1. Graphic design
2. Web design
3. Branding
4. Experience design

USER
High school students, undergraduates, professors, and high school teachers

TEAM
John Moriarty, Anne Harrington, Shampa Bishwap

CLIENT
Carnegie and Whiteman College

DURATION
5 months

Decolonization of Nuclear Studies

Project summary:
The Decolonization of Nuclear Studies Project consists of a diverse team of nuclear experts and educators who will create new educational tools for students to reframe the topic of atomic weapons and how they connect to us. The DNS Project comprises three teams that focus on a particular, and Antiracism, to shape and lens (Feminism, Environmentalism, the story of nuclear weapons around the world. At the end of the project, each team shares its curriculum and works with a designer to create a digital experience to engage the viewer and support the readings and activities they have gathered.

For this cohort project, I translated the activities and goals for their modules into interactive maps, illustrated complex concepts, and other interactions for custom-built digital sites that will be housed on the Highly Nriched website.

Role ︎

Lead UX designer
Led visual designs
Design collaboration facilitator

Opportunities ︎

Introduce young adults to the unspoken history and opportunity space of nuclear weapons deterrence
Change the narrative around nuclear weapons and their history

Outcomes ︎

750K secured in funding
Integration of the design process into educational activities
Four interactive websites crafted with curated content for each
15 Tested activities that introduce complex nuclear topics using experiential learning

Photo credit: Pam Murray

(A) Defining the problem space

It is challenging to inspire someone to change the trajectory of their careers or even spend time investigating a topic with a black and white, printed 25+ page paper. Yet, most educational resources about nuclear weapons and policy for students are approached this way, causing a reduction in people with new perspectives to enter the nuclear space. Even with alternative educational tools such as models and simulations, the barriers to entry into the nuclear weapons space still need to be lowered for most.

Tasks:

︎ Identify pain points and opportunities that impact targeted audiences.

︎ Outline the problem space for why young people are not entering into the nuclear space and choosing to go into other specialties (focus on mission-driven career choices).

︎ Gain a better understanding of the order of operations that is currently used to achieve the desired behavior change.

Problem Statement ︎

How might we transform educational nuclear weapons learning materials into an interactive experience that changes their preconceived notions of how nuclear weapons exist in our history?

Unique Solution ︎

Using the established Highly Nriched platform structure, we created new methods of approaching nuclear-related topics and stories that resonated with younger people. By introducing new ways of learning, we broadened the entrance into these subjects.

Guiding Insight:

Relatable activities + interactive engagement = experiential learning that connects to the participant & inspires personal action

(B) User experience

User Personas, User Experience maps, and workflows

Tasks:

︎ Identify the needs of the targeted audiences and their priorities to align with the goals and features of the deliverable

︎ Simplifying the user experience to be more visual and engaging differs from the information-forward approach with many educational materials.

︎ Embody the feeling of discovery and uncovering the “truth” of new perspectives in the nuclear space.

UNDERSTANDING

User personas

The DNS project aims to connect with various audiences, both directly and indirectly, to flip the script of the nuclear weapons narrative and challenge new ways of learning through experiential learning that encourages critical thinking. Beginning this project, our key users were identified, and personas were created to ensure the design aligned with our audiences' priorities and pain points.

User 2: Holly Highschool

User 3: Denise College Professor

User 4: Eric Educator

User 5: Cecelia Education Creator

User 1: Carl College

(C) Concepting activations for retention & application

Tasks:

︎ Use design elements to prime the user to the kind of content each module focuses on.

︎ Create and implement key moments for interaction with learning materials and application of newly acquired knowledge.

MAPPING

Design Framework: H.E.A.R.T.

How can we measure success over time?
What framework works best for a project of this complexity?

The HEART framework, developed by Google, focuses on the success of the UX experience by testing for: Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention, and Task Success. This framework helped shape and define the goal is for the project and guide the design stage for the modules and educational materials.

(D) DNS’s Subsite Suite

Leading the DNS Multi-site project

DNS homepage

Feminism

Anticolonialism

Environmentalism

Feminism and the Nuclear World Module

The Feminism team’s module was divided into three subpages, each with its own color palette and theme. At the end of the site, the conclusion page summarizes the teachings and asks the user more significant questions about how their definitions of “feminism” have changed. This page includes videos from experts who also answer these questions and put more faces on people in the nuclear space.

