What is StudioLab?
“StudioLab’s mix of performance, media, and design emerged in the 1990s and connects designers, communities, and researchers working across distant fields and worlds.” – Jon McKenzie
Partner: Professor Jon McKenzie
Overview
Jon McKenzie is Director of StudioLab and Professor of Practice. He is the author of Perform or Else: From Discipline to Performance (2001), which focuses on cultural, organizational, and technological performance in post-disciplinary societies, and Transmedia Knowledge for Liberal Arts and Community Engagement: A StudioLab Manifesto (2019), which articulates a critical design practice combining critical thinking, tactical media, and design thinking. StudioLab collaborates with community organizations, non-profit and non-governmental organizations in both the US and abroad. Jon is also Faculty Affiliate with the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research.
Personal Website: https://www.labster8.net/
Meet the Team
Ashley Paik
Year: Freshman
Major: Information Science
Role: Writer
Boyang Li
Year: Senior
Major: Information Science
Role: Multimedia
Hannah Lee
Year: Senior
Major: Information Science
Role: WebMaster
Matthew Yang
Year: Senior
Major: CS
Role: Producer
Design Challenge
StudioLab wants to leverage transmedia to change the world. More specifically, StudioLab wants to highlight specific projects with partners such as HAC, 14BC, & DE2 in three contexts: existing website, social media, a show at 14BC in April to democratize digitality.
Design Process
Design Frames 🖼️
Conceptual frame: Transmediating knowledge from StudioLab’s website to other platforms to expand reach and democratize digitality.
Aesthetic frame: Appealing visuals that showcase StudioLab projects and partners while aligning with StudioLab’s colors and theme.
Technical frame: The utilization of various media platforms, tools, and collaboration with other groups for the 14BC exhibit.
UX frame: Keeping various stakeholders in mind, we took into consideration how each user would interact with our deliverables. So, we thought of ways to make our deliverables eye-catching but also easily understandable to entice our stakeholders to learn more about StudioLab and its mission.
DT frame: Working with Professor McKenzie to ensure that we were moving in the right direction with our ideas. Through trial and error, we designed prototypes guided by our partner and took his feedback with great consideration.
Brainstorming 💭
Working with Professor McKenzie and StudioLab, we developed various ideas to highlight and expand the impact of certain projects that aim to democratize digitality. We wanted to understand the core values and driving forces behind his teaching methodology and the spreading of design awareness through his website. Partnering with groups such as 14BC Gallery, Design Equity + Excellence, and Health Access Connect, the website showcases various projects, offering insights into design methodologies, project sites, and teaching materials from classes like Design Studio and Writing Seminar.
In order to expand reach, some of the key projects we came up with include providing feedback/additional ideas for the website design/layout, implementing designs and more to show on the 14BC gallery, and harvesting images and content for StudioLab’s Instagram and LinkedIn.
User Scenarios 👥
With a rich repository of projects accumulated over the years, our goal was to reach stakeholders more clearly with our deliverables; stakeholders identified as current students, class alumni, and partner organizations like 14BC and HAC. So, we first created user scenarios with three of the diverse stakeholders to help us visualize user flow and plan our information architecture for our prototypes:
Persona A: Jerry Kim
- Major: Info Sci
- Year: Junior
User A Scenario:
- Jerry is an Info Sci student concentrating in UX/UI design. He enjoys solving problems, working in teams, and is always willing to lend a helping hand. Every summer, Jerry goes out of the country to volunteer and help remote communities. However, this upcoming summer, Jerry is unable to volunteer due to his summer internship position. Despite this setback, Jerry remains committed to making a positive impact in his community through his studies and any other opportunities that arise.
User A Story:
- One day, as Jerry leisurely scrolls through his Instagram explore page, a post from StudioLab catches his eye. Intrigued by the prospect of merging his passion for design with the opportunity to assist others, he clicks on the link provided in StudioLab’s bio, leading him to their official website. Upon landing on the homepage, his attention is drawn to HAC (Health Access Connect). Delving deeper into HAC’s mission and exploring the projects StudioLab has collaborated on with the organization, Jerry realizes that participating in this endeavor could serve as a meaningful alternative to his usual summer volunteer work abroad. Determined to make a difference, he swiftly retrieves his laptop and enrolls in the course, eager to contribute to HAC’s upcoming project and help democratize digitality with his fellow classmates. Experience Design: In summary, Instagram offers a channel for Jerry to learn about StudioLab and the posts present the experience of past students.
