Students will launch the Identity Accordion Zine project by conducting firsthand empathy research with real people about cultural symbols and personal narratives. Through structured interviews and an empathy map, students will gather direct quotes and insights that will ground their future zine designs and exhibition decisions in authentic user evidence.

Students will synthesize empathy interviews and research about identity symbols into a clear, evidence-based problem definition that guides the design of their Identity Museum installation and accordion zines.

Students will generate a wide range of exhibition and zine interaction ideas grounded in real user needs, then evaluate and refine concepts into clear, user-centered solution sketches that guide prototyping.

Students will build and refine low- and medium-fidelity prototypes of their Identity Accordion Zines and Identity Museum installation displays, test them with real users, and document how feedback shapes their revisions before the final presentation phase.

Students will conduct a final validation of their Identity Museum installations with a new user, refine their exhibition based on documented feedback, and present their complete design journey—from empathy interviews to final prototype—during the Identity Gala Night, explicitly connecting design decisions to user evidence and essential questions about identity and visual storytelling.