on a first-year budget of $15,000. This was combined with other funding streams for various aspects of the 10-week event. Some strategies for funding included:

1) Identify existing university funding sources that can partner with your event on speakers or activities, cobrand, and market them simultaneously for each of the partners.

2) Identify industry, university, and community grants that you may qualify for and determine areas where one or more grants could be utilized.

3) Identify current foundations or donors that may have an interest in one or more of the planned activities.

4) Industry partners can be sought for in-kind donations of food or supplies for events and can be included as speakers or activity leaders.

To be successful in funding an event it is critical to thoroughly research the possible funding sources or partners for compatibility with your activities and goals. Once identified, write a clear and compelling proposal, and include data or other information that makes your event likely to appeal to the funder. The VOD event was branded with graphics and data was collected to demonstrate the number of students impacted by the events to show the quality of the activities. In addition, an event with multiple activities and target audiences

Designer-In-Residence

is most conducive to finding funding partners. When seeking funding, specific funding partners can align with one or more events that most closely meet their requirements. It is often easier to find several smaller funding partners than to obtain a large single donation.

Contribution to the Field

The VOD events, lectures, and community building activities provided an excellent way to accomplish the goals of reaching 189 students with average of 50+ students/event -total attendance 400+; distribution of needed art materials to students; using lectures, speakers, and activities for student engagement; connecting students to the professional community; and using EGD as a HIP and community building experience. A VOD event can be replicated using the following twelve guidelines:

1) Create a combination of events and activities that work both in tandem and individually to reach the most members of the targeted community;

2) Brand the event with identifiable elements such as a logo, tagline, consistent use of graphics, and consistent use of messaging. Use these elements for all publicity and social media.

3) Select convenient days and times for each of the events that make easy for students and faculty to attend them.

4) Be consistent. Keep everything as predictable as possible. Including the location, the length of the event, the food, giveaway items, and the type of speaker or activities.

5) Low stakes for participation. Allow students to come and go from the event freely without any penalties.

6) Announce each event one week ahead with posters in the hallways and social media.

7) Announce the events in classrooms to encourage attendance. Encourage attendance with info about the merch, food, and the topic of activities.

8) Have a sign-in sheet for every event to track accurate data on the number of student and faculty participants. This is critical for future fund raising.

9) Encourage faculty to attend and acknowledge them for their support.

10) Take lots of photos and videos of the event for marketing purposes.

11) Create social media posts to document each of the VOD events.

12) Share the love. Give as much credit as possible to all the staff, students, faculty, and professionals involved. Let them know they are the reason for the success of the events.

Conclusion

The Voices of Design (VOD) series of events has demonstrated its capacity to provide a comprehensive, positive educational experience for students, targeting the enhancement of success among at-risk and underrepresented students within the Design department, spanning majors such as experiential graphic design, interior architecture, and industrial design. These multifaceted events encompass engaging lectures, lunchtime activities and speakers, class projects, as well as a designer-in-residence program all meticulously crafted to immerse students in diverse design activities and facilitate meaningful interactions with professionals from within the design community. The primary objective is to afford students the opportunity to forge new connections, partake in innovative activities, and expand their professional networks in a relaxed, unpressured environment. Additionally, these events provide meals and art supplies to participants in a non-judgmental manner, serving as a form of recognition for their active involvement.

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