This participatory design research project brought a team of M.Des. student designers into partnership with Douglass Park to explore how community members define themselves, their creativity, and their relationship to shared public space. Rather than beginning with assumptions about what the community needed, the team grounded their work in foundational questions:
How is community defined? Who gets to call themselves an artist, and what barriers—internal and external—stand in the way of that self-perception?
Drawing on conversations and frameworks from Meet Me in the Middle at Overton (2022) and Why Am I Always Being Researched?, the team approached the park not as a site to study, but as a community to serve alongside, centering an asset-based mindset that asks who holds power and how that power might be redistributed.
MENU
Throughout the process, the team committed to research practices built on transparency, restraint, and respect. They intentionally limited data collection to what was truly necessary for their deliverables, resisting the pull toward conventional but excessive metrics, guided by the principle that what gets measured is what gets incentivized. They treated lived experience as a form of expertise equal to formal credentials, and prioritized high-touch transparency so community members always understood what was being researched and why, with a clear ability to opt out.
![[Add caption here]](attachment:d2cf1e92-c68d-4870-a768-1c4bc7ab34c3:image.png)
[Add caption here]
![[Add Caption Here]](attachment:5b8df311-94a2-4569-92ac-be6a26443497:cfeb2d2d-2221-4a16-a46c-874f71469841.png)
[Add Caption Here]
“[ADD QUOTE HERE]
As a team checkpoint in the wayfinding design process ahead of its planned Grand Opening in January 2026. The team reconvened to share how earlier insights were translated into concrete wayfinding concepts. The session opened with project updates, including the status of ongoing Cooperation Racine workshops, the planned move of the Sukkah "CrateTown" installation into the basement, evolving operational signage needs, and an updated building floorplan identifying key signage touchpoints throughout the space. Following the updates, the team introduced their wayfinding visuals and directional concepts, setting up a 40-minute feedback and critique portion of the session. Attendees were asked to review physical printouts on display boards, focusing on style, typography, color, and overall cohesiveness, alongside a digital simulated layout that illustrated how the wayfinding elements would function within the actual journey through the space. Beyond design feedback, the session also served a professional development purpose, offering space to discuss how participants might frame and present this project within their own portfolios.
xxxxxx
