planetogether


civic design, graphic design, ux design
June 2020


Collaborative Partners: WGBH Emerging Platforms Initiative and
Boston Public Library Teen Central

Planetogether is a virtual experience that promotes positive civic engagement
among young people ages 15–24 through a world-building activity that fosters
civic imagination. Planetogether utilizes Zoom as an emerging social platform to
engage young people in creative speculation to produce positive
civic engagement in the context of social-distancing amid a pandemic.


I created Planetogether with three other designers in collaboration with
the above community partners for my Masters Thesis project. The prototype provides
youth with an approachable, interactive, and collaborative opportunity to engage
in civic participation in an emerging digital space.

Read the full Masters thesis here


Players watching the introduction video explaining
the story and rules of the activity.





Teams are placed into breakout rooms to
brainstorm  and design their concept. 



The activity encourages youth to think through civic design processes,
empower them to have a voice in their community, and
activate civic dialogue in a space that is low-stakes, imaginative, and fun.





In partnership with WGBH’s Emerging Platforms Initiative and Boston Public Library Teen Central, we set out to answer the following design question: In the context of social distancing resulting from COVID-19, can a shared, youth specific, digital experience promote civic engagement among young people around democratic processes?

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, it has been essential to reimagine what civic activity can look like in a socially-distant world. We designed Planetogether to be an intervention that utilizes the digital realm to produce positive civic engagement at a time where opportunities for physically connecting, collaborating, and learning were not possible.

We used creative storytelling practices to transport players into an immersive scenario in which they are selected to design the systems and infrastructures of a brand new planet. 






Campaign graphic for Project For Importance, created
during our session with Making Kid Magic — a group of artists,
designers, and teachers from Olin College.
Campaign graphic for The Natural Utopia, created
during our event with BPL Teen Central.