Strategic Foresight

The Challenge

Our educational system will be one of the many industries profoundly impacted by developments in AI. In some cases, AI is already here – resulting in personalized learning experiences and cutting-edge assessment tools. However, ensuring equitable outcomes from such a technological revolution requires careful consideration and planning from a broad set of stakeholder perspectives.

To help leaders within the education sector spark critical conversations around AI, we sought to research, define, and illustrate future scenarios for understanding how the sector might evolve and what impacts the technology will have on people.

The Outcome

To unpack whether AI will revolutionize or ruin the primary education system in the US, we looked at the technological, social, political, and economical shifts that have occurred and are likely to unfold over the next 3-7 years. Our research findings resulted in the development of four future scenarios that bring to life the promises and perils of technology.

Through the use of strategic foresight tools and design fiction, we published an illustrated white paper and discussion guide that helps challenge default mindsets within various stakeholder organizations and provide a jumping off point for education sector leaders to imagine more preferable futures alongside AI.

Establishing a point of view on the future of AI in the education sector required consideration of both the universal aspirations and the variable conditions that will shape it. Universal aspirations are defined by generational trends and interests of today’s youth that frame what learning will look like in the near future:

  • Accessible: Education will be available anywhere, anytime.
  • Collaborative: Teachers and students will be equal partners in students’ learning journeys, with teachers shifting to more of a facilitator role.
  • Relevant: Student curriculums will be tailored to reflect the topics they are interested in.
  • Mission-driven: Schools will become centers for generating and implementing solutions for global issues.

Additionally, a wide variety of variable conditions will also heavily influence the outcomes of AI in education. These variable conditions span six key areas: technology access, edtech business models, data integrity, privacy, learning standards, and support for educators.


“There’s more to personalized learning than teaching the same content at a different pace. Lessons are mapped to students’ needs, interests, and personal learning styles. In the end, students are able to apply what they’ve learned to the real-world they inhabit every day, no matter where on the bell curve they reside.”

Using the tools of strategic foresight combined with our own experience working in the education sector, the Artefact team modeled four future scenarios considering how the variety of “black box” conditions might impact AI deployment and outcomes.

Building off Smart’s Four Futures model, we explored intersecting, then ultimately diverging, pathways for educational systems powered by current tech vs. AI-based tech. We anchored our storytelling in the metaphor of a wildfire—a natural cycle that occurs in an ecosystem which goes through rapid change brought about by a small spark.

The narratives describe how the education ecosystem initially embraces AI-enabled tech, but then quickly gets disillusioned with it as its flaws emerge. Ultimately as the “old-species” are replaced with more trustworthy AI-enabled solutions, or “new species”, a new ecosystem emerges where the education landscape is forever changed.

Our design fiction narratives explore a variety of perspectives from educators to students to parents to industry stakeholders. Each scenario explores a moment in a person’s day that happens 5-10 years from now, describing how AI-enabled tech has positively and negatively impacted their lives.

To bring these to life, we created a storytelling white paper with custom illustrations for each of the scenarios. In addition to illustrating specific scenes and user interfaces from the narratives, the team also created a series of illustrations of wildfire-resilient flora and fauna which were used to develop a sense of continuity with the overarching metaphor throughout the storytelling document.

Additionally, these plants and animals serve to inspire organizations to foster their own resilience in times of transformation.

Deploying AI in the education sector presents multi-faceted ethics and equity challenges that can be difficult to address without effective stakeholder engagement at all levels. The four future scenarios were created to spark much-needed discussion amongst educators, NGOs, parents, students, and tech industry leaders.

To support such engagement, we developed a discussion guide with a wide variety of prompts, including topics like data transparency, technology access, new job roles, equity, and organizational strategy. Framed by the scenarios as inspiration, these prompts act as a jumping off point for leaders to plan and adapt around possible futures of AI within the context of their own organization.

Grab your copy of the white paper and reach out to see how Artefact can help you manage transformational change affecting your business today.

Collage of college students graduating, amongst mountains and illustrations of a target and computer monitor displaying data in a bar chart


Education Technology

The Challenge

Driven by the collective efforts of advisors, teachers, and trusted adults, holistic advising has proved effective for steering students, irrespective of their backgrounds, towards credentials of value. The Coordinating Board for Higher Education (i.e., The Coordinating Board) in one of the largest states in the country aspired to establish a holistic and equitable advising system for all Learners (e.g., students and returning adults). Consequently, they enlisted the help of Artefact to delve into the needs and experiences of Learners and Supporters (e.g., advisors, counselors, parents, teachers, friends, and mentors) to develop a way forward.

