Creating a New Design Entity for AFA | Sponsored by IBM
Establishing a new design entity for AFA Austin with IBM-backed research and strategy.
Role: User Experience Design Intern
Conducted user research (interviews, ethnography), designed features, and contributed to KPIs and UX Roadmap.
Team: Collaborated with senior UX mentor and other interns.
Company: IBM (Austin Foundation of Architecture Sponsorship)
Timeline: 12 weeks
Focus: Personalization & User-Centered Design
Impact: Created a roadmap for AFA Austin to foster connections among local designers. The strategy defined actionable steps for building a stronger design community, guiding future initiatives, and shaping AFA’s ongoing engagement efforts.
The Problem
There is a two-fold lack of awareness
lack of awareness of design events
lack of awareness of design disciplines
There is little programming in place
There is a lack of a large physical space to host events
There is a lack of funding
The Challenge
How might we create unique, interdisciplinary programming so that AFA can enrich the professional development of UX designers, service designers, and architects?
I started by working with my team to create a design discipline matrix. My goals were to determine:
With zero budget, which design disciplines are the most accessible to research?
What design disciplines are most aligned in terms of values and needs?
Research
Understanding what designers in Austin want out of a community hub.
Early Insights:
Most Accessible Participants: Architects, Service Designers, and UX Designers were easiest to reach for research.
Largest Design Groups in Austin: These roles also represented the most populous designer communities, making them key stakeholders for AFA Austin’s engagement roadmap.
To delve deeper into our defined user base of Architects, Service Designers, and UX Designers I conducted…
1:1 Interviews
I conducted interviews with architects, UX designers, and service designers to understand our users’ pain points, inspirations, and goals. A user interview guide informed this process.
Interviews from 2 Architects
Interviews from 2 Service Designers
Interview from 1 UX Designer
Ethnography
I observed design-related events in Austin with attendees from our 3 user groups to get insights into our user’s behaviors.
Fly-on-the-wall observation at Thinkful Webinar || UX/UI Design: Designing A UX Case Study
Fly-on-the-wall observation at Thinkful Webinar || UX/UI Design: Designing A UX Case Study
Field observation at Creative Mornings ATX
Net-nography
I observed online databases, Meetup groups, Reddit groups, YouTube videos, etc. to get insights into our user’s behaviors.
Fly-on-the-wall observation from an ATX UX Designer Youtuber
Fly-on-the-wall observation from an Architect Youtuber
Fly-on-the-wall observation from various reddit threads
The Findings
“In Austin, the design ecosystem is there - [but] not the community.” - Service Designer who moved to Austin from LA
From interviews, ethnography, netnography, surveys, and prototype responses, it is clear that Austin Service designers and Architects were the most aligned groups in terms of job description, interests, isolation, and desire for community.
They expressed a desire to join design events that are:
Casual, accessible
Low time
Low effort
clear and express a direct value
Emphasize the “why” of the event
In the future archtiects and service designers will have:
Interesting events with a design community
Opportunities to see new creative processes
Support from a network of architects/designers
Opportunities for in-person engagement
Support from professionals in their field
Meaningful connection to a design community
This information informed a new hypothesis…
How might we create unique, interdisciplinary programming so that AFA can enrich the professional development of UX designers, service designers, and architects?
How might we Identify impactful first steps toward establishing a mutually beneficial role for a new inclusive, interdisciplinary, design entity in Austin?
The Solution
Community building in bite-sized programming
Create programming that is clear in its value, has a low barrier of entry, and encourages designers to collaborate across disciplines.
Phase 1: Architects & Service designers
Phase 2: Architects as primary focus with UX, urban, industrial, AR/VR, service, and graphic designers
Phase 3: These design disciplines and beyond
Solution Example: Meets Up & Speaker Series
Helps build a foundation for a larger Austin design community and builds credibility with designers.
Establishes the first steps in reaching the broader design community.
Results
I learned…
how to grow my qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis skills. I base design decisions on solid research rather than assumptions.
for interviewees, life is unpredictable. It’s crucial to accommodate their schedules and ensure they feel comfortable to obtain valuable insights.
High-quality UX research is essential for addressing organizational challenges. I prioritize research as the first step in any new project.
If this project had funding and a longer duration I would have…
Interviewed a greater depth of designers
10-15 of each design discipline
Interviewed a wider breadth of designers
Including graphic, urban, industrial, and AR/VR designers, and then group audiences from these findings
Observations per designer type accumulated.
Grouping themes from observations.
Drafting of user personas for the architect and the service designer.