Systems Thinking

I approach design with a balance of big-picture thinking and attention to detail, creating ecosystems that connect different touch points into a cohesive experience. By focusing on both strategy and execution, I ensure that digital and physical elements work together seamlessly, adapting to different contexts while maintaining impact.

Designing a Scalable Transformational Experience for Students

The Future Project

Challenge

Design a transformational experience that expands the impact of The Future Project’s core offering—without requiring a full-time Dream Director—while preserving the depth of its student outcomes and increasing accessibility nationwide.

My Role:

Director, Product: Led the design and development of Future Camp from research through national rollout. Conducted qualitative research, synthesized insights, and translated them into new product experiences. Oversaw prototyping, pilot testing, and continuous iteration across 8 regional implementations.

Team Members:

  • Curriculum Strategists

  • Experience Designers

  • Junior Inventors (Youth Advisory Team)

  • Production & Facilitation Team

Project Overview

    • Conducted interviews with 17 students and alumni to identify transformational themes and key motivational drivers.

    • Shadowed Dream Directors and reviewed internal intellectual property to define program values, existing best practices, and missed opportunities.

    • Performed external analysis of rites of passage, transformational experiences, and Gen Z motivators to shape the future-state model.

    Key Insights:

    • Transformation is deeper when done in community.

    • Agency develops when students are pushed to act on something meaningful.

    • Gen Z is intrinsically motivated by learning about self and having impact.

    • Built and tested individual tools (card games, vision boards, reflection tools) for learning engagement, purpose discovery, and project planning.

    • Applied Tom Chi's rapid prototyping methodology with students across 3 states to identify emotional “magic moments” in the experience.

    • Reorganized and refined the experience map to anchor programming around those high points, ensuring emotional resonance and outcome alignment.

    • Launched Future Camp in 8 cities, piloting the full 3-day experience with high school students from diverse backgrounds.

    • Developed a real-time continuous improvement system, collecting post-surveys, qualitative observations, and asset usage data.

    • Evolved content and facilitation structures with both camp-level micro adjustments and phase-level macro pivots after every 2–3 events.

    • Designed and launched a scalable 3-day program that reached 600+ students in its pilot year, delivered 240 hours of transformational programming, went through 8 core iterations, and produced over 15 digital and physical assets.

    • Streamlined program materials – increasing usability, reducing production costs, and improving participant engagement.

    • Improved facilitator experience and student flow by eliminating clutter and aligning tools with the emotional arc of the program.

    • Delivered over 240 hours of transformational programming and built a replicable model centered on identity, agency, and pro-social impact.

    • Produced more than 15 digital and physical assets and developed scalable training systems for facilitator delivery.

Project Highlights

  • Developed and Tested Prototypes

    Created prototypes of various program activities and products (games, tools, etc.) to understand what best suited the desired outcomes. Spent the summer testing these prototypes with small student groups, collecting feedback on how the products needed to evolve for greater success, focusing on engagement and outcome achievement.

  • Refined Experience Based on Emotional Arc and Student Needs

    Identified key "magic moments" to shape the emotional arc of the experience and defined the student needs required to achieve these moments. Refined the activity map by reordering or replacing elements to better align with these needs, ensuring the program connected with students at critical touchpoints and delivered a transformational impact.

  • Scaled, Streamlined, and Improved Engagement

    Expanded Future Camp to 8 cities, reaching over 600 students through a more efficient model. Iterative improvements led to higher engagement, more effective content retention, and stronger learning outcomes, enhancing the program's overall impact.

  • Consolidated Assets for Cost Savings and Streamlined Learning

    Simplified and consolidated the program’s assets, transitioning from multiple physical items (games, posters, reflection tools) to a single, streamlined tool—the "Werqbook." This not only reduced production costs but also enhanced student engagement, improved usability, and ensured long-term retention of learnings.

Previous

New Product Exploration