The Outcome

Our six-month collaboration resulted in a comprehensive and actionable 5-year strategy and roadmap grounded in Learner and Supporter insights. It includes plans to modernize the Coordinating Board’s suite of digital advising tools, increase the availability of human support, and develop advisor effectiveness through training and capacity building. Since delivering the strategy, the state’s Commissioner approved the roadmap, and the initial phase is currently under implementation.

“I feel fortunate that I have people to encourage me on my journey to go back to school.”


Tools

Download a free set of The Tarot Cards of Tech in English, Spanish, or French!


Strategy

The Challenge

The tech landscape is rapidly evolving, with the metaverse and web3 redefining the social spaces in which young people carry out their online lives. Hopelab, a social innovation lab and impact investor, wanted to explore how it may influence, design, and invest in these spaces to support youth in their mental health and well-being, particularly those from BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. Hopelab engaged with Artefact to understand the current and future state of web3 and the metaverse to uncover actionable areas of opportunity Hopelab can readily act upon.

The Outcome

We created a comprehensive set of principles and opportunity areas that informed Hopelab’s strategy aimed at influencing and activating emerging technologies in support of youth well-being. Our research with subject matter experts, youth advocates, and creators clarified what young people are experiencing online and resulted in six principles describing what youth want in a better tech future. We also conducted several co-design workshops with Hopelab teams to create alignment on the key opportunities for partnership with organizations at the frontlines of creating equity in digital spaces.

Gen Z statistics about web3 and metaverse

64% of Gen Z are somewhat or very interested in creating an avatar for the metaverse (Source Statista,2022)

56% of Gen Z are somewhat or very interested in attending a live music event in the metaverse (Source Statista, 2022)

23% of Gen Z have owned or traded a cryptocurreny (Source, Investopedia, 2022)

63% of Gen Z are confident that DAOs will improve how companies are run in the future (Source Survey Monkey, 2022)

A key question Hopelab posed is whether the metaverse and web3 will exacerbate the harms youth already experience on the internet today or whether things might be different. It’s undeniable that the metaverse and web3 will host a series of dark activity, such as bad actors, extreme content, echo chambers, privacy breaches, and surveillance capitalism, all issues that proliferate on today’s internet. In fact, the immersive nature of the metaverse may make some harms more acute and traumatic. Furthermore, the volatility of digital currencies can cause financial distress, leaving those who invested more vulnerable to market crashes, like content creators or small businesses.

And yet, there is reason for hope. The metaverse and web3 offer new and exciting opportunities for youth to gather, play, experiment, exchange ideas, and create. All of which are critical developmental assets for adolescents that promote wellness and the ability to thrive. Well-being is supported through rich social experiences on platforms like Fortnite and Roblox. And on web3, young people are starting careers that weren’t previously viable, finding new audiences and fanbases, creating financial independence, and finding and contributing to caring communities. Communities are engaging in these spaces while building their creativity, socioemotional, and critical thinking skills online.

With this context in mind, we focused our research on how best to mitigate the harms of these technologies and build technology that supports youth mental health and well-being as a force for good. Our research and strategy process combined expert voices alongside youth advocates and BIPOC LGBTQ+ artists to gather a holistic perspective on impact, ethics, responsibilities, and initiatives.

“For the average youth, there’s probably a lot of benefits to [these emerging technologies], and they may not feel so much of the downside. But there are vulnerable populations whose lives are horribly impacted in a very negative way, so it’s pluses and minuses. The average kid’s going to get through this and probably find a number of benefits, but we have vulnerable populations and they’re going to struggle with this.”

