Project Type: School Fall 2016 (solo)

Role: Designer, Developer

My site was geared towards the idea of sharing experiences and providing insight into the lives of black youth in America. Our society has a tendency to lump a lot of us together as a stereotype, but we are all very different. My site was meant to empower and educate those already in the community and those who wished to be allies of it.

First Stages

First and foremost, I learned that when you create content, you have to be aware of what is already out there. Will I have competitors and/or am I making something that already exists? In this first stage, I did a competitive analysis.

The next step was figuring out who my users were and what they would come to my website to do. In short, deciding what the functionality would look like.

One of the most enjoyable parts of this preliminary stage, was user research. I attended Black Student Union, spoke to students, and quizzed my friends on what they would want from a website like this. Through those conversations, I made user personas. Detailed summaries of fictitious people who might interact with my website. 

Design and Development

Once the research was completed, I created wireframes and storyboards. My intention was to make a platform where users would see scattered photos and stories on the home page, prompting them to click and read different views of the black experience.  The user could then post their own story and/or photo, find local community events, or play a game.

I hadn't planned to add gamification to this project, but I decided it would be powerful if I made a game that explored bias, stereotypes, and the role that each of us play in them. I then drafted up a text based 'choose your own adventure' using the platform Twine, where the 'player' encounters different people of color and makes choices that influence the outcome of their lives.

There isn't much to see, but if you click on the link below and go to the 'explore' page, you can begin to read the twine game I wrote. Looking back on this project, the game was the most valuable piece I created and I am excited to develop it further.