Persona B: Suzy Smith
- Cornell Alum
User B Scenario:
- Suzy graduated from Cornell in 2020 and found a job as an artist in NYC. She has always been passionate about design and the impact that can be made through design in the world. She is looking for a potential partnership to use her artwork to make a bigger impact in the greater community. In addition, she likes to spend her free time exploring the city and finding cool exhibitions that she can get inspiration from. She hopes to be able to use her skills and passions to connect with people around her.
User B Story:
- Suzy was walking around East Village on a Saturday morning wanting to explore this part of the city more. As she strolls she happens to come across a mini exhibition that intrigues her. This exhibition is the 14BC Gallery, and as she walks around she sees the wall of projects from StudioLab. The name sounds vaguely familiar to her, but unsure of what it is she scans the QR code and is sent to a project site. She is so excited to see that StudioLab is a part of Cornell and begins to explore the website. Suzy sees that StudioLab’s goals are in line with her passion for design in which she wants to reach out to connect. She is led to the LinkedIn page for StudioLab and connects with Professor McKenzie in hopes of possible partnership and best steps moving forward.
Persona C: Greg Gary
- Potential partner
User C Scenario:
- Greg is a resident of Ithaca, New York and just started his own nonprofit organization that strives to provide free tutoring services for elementary school students. However, he is struggling to get the word out and find volunteers who are willing and also qualified to help.
User C Story:
- Greg, a professional seeking opportunities to expand his organization, browses LinkedIn to explore local nonprofits and stumbles upon StudioLab’s profile. Intrigued by their latest project update, he decides to visit the StudioLab website for more information. As he delves deeper into their work, Greg realizes that partnering with StudioLab could significantly benefit his organization and bring more awareness to it. Motivated by this prospect, he reaches out to Professor McKenzie to discuss potential collaboration opportunities. Impressed by the alignment of their goals, Greg and Professor McKenzie form a promising partnership between their organizations, leveraging StudioLab’s expertise to drive growth and innovation.
Journey Maps 🗺️
At the 14BC gallery, with the help of Professor McKenzie, we were able to generate a large poster, including the information from each of the past years’ projects as well as QR codes to allow the audience to find further information on specific projects. Additionally, through a collection of compiled videos and media, we were able to play a video to demonstrate some of the essential concepts taught and provide ways the audience could be introduced to more topics and design – some ideas including transmedia forms of knowledge and strategic storytelling that can connect different groups and communities or how to work with a suite of genres. Below we will have journey maps to better understand the purpose of these initiatives and how our deliverables can productively expand reach and potential partnerships.
In the awareness stage, Cornell students who still need to take a StudioLab class encounter the program through an Instagram post, generating interest as they browse StudioLab’s Instagram profile. This initial touchpoint presents a positive experience, marked by an intrigued smiley face, although a pain point accompanies it: the Instagram account alone doesn’t provide sufficient information. The solution offered is a direct link in the bio, guiding interested students to the StudioLab website for more comprehensive details.
Moving on to the consideration stage, students delve deeper into StudioLab, its partners, and past projects by exploring the website, which is represented by the URL https://studiolab.world/. Here, students face a mix of curiosity and confusion—signified by a confused emoticon—as they seek to understand StudioLab’s narrative and desired goals. To alleviate this, an overview of StudioLab’s purpose can be prominently displayed on the homepage to clarify its mission and how students can engage.
In the decision stage, students reach a point of decision-making when they consider enrolling in StudioLab. They utilize tools like the Class Roster & Student Center to complete their enrollment, feeling confident about their choice, as indicated by a smiley face. Yet, they may encounter obstacles such as schedule conflicts or full classes. The recommended course of action is for students to consult with the professor and registrar to find a resolution.
Finally, in the call to action stage, students commit to joining a project team and plan to present their work at the 14BC exhibition during the semester. They explore https://studiolab.world/media-studio-f24/ to learn more about the various project teams, displaying a high level of enthusiasm, depicted by a heart-eyed smiley face. However, initial uncertainties about the project’s commencement and the needs of stakeholders present challenges. To address this, consistent communication with stakeholders is encouraged to ensure clarity and alignment of expectations.
Our second journey map depicts an experience for Cornell alumni based in NYC, such as Suzy who is a Cornell alum who graduated in 2020 and is now an artist in NYC. She would stumble across the 14BC Exhibition as she stumbles across the exhibition while walking around East Village and becomes curious about StudioLab because of her desires to start a partnership with her work in addition to being an alum. By having an exhibition that is close to Cornell in a big city like NYC, it opens the gateway for many alums who tend to settle in the city after graduation to hear and stumble across exhibitions like 14BC. With the LinkedIn that is created in hopes to connect alums with current StudioLab students as well as with Professor McKenzie, the QR codes were a key guidance in allowing Suzy to become potential partners with StudioLab.
Our third journey map concentrates on the experience of potential partners, such as Greg, who might discover StudioLab while browsing LinkedIn. Upon finding StudioLab, Greg would likely visit the website to explore past projects, partners, and the overall mission. Inspired by the work, he would contact Professor McKenzie to establish a partnership for the upcoming academic semester. With this scenario in mind, we made a conscious decision to showcase as many projects as possible in the exhibition. This approach allows potential partners to gain a comprehensive understanding of StudioLab’s extensive body of work and mission. Our partner revamped the StudioLab poster to feature every project instead of just three like we had originally planned.
Prototypes
Zines
Our Original Design
Zines serve both as an advertisement and an introduction to the 14BC show. CAT & DT: The first page features a background graphic by our partner, Owen Medigan, and prominently displays a partial of the large exhibition poster, which includes printouts from all past StudioLab project websites, highlighting Owen’s collaboration with StudioLab for the 14BC show (UX). CAT: Given that StudioLab’s website primarily uses purple, we chose pink and purple for the text to underscore the synergy between StudioLab and the 14BC show (UX). CAT: Additionally, the pink and purple text offers a striking contrast against the grey and light blue background.
The second page of the zine contains all our past partners and projects. CAT: Per the professor’s instructions, we spotlighted three key partners—DE2, HAC, and Her Whole Truth—by featuring their screenshots and QR codes. UX: This design choice provides a more direct appeal and simplifies audience engagement with their projects. CAT & DT: The professor recommended capturing the most comprehensive Instagram posts for Her Whole Truth, which only has an Instagram presence. CAT & UX: I enhanced these screenshots by adding the logo, offering audiences clearer insight into their activities.
The third page of the zine introduces StudioLab, 14BC, and Owen Madigan succinctly by displaying screenshots of their websites (DT). Strategic storytelling: Precisely for this exhibition, StudioLab serves as a platform for design, media, and community; 14BC showcases the research outcomes of StudioLab; and Owen Madigan is the artistic partner who collaborates with the professor to plan and design the exhibition. CAT & UX: The layout highlights the partnership and the strong connections among the three entities.
CAT: Originally, the final page of the zine was designed as a blank space titled “Notes,” allowing audience members to jot down thoughts and important information during the exhibition. UX: This feature was intended to enhance the audience’s memory retention and deepen the impression left by StudioLab, 14BC, and our partners. CAT & Strategic Storytelling: Subsequently, the professor requested that we include a credit row featuring the names of every current student in the class and alumni. UX: Initially, I grouped all the names together, which resulted in a chaotic appearance. To address this, the professor recommended organizing the names into columns. CAT & UX: We chose a larger font size for current students because they were directly involved in planning the 14BC show. A secondary reason for this choice was the limited space available, which restricted enlarging the font size for the alumni list.