Image Credit: Idoru

Image Credit: Fortnite

Image Credit: Tripp VR

Image Credit: Adobe Stock

Journey into the Metaverse

Metaverses will likely integrate into our lives by extension of social norms

1. Youth are plugged in to daily online activity through family, gaming, pop culture, school, and media consumption
2. There are many positive aspects to being online, such as being informed and entertained. At the same time, there’s a constant pressure to be online and in tune with pop culture
3. Metaverse spaces are novel, fun, and exciting, offering new possibilities for self expression and social engagement
4.Metaverses will be introduced as an natural extension of current digital identities, especially as it becomes integrated into social media

Journey into web3

A common gateway into web3 is a passion for art and social impact

1.There is often an initial skepticism of web3, which  means it “all feels fake at first”. Many find their first foray into this technology through passion projects
2. Owning assets like NFTs or being a part of DAOs gives youth a positive experience, and web3 becomes more tangible and worthwhile
3. Challenges include staying up to date with a rapidly changing technology, navigating bugs and scammers, and encountering racist or aggressive communities online
4. Overall, there’s an excitement around web3 as it offers new avenues to creative careers, and promotes values of ownership, community, validation, equity, and freedom to explore and create

“Some members of Gen Z don’t exactly attach to the metaverse right away because I think we have yet to be given the value add. It’s another platform you can be with your friends on, and we already have very many versions of ourselves on social media. But the potential it has is huge. If the metaverse is a place in which you can have psychological safety, where there’s social and emotional growth and there are platforms dedicated to that at every level of execution, when you ask me about my excitement, that’s a 10 out of 10.”

“At the end of the day, whether it’s Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, any of them really, you are supporting their platform. It’s not your platform. We have to rely on them and hope the don’t crash or end up being sold to someone that’s going to change the algorithm in a way that all these people that follow me right now can no longer engage with me[…]This is a lot of work, especially when all of these platforms keep changing their technology, entry point and qualifiers.”

The six principles are 

Autonomy: Youth have the freedom to choose how they spend their time online, creating healthier, more actionable and intentional time spent. 

Curiosity: Youth build experience, self-esteem, and self-knowledge as they experiment with and use web3 and metaverse technologies.

Connection: Youth form pro-social relationships with individuals and communities that share their passions, whom they are able to rely on for multiple forms of support.

Inclusion: Youth are valued stakeholders and are encouraged to pursue opportunities that support their passions and highlight their diverse perspectives.

Community-Driven: Youth voices and community-led organizations are shifting platforms to center shared social values and needs, promoting constructive forms of social and civic engagement.

Transparency: Youth have increased trust and safety in emerging technologies because they have visibility into their technical structure and the people who make them.

Young people feel the impact of technology in their daily lives for better or worse. And they are willing and ready to express their viewpoints and enact change. There is a collective call towards a different future that supports their efforts towards autonomy, curiosity, and connection.

The current energy around the metaverse and web3 is exciting because, much like generative AI, the technology is still emerging, and there is room to shape conversations, actions, and decisions. These technologies will mature and be harder to influence in the coming years. Though diving into the early stages of development may seem overwhelming and ambiguous, it allows Hopelab and its partners to initiate positive change from the onset. We are excited about the work Hopelab is doing to support the next generation to establish a better, more healthy relationship with today’s technologies and those coming in the near future.

Learn more about Hopelab by visiting the website and following it on LinkedIn.

“This is new tech. I think it’s important for communities like ours to be loud and to reassure women and to encourage them to participate so that they don’t miss out.”

A desktop and mobile view of the Kaleidoscope app


Tools

The Challenge

As an organization that strives to embed inclusion and equity in our work, we recognize the importance of intersectionality in designing for these outcomes. Applying an intersectional lens to our work can help ensure that more people will benefit and less will be overlooked or harmed by the solutions we create, but intersectionality can feel overwhelming to consider in practice.  

The Outcome

Kaleidoscope is a digital tool to help anyone involved in creating products and services apply an intersectional lens to their work. It translates key concepts related to intersectionality into the context of research and design using accessible language and discussion prompts tailored to each phase of the design process.

“[Intersectionality is] not primarily about identity — it’s about how structures make certain identities the consequence of or vehicle for vulnerability. You have to look at the context …”

Kaleidoscope is an accessible and actionable way for businesses and organizations to deliver on the aspiration to create more inclusive and equitable experiences. It was informed by the decades of hard work from many who came before us and who continue this work today: Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw, Black feminists, women, and many others.

Throughout the process of creating this tool, we engaged with DEI experts, anthropologists, and people creating products and services within agencies, small- and large-scale organizations, and in complex domains like healthcare and social impact.

