Students will launch their Arab American Heritage Month design challenge by engaging directly with real users, practicing culturally responsive interview skills, and producing evidence-based empathy maps grounded in at least two live conversations. They will surface assumptions about heritage and identity, gather authentic quotes, and document insights that will anchor their individual artwork and future team installation designs.

Students will synthesize their interview notes and empathy maps to identify patterns across users, analyze how art and architecture reflect Arab American identity, and craft a clear, evidence-based How Might We statement that guides their design work for the rest of the project.

Students will generate a wide range of installation ideas for their Arab American Heritage mosaic or lantern display, using structured ideation strategies grounded in user interview evidence. Teams will move from divergent brainstorming to selecting and sketching top concepts that clearly respond to documented user needs and reflect positive aspects of group identity.

Students will build and refine low- to higher-fidelity prototypes of their Arab American heritage installations and individual artworks, test them with real users or representative peers, and document feedback-driven revisions in an iteration log that traces design decisions back to interview evidence.

Students will validate their Arab American heritage installations with a new user, refine their mosaic or lantern prototypes based on feedback, and present a design story that traces user research, problem definition, ideation, iteration, and final impact during the 'Art Across Arab America' exhibition.