Students will investigate the lived experiences, hopes, and needs of real members of their school community in order to ground their multimedia collage designs in authentic user evidence. Through storytelling, interview training, direct conversations with peers and staff, and structured empathy mapping, students will gather and document quotes, observations, and insights that will later inform a focused problem statement about inclusion and community growth.

Students will synthesize empathy research into clear, evidence-based problem definitions that center real school community members’ needs. Through pattern analysis, affinity mapping, and critique, they will craft and refine a grounded How Might We statement and rationale that will guide ideation in the next phase.

Students will generate a wide range of creative solutions for their Inclusion Impact Installation by using structured brainstorming, arts-based ideation strategies, and user-centered decision tools. They will move from divergent thinking to selecting 2–3 strong concepts grounded in real user evidence, preparing clear concept sketches that will guide prototyping in the next phase.

Students will build, test, and refine low- to mid-fidelity multimedia collage prototypes grounded in real user evidence. Working individually and in teams, they will collaborate with a community arts agency to apply design principles, conduct structured user testing, document feedback, and iterate toward stronger inclusion-focused installations.

Students will validate their refined Inclusion Impact Installation with new users, make final evidence-based revisions, and present their full human-centered design journey—connecting empathy research, problem definition, iteration, and future goals—during the Gallery of Growth with families, staff, and community arts partners.