“Intersectionality helps ensure that fewer people are left behind and that our efforts to do better for some do not make things far worse for others. Intersectionality helps us stay true to our values of justice and equality by helping to keep our privilege from getting in our way. Intersectionality makes our systems more effective and more fair.”

Kaleidoscope provides unique value by structuring reflection on intersectionality and its related concepts in seven specific moments of the design process, guiding teams to
(1) Embrace the complexity of identities and consider them within context
(2) Examine context to uncover the factors and forces that affect people differently
(3) Identify who holds power and who is marginalized in a context, and
(4) Reflect on their own power in relation to the communities their solution will serve.

The kaleidoscope, with its dynamic patterns, represents the relationships between these concepts. What might at first feel overwhelming becomes clearer when you pause to look more closely.

Resource pages

By prioritizing the reflection necessary to take more informed actions, Kaleidoscope helps teams address the shortcomings of more traditional design thinking approaches (e.g., prioritizing speed, knowledge extraction, and reductive personas.) The structured reflections equip teams to operate with more intentionality, humility, and awareness of the complexities their solutions must account for. A more inclusive and equitable approach to creating products and services also includes challenging assumptions and biases and considering how deeply communities will be engaged throughout the process.

Kaleidoscope helps practitioners explore how all these factors affect the decisions they make, which will ultimately determine who a solution benefits and who it leaves behind.

“[Kaleidoscope’s] reflection questions
dissolve the tendency to go about [design] in a transactional way. But without a tool like this, it’s hard to think of these questions when [your project] is go go go.”

Kaleidoscope’s visual and interaction design was inspired by its namesake – evoking reflection, dynamic combinations, and a lens through which you view the world. The vivid color palette, playful shapes, and cheerful animations were designed to reflect the vibrancy and diversity of identities. Juxtaposed against a dark background, they mimic the illumination, patterns, and movement within a kaleidoscope. The visual language was crafted to be engaging and uplifting – a counterbalance to what can feel like a daunting topic to consider.

Kaleidoscope’s prompts are also available in Miro and FigJam canvases, and as Google Slides, enabling teams to bring the conversation and its outputs into their existing workflows and tools.

kaleidoscope collaboration canvas

“If we aren’t intersectional, some of us, the most vulnerable, are going to fall through the cracks.”

While prioritizing reflection on identity, context, and power requires us to slow down a bit, we believe doing so is essential. It leads to more meaningful and innovative solutions that have greater viability in the market, and it’s necessary if businesses want to ensure their solutions won’t unintentionally cause exclusion, inequities, or harm. With the challenges our society faces today, and the rise of AI and automation, it’s more important than ever for organizations to bring an intersectional lens to their work, including an awareness of how their inherent power and privilege affect the solutions they put out into the world.

Kaleidoscope is designed to be broadly applicable across many different industries – from health, finance, and consumer goods to transportation and civic services. With thousands of products and services being launched or updated every year, there’s immense potential for positive impact when applying an intersectional lens in order to shape more inclusive and equitable experiences.

Header image showing an phone screen of a patient's cultural profile and a tablet screen of the dynamic visit feature. Surrounding the devices are images of different people representing both patient and providers.


Health + Technology

The Challenge

The United States healthcare system struggles to holistically serve increasingly diverse patient populations. Existing care excludes many factors that acknowledge a patient’s personal and cultural identities, negatively affecting healthcare access, experiences, and outcomes. 
 
+ Marginalized identities receive less quality care 
+ Diverse language speakers have less access to medical information 
+ Multicultural communities are unable to establish trust in providers 

The Outcome

Traverse leverages digital tools and technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to support culturally responsive patient-provider interactions across the primary care journey.  

It helps bridge the gap between providers steeped in biomedical systems and patients with increasingly diverse lifeworlds, so providers can address their patients’ whole identities and backgrounds, leading to better health outcomes. 

“[My doctors] treat me as if I had no rights. As if I weren’t human. Many times, my doctors have refused to treat my asthma and diabetes. They allege my problems are mental, they dismiss the symptoms I describe to them and mock me because I am trans.”

Personalized care that is powered by a decentralized identity wallet

The Traverse system is built on top of a digital identity wallet that encrypts all sensitive personal, cultural, social, and familial data shared by patients and stores it in a decentralized manner on the blockchain. A patient’s smartphone acts as the key for unlocking their digital identity with providers who can use the data to seamlessly tailor care unique to patient needs, preferences, and values. This self-sovereign approach ensures that patient data is portable across providers, accessed with explicit consent, and controlled directly by the patient.


Traverse uses digital tools to support patient and provider interactions across the primary care journey.

Pre-visit

Connecting patients to best-fit providers

By leveraging the personal and cultural profiles stored in patient digital identity wallets, Traverse sorts and presents patients with local providers who align with different facets of their background, culture, and identity.

In addition, detailed provider profiles highlight and display reviews from anonymized patients with similar data profiles. These features deliver relevant community insights, helping patients select culturally-aligned healthcare providers.

Setting expectations for clinical visits



The digital onboarding experience details what to expect during clinical encounters, helping patients avoid uncomfortable surprises with providers. This stage aims to bring familiarity and alleviate anxiety for patients who may experience discomfort or mistrust in clinical and medical systems.

Contextual tips for providers on the go

Providers are given a digital tip board that summarizes a patient’s concerns, cultural background, alternative medical perspectives, and other factors that impact how providers might provide care and communicate with the patient.

Traverse also suggests relevant patient interview questions and delivers reminders about patient identity details to enable more culturally responsive care that considers an individual’s multi-dimensional lifeworld.

Clinical visit

During clinical visits, providers use a tablet that acts as an AI-based digital scribe. Using natural language processing (NLP), the Dynamic Visit feature listens to conversations between patients and providers. It then delivers discussion prompts and relevant resources to providers, which can be accessed in real-time or referenced later.

Traverse acts as an interpretation tool to bridge patient-provider understanding gaps. For example, providers caring for patients who value alternative medical approaches, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), would be coached to integrate them into treatment plans.

In situations where providers need more support communicating health details to patients, personalized flashcards can be presented for better understanding.

After visit

Digital coaching throughout the day


Providers receive immediate feedback, between clinical visits, from AI-enabled conversations with patients. The Dynamic Visit feature uses NLP to analyze discussions and delivers actionable tips to make on-the-go adjustments based on communication factors such as agreeableness, compassion, and positivity.

For the provider

Relevant cultural factors the AI scribe presents in patient conversations are re-surfaced and integrated into provider EHR systems for easy reference. Allowing providers to engage more deeply with the information and help outline culturally responsive after-care instructions.

Providers can also grab real-time learnings by engaging with content in the sidebar. They are encouraged to expand their cultural competence with courses that help fulfill continued medical education (CME) credits.

For the patient

After visits, patients receive a follow-up note from providers summarizing their visit and outlining the next steps in a culturally responsive way. For example, to address affordability concerns, specialist referrals might show expected out-of-pocket cost information and help navigate insurance and public benefits.

Similarly, non-medical interventions such as diet and lifestyle changes can be contextualized within the cultures and communities that shape how patients view and experience health.

Agency means that patients have a right to exercise control in their healthcare decision-making. They have the ability to locate culturally appropriate care and therapeutic options through interactions that reaffirm their dignity.

Understanding requires bidirectional communication where vital medical, cultural, and contextual information is shared in patient-provider conversations, giving providers a strong sense of culturally appropriate treatment options and patients the ability to choose between them.

Transparency involves providing visibility at every step of the medical journey to support patient decision-making. It means giving them clear guidance on what to expect during medical appointments so they can best prepare how they see fit.


Social impact

Discover and understand technology related issues that animate youth activism and the barriers young people face to support social change venture, Omidyar Network’s, vision of a technological ecosystem that empowers youth and makes technology outcomes more accountable, equitable, and inclusive.

Generative research and strategy recommendations informed directly by youth voices. Our research revealed seven recurring issues that youth are focused on today, helping to align areas of focus and opportunity to Omidyar Network’s core strategies. Recommendations for a wider group of philanthropies and funders were also created.

“Artefact’s roots in human-centered design made them the ideal partner to help Omidyar Network create a strategy inclusive of youth voices. Their commitment to centering youth voices throughout the process generated actionable insights and recommendations. Omidyar Network is excited to use these findings to shape future engagements with digital natives. ”

Informing strategy with inclusive & continuous research

Omidyar Network needed actionable insights to ensure their learning strategy serves, supports, and empowers youth. To achieve this, we pursued a mixed methods research approach that included social listening, in-depth 1:1 interviews, and focus groups discussions with young people who have spoken about how technology is affecting their generation.  

Whether it was engaging digital natives to comment on our preliminary research insights, or inviting them to attend a key milestone presentation to Omidyar Network, we sought to ensure digital native voices remained centered throughout.

Identifying and centering seven focal issues that activate youth

Our research revealed a common theme – today’s youth is a generation attuned to the systemic and interrelated nature of many of the issues they are passionate about.

While the topics young activists care about are diverse, we identified seven recurring focal issues that animate youth today. These seven areas can help Omidyar Network and other social change ventures gain a deeper understanding of digital native activists and their generation-specific journey, experiences, challenges, and needs.

Understanding the three core needs of young activists

Now that the seven focal issues at the heart of digital natives have been identified. A second question arose: what do youth activists need for sustained, organized, and successful activism? Again using a mixed-methods approach, Artefact continued conversations with youth participants to discover their needs, and apply those discoveries to Omidyar Network’s funding and philanthropic strategy.

Our conversation with digital native activists and leaders revealed many areas of need that youth organizers have regardless of the focal issue of their activism. The diverse needs could however be bucketed into three categories: personal, organizational, and external needs.

Personal

Needs related to current and aspiring activists as people

Maintain balance

How might we make activism more balanced, sustainable, and life-affirming for individuals?
What if digital natives had access to youth activist support circles, workshops, and wellness retreats?

Enable focus & flexibility

How might we create freedom for young activists to evolve and grow beyond one issue or model of change?
What if there was a youth activist cohort designed for or co-created with digital natives?

Organizational

Needs related to running a youth-led organization

Build infrastructure

How might we reduce the administrative burdens and risks associated with organizing?
What if resources and consulting on the organizational landscape were committed to digital natives?

Sustain momentum

How might we help youth-led organizations maintain momentum over time?
What if digital natives received stipends or compensation for their work?

Create healthy partnerships

How might we support mutually beneficial partnerships that are respectful?
What if mixers, chats, or formal mentorship offerings existed for digital natives?

External

Needs related to interacting with others

Create space for impact

How might we help digital natives find places where their voices are valued?
What if digital natives received invitations to participate (through grants, fellowships, and competitions)?

Reimagine standards

How might we reimagine the evaluation standards for digital natives?
What if there were programs that met activists where they are?

“Young people starting their own thing need to believe in a cause, and commit to investing in it […] The fast paced nature of online social justice discourse has made it the norm to care about caring about things.

That’s not enough. We need mission, community, and a deep, collective sense of care.”

Recommendations for investing in better futures for our youth

With insights, opportunities, and organizational goals aligned, Artefact helped Omidyar Network ask actionable and generative questions. If teams were to consider allocating resources to address personal needs in youth activists, for example, they can ask “how might we create freedom for young activists to evolve and grow beyond one issue or model of change?”

Asking questions such as these, will help focus Omidyar Networks’s offerings and serve as a gut-check to ensure efforts continue to center youth needs.

What we delivered

+ Generative research

+ Ecosystem mapping

+ Strategic assessment

Learn more about our expertise


Technology

Transform MacuLogix’s groundbreaking automated dark adaptometer from a tabletop research device into a patient-centered, wearable system to enable eye care professionals to more effectively detect and monitor age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

A responsive, adaptable, and smart AMD testing experience designed for the needs of patients, technicians, and clinicians.

“Artefact was a fantastic team and partner. They are thoughtful about technology and care deeply about the user. Thanks to Artefact’s great product design and guidance on user experience, the AdaptDx Pro has been a smash hit.”

A more accessible and comfortable screening experience

AMD is the leading cause of adult blindness in developed countries, affecting one in eight adults over 60 years old.

MacuLogix has led the medical field in AMD screening since launching its novel dark adaptation testing device in 2014. Yet this large tabletop device was difficult to use for many patients and required a specialized dark room at significant up-front cost to eye care professionals.

We partnered with MacuLogix to help transform this tabletop tool into a comfortable screening experience for people of all abilities, helping eye care professionals improve patient outcomes through earlier and more accurate diagnosis of AMD.

“The AdaptDx Pro is so much easier [than the tabletop device] because you don’t have to put your chin on the device. This is far more comfortable. I can actually lean back. I can relax.”

Supporting patients of all abilities

Artefact helped MacuLogix transform its tabletop medical device into the most accessible, head-mounted testing tool of its kind.

The comfortable, lightweight, and flexible experience serves patients of all physical abilities, including those with wheelchairs or who are bedridden.

Improving patient outcomes
through early detection


Early detection and proactive disease management are key to preventing vision loss from AMD, but historically AMD testing has been based on late-stage symptoms alone.

The flexibility and ease of the AdaptDx Pro allows eye care professionals to increasingly test based on age (the leading risk factor), transforming AMD testing from a reactive to preventative approach.

Increasing accuracy and efficiency of screening

Better usability and less workflow friction help technicians screen patients faster and more easily.

Consistent, automated testing instructions and adaptive feedback powered by the AdaptDx Pro’s AI assistant “Theia” reduce risk of patient or technician error and increase the exam’s reliability.

Exam automation also empowers technicians to multi-task and screen multiple patients simultaneously, further increasing the rate of successful screening.

Designing for all stakeholders


Artefact led generative primary research with patients, eye care professionals, and technicians to gain empathy and identify opportunities for the new AdaptDx Pro system. We then conducted evaluative prototype testing to determine the best experience concept for all stakeholders.

Our research uncovered key insights to inform the design and experience of the AdaptDx Pro – from the importance of retaining social connection for patients throughout the automated test, to ensuring that technicians are aware of what the patient is experiencing during the exam by including an external-facing embedded display on the headset.

“The AdaptDx Pro is so vital to the care we provide that another unit had to be purchased to accommodate our increased volume.”

Preventing vision loss from AMD

MacuLogix envisions a future where everyone 50 years of age and older can access accurate and efficient AMD screening. The AdaptDx Pro will enable clinics to scale their practices by testing more patients across different contexts and increasing the number of patients who receive early AMD detection and treatment.

We’re proud to be a part of MacuLogix’s vision to eliminate blindness caused by AMD.

What we delivered

+ Generative research

+ Concept envisioning

+ Strategic assessment

+ Experience design + strategy

+ Evaluative research

+ Capacity building

Learn more about our expertise


Technology

Leverage Arizona State University’s online learning platforms to support institutions serving nontraditional learners so that they have better access to courses, communities, and opportunities.

A vision for a customizable platform experience where institutions can access ASU courses, pathways, and degrees, and contextualize them for the unique needs of their learners.

“Artefact was a valuable partner in helping us realize our vision to improve equity in higher education. This work will impact so many learners and we are excited for what’s to come.”

Transforming traditional models of education

The Arizona State University (ASU) Learning Enterprise is dedicated to expanding the university’s online courses, platforms, and digital learning technology to nontraditional organizations such as high schools, community colleges, minority-serving institutions, and corporate education groups.

As the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the existing inequities in higher education, ASU recognized that many nontraditional institutions pushed into digital learning lacked the courseware to provide continued online education and the technology platforms to deliver it to students.

We partnered with ASU to help evolve their existing online learning platform so that a diverse group of institutions can better purchase, adopt and scale ASU courses and degree programs both on their own and through ASU-hosted platforms.

Helping institutions scale courses with ease

We designed ASU’s online learning platform to help prospective partner institutions quickly and easily customize a unique learning offering for their organization.

Potential partners can browse and filter courses and certificates; sign up and procure learning offerings; set up a management dashboard to generate insight reports; and export courses to their existing learning management systems – all in one powerful platform.

Empowering learners to forge their own path

The learner platform helps students achieve their educational goals through ASU partner offerings.

Learners can enroll and select courses, track their progress, and browse new offerings to help develop a unique pathway toward earning a certificate.

“Artefact’s fantastic design skills and clear understanding of engineering enabled them to design meaningful solutions that development teams can build. They were a great partner.”

Foolproof tools for engineering

To ensure seamless handoff between design and development, we created an information architecture and user experience flow that engineering teams could easily track to.

This included a set of experience prototypes to convey the ideal platform experience for learners and administrators; a design component library and specifications to help developers build our vision; and a landing page template to guide the creation of new visual styles for prospective institutions.

Lifting barriers to education

ASU’s online learning platform is an innovative new business model poised to advance equity in higher education by reducing barriers to access.

With greater acceptance and adoption of distance learning due to the pandemic, ASU and its partner institutions are well positioned to expand access to courses, pathways, and degrees for all learners, today and tomorrow.

What we delivered

+ Concept envisioning

+ Experience design

Learn more about our expertise


Education

The Challenge

The pre-teen years are a whirlwind of development. Children begin to understand abstract concepts like causation and fairness, all while developing their own opinions and identity. It is also the period that most American children get their first smartphone or social media account and begin to engage independently with the Internet.

With the average American pre-teen consuming more than four and a half hours of screen media per day, it’s crucial that this age group develop the critical analysis and Internet literacy needed to navigate the digital world responsibly.

The Outcome

The Most Likely Machine prototype is a digital learning experience that introduces pre-teens to important ideas around digital literacy, starting with the foundation of so much of our digital world: algorithms.

Designed for both individual exploration and to supplement classroom curriculum, the Most Likely Machine learning experience helps pre-teens understand algorithmic bias and recognize its impact, enabling them to grow into more conscious, savvy, and responsible consumers, creators, and digital citizens.

“This was a fun way to do something different during a Zoom class! It’s better than just writing and studying on your own. I love that I can see everyone else’s outcome and compare.”

A new approach to algorithmic literacy

Algorithmic literacy is an essential skill that sits at the intersection of math, social studies, civics, and media literacy. While many pre-teens are taught the concept of algorithms as foolproof mathematical or computer science tools, we saw an opportunity to develop an experience that examines the ethics and justice of algorithms.

Inspired by resources from the MIT Media Lab, Pew Research Center, the Algorithm Literacy Project, and Common Sense Media, the Most Likely Machine prototype builds on robust research and curricula to teach pre-teens about algorithmic bias in a creative, meaningful, and fun digital experience.

“The Most Likely Machine feels really meaningful. As a teacher, I appreciate the nuances of the explanation on how algorithms work and their implications – it’s all concise and easy to understand. The visual design and interactivity will be interesting
and engaging for kids.”

Building a relatable, compelling world

The theme of yearbook superlative awards serves as a metaphor for the impact of algorithms. A familiar school activity, these awards are not so different from how algorithms categorize people in the real world. Superlatives also touch on concepts like personal identity, fairness, and choosing winners and losers that are central to the learning objectives around algorithmic bias.

The three awards (most likely to go to a top university, most likely to go viral, and biggest troublemaker) relate to where algorithms have significant real-world impact (education, media, and the criminal justice system), helping students recognize the wider impact of algorithms on their lives and community.

We then selected a cast of well-known historical characters to ensure students started the lesson with a set of assumptions that we could leverage to help them learn.

“We studied algorithms in school as reliable equations to help us find answers to problems. This lesson showed me how they are actually also opinionated. They have characteristics. I always considered them straightforward things.”

Designing a sandbox for creative exploration

The Most Likely Machine experience is founded on a pedagogy of play: students start by exploring and creating, then reflecting on what they observed, and finally testing their assumptions by repeating the activity to see how different choices produce different algorithmic results.

As a sandbox experience, students are active participants in the world of the Most Likely Machine, unconsciously using their own opinion to create data sets for investigation. Each section of the module has a unique interaction model – like casting votes or sorting – that engages students in different ways and asks them to make their own decisions.

There is no right answer or solution to the activity, creating rich ground for reflection and discussion with teachers and classmates.

Using visuals to make the abstract tangible

Visual design has a powerful impact on learners’ attention and ability to absorb information. The “old school cool” visual language sets the mood and brings abstract concepts like “time” to life. A warm, retro color palette plays with the idea of history and suggests how the past can influence the future.

Bright colors, graphic shapes, and modern yearbook motifs (like polaroid frames and handwritten flourishes) make dusty historic characters fresh and up to date. Inspired by popular social media stickers, we added bubble-like icons to each character trait that make concepts like “relentless” or “innovative” tangible and fun.

A flexible module for remote learning

Distance learning presents new challenges to communication, engagement, and attention span. We designed the Most Likely Machine prototype to both facilitate self-guided, independent exploration and supplement classroom curriculum.

The module-based approach empowers students to digest curriculum in bite-sized chunks and explore the experience on their own, before regrouping with their class for facilitated discussion with teachers.

As the world adapts to the realities of distance learning, we hope the Most Likely Machine prototype serves as inspiration and a step toward a future where digital learning experiences are not only engaging and meaningful, but support students and teachers as they navigate remote education.