New Zines Modified by Professor
CAT: The new zines design using yellow and black, aligning the background color of the “Zine, Memes, PAR&D” wall. UX: For the first page, professor moved the info to the bottom of the page, with black ground, offering audience a better clarity. Strategic story telling: The second page features the background story of the 14BC show, including the goal, partnerships, curators, and sponsors of the show. The third and fourth page has similar contents with the original zines, includes alums, partners and currents students. CAT & UX: The differences are: 1. Making the alums credits roll lager, so audience can better see their names. 2. Removing the highlighted pictures of DE2, HAC, Her Whole Truth, StudioLab, 14BC, and Owen Madigan. Instead, professor created a section on the bottom fourth page to introduce zines and memes, himself and Owen Madigan. This design treat all partners, alums and current students equally, without highlighting one or another, which tells the audience that they are equally important to this show.
QR Codes
Our partner’s vision of filling the gallery wall with all the project sites displayed gave us constraints in how to view all these project sites, which was why we decided to add QR codes. We developed QR codes for the poster wall in the gallery that highlighted all the project sites from StudioLab over the years. Conceptually, this would help the people to interact directly with the project sites on their phones as well as be able to read the content of their project site choice. Aesthetically and technically, we placed it uniformly on the bottom right of each layout of the project site so that people could scan and be brought to the direct link of the project site that they would like to view. This enhances the user experience because we were able to bring a glimpse of StudioLab into this gallery as the users would be able to physically and digitally see the work of StudioLab through these accessible QR codes.
Instagram Photos
Another deliverable we worked on was an Instagram for StudioLab to expand its reach. From one of the journey maps using Instagram, we can see that one can be reached from the Instagram posts, prompted to learn more from the StudioLab website, then led to either join the class or be a potential partner. One of the major steps we have been making towards this initiative so far is harvesting many images for future posts, things including concepts that Professor McKenzie teaches to images of past/present partnerships.
14BC Exhibition Videos
CAT: The professor decided to play videos in a loop at the exhibition, adding an auditory dimension to the predominantly visual displays of posters. UX: This approach offers a psychological advantage: when visitors grow weary of reading fine print on large, towering posters, they can switch to watching videos. This more relaxing format allows them to continue engaging with the exhibition’s content without becoming overwhelmed and departing prematurely. DT & Strategic Storytelling: The 14BC videos primarily originate from the StudioLab class’s “Make Media” website, which organizes them into the following categories:
1. Civic Storytelling, Transmedia Knowledge, and Community Engagement
2. Genres
3. Design Process and Project Planning
4. Design Frames and Strategic Sparklines
DT & Strategic Storytelling: Categories 1, 2, and 4 feature videos. The professor instructed us to download these videos using 4K Video Downloader, leveraging their YouTube links. We labeled them with numbers (e.g., 2-12) to indicate, for instance, that a video is the twelfth in the second category. Additionally, we included videos from other StudioLab-related websites at the end of the sequence to maintain the curated order without disrupting the flow (UX).
As another addition to the exhibition, we curated a credit roll showcasing all StudioLab alumni, honoring their invaluable contributions to past projects. Rather than opting for a traditional poster listing their names, we, in collaboration with our partner, chose to implement a dynamic credit reel for several compelling reasons. First and foremost, using CAT, we considered the most effective means of disseminating information and presenting the alum. Considering the exhibition’s theme, which veered towards a punk aesthetic, we conceived the credit reel to infuse a captivating element for our audience. Moreover, given the exhibition’s emphasis on interactivity, integrating a moving screen displaying the names of alumni seamlessly complemented the overall theme. From a technical standpoint, the utilization of a video credit reel not only conserved precious wall space within the confined exhibition area but also afforded the flexibility to adjust the timing, ensuring each student’s name could be properly seen.
Video Credit Roll
Our team also produced a video credit roll to play with the videos we curated above. Our first production of the credit roll had the students’ names move too quickly, which would have made it difficult for the audience to properly acknowledge each student’s name. It was also solely in black and white and lacked the usage of the Impact font, straying away from StudioLab’s and the exhibit’s aesthetic:
With the help of Professor McKenzie, a new credit roll was created that better fit the conceptual and aesthetic frames of this deliverable, and is shown in the video below.
Documentation of the Exhibit
QR codes are conveniently located at the bottom of each project website poster, allowing the audience to easily scan and access the contents of each project. This approach addresses the challenge posed by the poster’s design, which aims to showcase numerous projects, potentially making it challenging for viewers to read the small text.
