For many living in cities, everyday life is interwoven with digital and network related experiences. These experiences often carry with them particular local, site-specific design challenges. How can User Experience Design help local users better engage with their environments and each other?

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DUMBO [Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass], a ferry landing, characterized by 19th, early 20th century industrial buildings, has since become an upscale residential/commercial community, attracting art galleries and tech startups. Oct 29, 2019 marked 7-year anniversary of hurricane Sandy which largely affected DUMBO. The historic neighborhood suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage. Since then, a new flood zone map to include sections of DUMBO has been issued, using updated elevation data and a model that assumes a flood occurring at high-tide to enable the city to better tailor disaster response and inform citizens of evacuation orders more precisely. The Mayor's office encouraged residents to form community groups and be aware of the different flood zones within their neighborhoods.

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Through Project DUMBO, I want to connect with real users, learn from and engage with tangible spaces in time, while directly addressing the local impact of climate change.