Bots & Brushes Bash

Learning Goals & Products

Learning Goals

Students will be able to investigate rider movement and bottlenecks in a crowded subway station through direct observation and user feedback to identify concrete wayfinding problems.

Students will be able to analyze subway signage and community art examples to explain how visual choices affect readability, movement, and public understanding.

Students will be able to synthesize user observations into an evidence-based problem statement that defines the needs of NYC subway riders.

Students will be able to ideate multiple signage and station-art solutions that improve clarity, reduce crowding, and support equitable navigation for riders.

Students will be able to prototype a before-and-after station flow map and signage concept using visual design choices and environmentally conscious materials and clean-up practices.

Students will be able to test a wayfinding prototype with peers or target users and revise it based on observed movement, feedback, and critique.

Students will be able to justify design decisions in a community-centered wayfinding proposal by explaining how revisions responded to rider needs, critique, and artistic intent.

Products

individual

User Research Portfolio and Testable Subway Signage Prototype

Each student creates a research portfolio with observation notes, a simple rider-flow map, and a short evidence-based problem statement. They also produce an individual prototype showing one proposed wayfinding or community-art solution that can be tested with users.

team

Revised Station Flow Map, Collaborative Wayfinding Prototype, and Client Pitch

Teams combine individual research and prototypes into one refined station flow map and a higher-fidelity wayfinding or art solution for an MTA Arts & Design-style audience. The product includes a shared problem statement, revisions based on critique and testing, and a brief presentation explaining design choices.

Rubric

Competency Progression Rubric Competency-first rubric

Category	Learning Goal	Emerging	Developing	Proficient	Applying
Artistic Expression	Art and community	I can explore diverse forms and genres of artwork across different cultures and communities. Project-specific: I can explore diverse forms and examples of art and community wayfinding by identifying how different cultures/communities use visual cues, signage, and public artwork to support navigation and safety in shared spaces.	I can express/show an appreciation of/for diverse forms and genres of artwork across different cultures and communities. Project-specific: I can express an appreciation for how community-centered artwork and design can communicate clearly by comparing at least two waysfinding/signage approaches and explaining which choices help different riders understand quickly and equitably.	I show appreciation and support (e.g., promotion, attendance, experience) for the arts in my local communities or the communities of others. Project-specific: I can show support for the arts in my local community by using feedback and environmentally conscious care of shared materials to refine my station flow map and signage proposal so it is accessible, welcoming, and responsive to community needs.	I collaborate and connect with others inside and outside my communities to curate and draft artwork that drives or represents social change and/or the community’s values. Project-specific: I can collaborate with others inside and outside my community to create and revise artwork that represents community values by incorporating peer and authentic-audience feedback into a clearer, more engaging wayfinding concept and presenting it as a social-impact solution.
Artistic Expression	Making art	I understand and can describe why people generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and works of visual and performing arts (e.g., to express or reflect their lived realities or communities). Project-specific: I can explain how my art-making is connected to my community and to real experiences in shared public spaces, and I can describe why conserving, caring for, and properly cleaning up art materials is part of making thoughtful work for others.	I can practice and improve my creative capacity in the arts. Project-specific: I can practice and improve my creative capacity by using safe, environmentally conscious habits (careful tool use, efficient material use, and organized clean-up) and by trying new approaches to revise my wayfinding/signage ideas without giving up.	I conceptualize or draft an artistic work or idea that reflects or expresses my lived reality, ideas, or communities. Project-specific: I can conceptualize and draft an artistic work or design concept that reflects my ideas about riders’ lived experiences and community needs, and I can refine it by applying specific criteria and feedback I receive to make my prototype clearer and more effective.	I perform, produce, or direct engaging artistic expressions or work through interpretation and presentation that reflect the lived realities and intellectual ideas of myself and/or my communities. Project-specific: I can produce and present an engaging wayfinding/signage prototype that communicates a clear solution to reduce confusion and crowding, and I can show how I revised the work through constructive critique by reflecting on my artistic choices and the impact on others.
Art Analysis	Art and society	I can recognize the roles and impacts that artworks, art forms, or artistic movements can have on different communities (ethnic, religious, etc.). Project-specific: I can recognize how art and visual design (like public signage and wayfinding) can affect different communities, including how people may feel, understand information, and move safely in shared spaces I can identify at least one community impact and describe what seems to be happening when the design is unclear or confusing.	I can give examples of relationships between artworks, art forms, or artistic movements and different communities’ religions, myths, politics, languages, and/or ideologies. Project-specific: I can give examples of how art choices connect to communities’ languages, ideologies, and everyday needs by explaining how specific design features (symbols, color, typography, placement) may support or hinder different groups I can relate at least two factors (e.g., language clarity and accessibility) to rider understanding and crowding in a station-like environment.	I analyze the role and impact artworks, art forms, or artistic movements have on different communities. Project-specific: I can analyze how art and artistic movements in public spaces influence communities by examining how visual communication shapes behavior, inclusion, and movement patterns I can use evidence from observations (e.g., where people slow down or get turned around) to explain the role and impact of particular signage or community artwork features.	I evaluate local, regional, and national art trends and practices and identify where one could create an artwork that seeks to create positive social change within a community or society. Project-specific: I can evaluate local/regional/national trends in public art and wayfinding practices and identify how I could apply them to create a solution that supports positive social change for NYC riders I can justify my design direction using criteria and feedback while considering community needs, clarity, and equitable safety outcomes.
Artistic Expression	Power of art	I can identify art, and describe how I experience it. Project-specific: I can identify ways that art can communicate ideas and feelings in public spaces (like subway stations) and describe how I experience art when I notice visual cues and visuals around me.	I can identify art and discuss art orally and in writing. Project-specific: I can identify how specific visual choices in art (color, symbols, lettering, layout) help people understand directions, and I can explain what I see using clear oral and written language.	I describe and discuss how different pieces of art make me feel and/or what they make me think about. Project-specific: I can describe how different art and signage examples make me feel and/or what they make me think about, and I can connect those reactions to how clear or confusing movement feels in a crowded station.	I analyze how specific artworks have been used by individuals and/or communities to express their ideas, experiences, feelings, and/or beliefs. Project-specific: I can analyze how artworks and wayfinding designs used by individuals or communities express beliefs, experiences, and needs, and I can use criteria from those examples to judge and refine my own design choices to better serve riders.
Sharing Ideas	Seeking feedback	I can gain new insights on specific ideas and work by sharing them with people and describing their response. Project-specific: I can share my wayfinding idea or prototype-in-progress with others and describe how their comments changed my thinking, using specific details from what I heard.	I can gain new insights on specific ideas and work by asking helpful questions of a targeted and relevant audience. Project-specific: I can ask targeted, relevant questions to a specific audience (e.g., classmates or a community member) to get feedback on clarity, movement, and crowding concerns in my station signage concept.	I gain new insights on specific ideas and work by sharing them openly and asking open-ended questions with varied audiences. Project-specific: I can share my draft approach openly with varied audiences and ask open-ended questions (e.g., what feels confusing or how it could feel more welcoming), then identify multiple insights I gained from their perspectives.	I intentionally pursue numerous opportunities to solicit feedback from varied audiences when considering a new idea, and explain my process for considering and/or incorporating that feedback. Project-specific: I can intentionally seek feedback from numerous varied audiences as I develop a new idea and clearly explain my process for how I considered, compared, and incorporated (or thoughtfully did not incorporate) that feedback into revisions.