Students will launch the family tree altar project by studying local Día de los Muertos traditions through a guided community-connected observation experience, then begin empathy-centered idea generation through a story circle, sketch swap, and rapid altar thumbnails.

Students will gather direct evidence from museum staff, family stories, peer exchanges, and observation notes to better understand Día de los Muertos altar traditions and the lived memories behind a loved one’s story. They will organize that evidence into empathy maps, memory/meaning prompts, and early design criteria that can guide stronger altar concepts in the next phase.

Students will turn story-circle notes, museum observations, and critique evidence into a user-centered altar concept. They will define a clear design problem, generate several distinct family tree altar directions, use peer feedback to test clarity and cultural coherence, and choose one evidence-based concept to carry into prototyping.

Students will turn their chosen altar concepts into testable mixed-media prototypes, gather feedback from peers and representative viewers, complete two documented revision cycles, and prepare a concise presentation that traces how user evidence shaped their design decisions.

Students will present their completed family tree altars to a public audience at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, explain how symbols, images, and meaningful objects honor a loved one’s story, and reflect on audience response and their growth through the full design process.