The Undoing Racism Program
June 2020 • Illustrator and XD
How a social media post about microaggressions transformed into a program that focuses on anti-racism education.
About
In my Digital Design class, my final project was to create a mockup of a UI/UX experience based on either COVID-19 or the BLM movement. Experiencing the peak of the BLM movement in June 2020, I decided that making an anti-racism program was a great way that I can educate myself while simultaneously teaching others.
The project started off as an Instagram post focusing on microaggressions and evolved into a smartphone app. I got the idea of an anti-racism program because every school year, students across the country need to complete a course on recognizing and dealing with sexual assault and consent. I think the addition of a course on how to acknowledge and diffuse racist environments should be required as well.
*Project Brief:
Communication Design
Prompt:
Create a series of designs meant to educate and inform the public about the BLM movement.
Goal:
Communicate your ideas clearly in a post that is simple and effective as a public statement.
Audience:
Teens and those in their 20s who use social media as one of their outlets for news. My audience was geared towards my followers and friends on Instagram. Experiencing the boom of BLM movement posts that were shared on Instagram stories first hand, I strived to create a public post that was eye-catching and informative enough to be shared in a similar fashion.
My Proposal:
You can view my Project Brief that outlines my goals and design choices to the right.
Results:
With a small following on my art account, I was not expecting much traction. However, within just a few days, over 100 people saw the post, and most of whom did not follow me. I was honored to have been able to educate people through Instagram stories, using the strong grip social media has on the younger generation to my advantage.
UI/UX Design
Prompt:
Create a prototype with different types of interactive applications to help users navigate the current BLM landscape.
My Proposal:
Every year for college, I was required to complete 2 online courses prior to the school year: one on alcohol safety and another on sexual consent, communication, and relationships. In the rise of the BLM movement, I wanted to create another course – one that focuses on the major racial problems in the US today.
Students of the course would be presented with lesson plans to study, quizzes to complete, news articles to read, and virtual reality simulations that will teach them the correct way to act in uncomfortable situations from the safety of their own home.
Audience:
Students and those who are joining the workforce.
The audience for this app broadened from the Communication Design Component because it is not intended to be shared strictly on social media. I believe this program would be great as a required part of college orientation as well as job training.
Focus:
The main lessons included in the prototype include:
1. Microaggressions
2. Systemic Racism
3. White Privilege
4. What to Say
While only these 4 lessons were included in the prototype, the real program will dive deeper into the major racism issues in the US.
Reflection:
The biggest challenge this app would face is the virtual reality experiences. Simulating realistic encounters and conversations on a smartphone would not be ideal. Also, it cannot be assumed that every one would have access to a smartphone in the first place. Perhaps the virtual reality segment will be made available on the school's campus or at the workplace with a VR headset ready for use.
My Digital Design and Usability Course was not long enough to allow us to test our product on potential users. While the app lives only in the classroom, it was an incredible learning experience for me to build an app from scratch. I am proud to have been able to exercise both my digital and UX design skills on this project, especially since it was my first time using Adobe XD.
*Video of a user making her way through the app: