Using Kevin Lynch’s book, Image of the City, I worked collaboratively with three other designers to create a web experience that explored the history behind current Raleigh locations relating to the civil rights movement. Using Lynch’s organizing principles as well as schema theory, we worked to create the conditions for an immersing experience. I was interested in exploring reflection in interaction design. By combining cinematic moments, that force the viewer to engage with text and images at a slow pace, with fully modifiable environments, the stage is set for reflective cognition. To prepare for the project, we took a trip to Washington DC to visit the Holocaust Museum and The American Indian Museum to observe how they used different schemas to organize the museums. Leading up to the final design artifact, we conducted field research and developed a relationship with a local museum to share content. We created audience motivation maps, content maps, schematic maps and activity maps. We then worked to create a prototype to simulate potential user interaction.

Collaborators: Robert Ruehlman, Dan McCafferty and Caroline Prietz