REQUIREMENTS

1. The utilization of multiple senses that engage the participants

2. Communication of new ways of approaching conversations on feminism

3. Inclusion of nontraditional images of feminism that connects to educational materials

4. The organization of different themes to feel connected but also capable of standing on their own

INTERACTIVITY

Planetary bodies for new perspectives

This module’s design direction was inspired by planetary bodies and the new day, as shown in the floating and orbital nature of the visual assets and the use of gradients to create an interactive torch element that creates an experience of discovery for the end user.

Activities
The Feminism team’s site and materials included diverse ways of interaction, such as sketching, listening to primary sources, and interviewing experts.

Each activity followed the exact structure of an introduction, pre-reading, that activity, and a bibliography. Every activity was branded in the sub-branding of the corresponding category.

Race, Colonialism, and Nuclear weapons Module

REQUIREMENTS

1. The communication of the sense of truth and honest reporting

2. The connection of current issues with the nuclear systems and possible solutions

3. Contains the learning materials that should be seen as separate resources that all require the same vocabulary

4. The interaction with the material feels exploratory

Activities
The structure of the activities was that they were to be independent case studies of three nations and their colonization of the United States with the use of nuclear weapons. There are core vocabulary/concepts that apply to every case study, which exists as the illustrations on the homepage of the Antiracism site.

More-than-Human World Module

Looking at the themes of Conservation, Circuitry, Contestation, and Conservation in their materials, we also applied these themes to an interactive map that plays with layers and analyzes maps through one or more lenses. With more educational documents, the user explores the lower part of the page, which is now a map embedded with all the different documents for them to choose from.

REQUIREMENTS

1. Contains a map that poses new ways of reading that encourages new questions about the viewer and the context

2. The utilization of multiple senses to engage the viewer

3. Includes non traditional images that are paired with nuclear topics such as nature and technology

4. The interaction with the material needs to feel exploratory and reflects the theme of the mode

Interactive feature: maps and visual application of conceptual lenses for storytelling

The environmentalism team’s module design direction focused on integrating maps and how their meanings change as layers of information are applied and interact with one another. Using the two locations Rocky Flats, USA, and Chernobyl, Russia, we illustrated the themes of Conservation, Circuitry, Contestation, and Conservation, applying the graphics to custom maps to demonstrate how new information changes our relationship to the environment.

Animations sped up 5x

Animations sped up 5x

Custom map of the Rocky Flats

Custom map of Chernobyl

Generated Visual Asset Concepts

This project required generating several abstract images to communicate technology, the natural world, and complex systems working in and around us. Using AI tools, specifically DALL-E 2, we were able to quickly create custom thumbnails that would be used for the PDFs and images on the map that represent learning materials.

(E) Strategy for collaboration

Tasks

︎ Engage stakeholders throughout the design process by creating assets for them to respond to and get feedback from others.

︎ Provide several options when asking questions to steer the conversation and allow them to compare and contrast different representations of their brand.

︎ Make the most of in-person collaborations by having hard copies of in-progress work for people to draw on and explore ideas to shape their product experience further.

Poster mockups were printed for the cohort to discuss and critique

UNDERSTANDING + PROTOTYPING

Working with multidisciplinary teams

This project lent itself to onboarding three teams of experts and educators through the design process, from creating a light visual branding, defining the experience, and designing materials such as a website and downloadable learning materials. To keep the design process as collaborative and interactive as possible, we strategized ways we could activate the teams and get them to think critically about how they want someone to feel as they are experiencing their educational tools and how we can use visuals to support the work that they are doing. One example of activation was to create rough poster mockups that were printed (3 per group) and posted on the wall for in-person review at the Atomic Conference.

COMMUNICATION

Branding guides & visual direction communication

This project was a collaborative effort with web developers, so clear and effective communication was essential as the team worked asynchronously. Animations, branding cheat sheets, and mockups were all used to communicate interactive elements unique to each project.

PROTOTYPING

Testing

In the IDSA Conference, the Decolonization in Nuclear Studies team held small focus groups to test the learning materials the cohort developed. Participants were introduced to 5 modified learning activities currently published on HighlyNriched.com and asked to leave feedback about each activity.