Advanced GD: Project 3: Civic UX — Designing for Behavioral Change

This project is new for Fall 2026 (as an independent study with three students) and is a combination of two projects I have run previously. The first was a behavioral design project — students audited existing digital systems for dark patterns, persuasive techniques, and ethically questionable design choices. It built critical literacy: students who completed it could not look at a social media interface the same way again. What it did not do well was ask students to make something in response to what they found. The analysis was strong. The design work was underdeveloped. The second was a community needs project — students identified a real need in a specific community and designed a system to address it. The design work was stronger, but students sometimes chose problems that were too vague or too large, and without the analytical rigor of the behavioral project, the problem definition stage was often under developed.

Civic UX integrates both aspects by prompting students to analyze how design influences behavior, both ethically and unethically. They then apply this understanding to a real, defined community or civic issue. The title emphasizes the core message: design has civic implications, and understanding behavioral mechanics is an essential skill and a professional duty. The project aligns logically within the course sequence: Project 1 focuses on creating a brand system, Project 2 transforms emotions into visual forms, and Project 3 involves designing for a community and context beyond oneself. The systemic thinking skills developed in the first two projects naturally extend into this one, meaning students are not starting from scratch but broadening their perspective.

Choosing a problem remains the most challenging aspect. Students who focus on a specific and manageable aspect of a larger issue create work with real impact. In contrast, those who address only the broad problem tend to produce superficial responses. As this is the first semester I am implementing the combined approach, Fall 2026 will reveal whether the integration achieves my goal: cultivating designers capable of both critical system analysis and rigorous formal response.