Reflection
Our team learned a lot and worked on many meaningful projects working with StudioLab and Professor McKenzie. From the initial brainstorming meetings we had to the fruition of the projects, there was a lot of communication and iterations needed to get a clear understanding of the necessary deliverables. Initially, the main projects we were working on were an Instagram/LinkedIn for StudioLab to gain traction from Cornell students and potential partners, deliverables for the 14BC gallery, and improvements for the StudioLab website, particularly with information architecture and new project sites. However, as the semester progressed, there was more urgency in the 14BC gallery QR codes, poster, zine, and other things necessary for it, and most of our efforts were directed towards that. We learned that though it can seem like we are set on certain projects, the vision of the stakeholder is what’s important, so it’s essential to be ready to pivot and work on different things. Upon the successful completion of the 14BC gallery, the Instagram and project site are our two other projects that we hope can be focused on for the future. Communication and expectations definitely improved throughout the course of the term as we were able to better communicate and ask questions to fully understand the mission of StudioLab and the steps needed to meet those goals.
Next Steps
Social Media and Marketing
To maximize attendance at the next 14BC Show, StudioLab can strategically deploy targeted marketing tactics. Leveraging the school’s email platform, we plan to send advertisements to every Cornell student two weeks before the event, ensuring widespread awareness among the campus community. Simultaneously, our StudioLab Instagram account will serve as a dynamic hub for promotion with a multi-faceted approach. We’ll share engaging posts directly from our account and collaborate with influential channels such as the University Instagram, student agencies, and college-specific Instagram accounts, urging them to repost our content to their broader audiences. Furthermore, we recognize the potential of LinkedIn as a platform to forge impactful partnerships. We aim to attract non-profit organizations (NPOs) as potential collaborators through curated posts, aligning with our mission to foster meaningful connections and expand our reach. By synergizing these efforts, StudioLab aims to ensure a successful and well-attended 14BC Show, cementing our commitment to innovation and community engagement.
Redesign StudioLab Website
Currently, the Studio Lab website has a lot information which may reduce the clarity of the site: the external links (on the top and bottom navigation bar and in-page links) are unclear (users don’t know what the links are until clicking them) and repetitive (appearing on different parts of the website), and the organization of each section is disorganized. We propose the redesign of the StudioLab website to make it clean, clear, straightforward, immersive, and organized. Specifically, we want to catch users’ attention when they first browse the website so users know what’s behind each link and button. We propose combining the top and bottom navigation bars and using a dropdown menu for external links. A proposed menu is “Courses” and “Resources” with black color because the background picture with a white color would make the texts hard to read. Under Courses, the dropdowns are Design Studio F23, Design Studio S24, Writing Seminar F23, and Writing Seminar 24. Under Resources, the dropdowns are Cornell Official Website, Storytelling Certificate and Blog. For the header’s background, we think it’s better to change the current irrelevant picture to a photo of StudioLab students in the class, or project showcase of StudioLab, or StudioLab’s exhibition at 14BC. For website’s fonts, we propose to replace all the text with fat fonts with thinner fonts, making the website clean and easy to read. We propose adding a section for past and current projects on the main page, such as Her Whole Truth, 14BC Gallery, Design Equity + Excellence, Health Access Connect, and Singular XQ. Moreover, in the “Our Research” section, we proposed to take out 14BC Gallery to create a new section called “Exhibition: 14 BC Gallery” to give users an overview of 14BC Gallery and its relationship with StudioLab and take out 14BC from the top navigation bar since it’s repetitive. For the “Support Our Partner” section, instead of just putting logos and embedded links of partners, we suggest putting the organization name and a brief introduction to our partners, delivering the information more straightforward. We also plan to add a section introducing LinkedIn and Instagram, allowing partners, alumni, and current students to connect. For the last section, which includes Professor Jon McKenzie’s contact information and personal sites, we suggest changing the “Department Bio” to “About Professor Jon McKenzie,” and changing the “labster8.net” to “Research, Courses, and Studies,” and moving the section to the middle of the bottom page.