Students will launch the project by engaging with curated Vietnamese children’s literature and conducting firsthand empathy interviews with real community members to begin understanding the lived experiences, challenges, and contributions of Vietnamese refugees in California.

Students will synthesize their empathy interviews and literature insights to define a clear, user-centered problem statement grounded in evidence about Vietnamese refugee resilience and community contributions in California.

Students will generate a wide range of mural solution ideas grounded in real interview evidence, evaluate concepts using user-need criteria, and create annotated concept sketches that show how their design answers the essential questions about Vietnamese refugees’ resilience and contributions.

Students will build a testable mural section prototype grounded in user research, document feedback from real users, and revise their design based on evidence before final presentation.

Students will validate their class mural with an authentic audience from the local library and community, then present their full design journey—from empathy interviews to final iteration—during a public gallery walk that demonstrates how user evidence shaped their artistic and historical decisions.