Designing a trauma-informed digital learning platform for conversations about race.
Talking About Race is a large-scale educational platform created by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture to support learning, reflection, and discussion around race. As Lead UX Designer, I partnered closely with educators, stakeholders, developers, and brand designers to translate emotionally sensitive classroom experiences into an accessible and scalable digital platform.
Role
Lead User Experience Designer
Timeline
2019-2020
Focus
Digital Learning / Content Strategy / Interaction Design / Accessibility / Trauma-Informed Design
IN HOUSE
Color Of Change
The NMAAHC Education team had developed extensive classroom materials to help educators and learners engage with conversations about race and racism. Originally planned prior to the pandemic, the platform launched in May 2020 during a pivotal cultural moment following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
As classrooms, workplaces, and communities increasingly turned to digital resources, the platform quickly became a widely referenced destination for education, reflection, and dialogue.
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Bringing disparate, paper-based classroom material to the digital space.
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Deeply understanding the learning process about topics about race and integrating communication techniques from the classroom to the website.
Translating Classroom Experiences to Digital
A core challenge of the project was translating deeply human classroom dynamics into a digital experience. Conversations about race often involve uncertainty, discomfort, reflection, and emotional vulnerability — elements that educators naturally navigate in person through pacing, discussion, pauses, and contextual support.
Rather than simply digitizing educational content, the goal was to create a platform that could thoughtfully guide people through complex material while meeting them at different stages of understanding and engagement.
"By 6 months, babies recognize racial differences, and by 8 years, prejudicial thinking and stereotyping are established."
Subject Matter Expert
Designing for Learning and Reflection
Defining Terms in Context
In classroom settings, educators can pause to define unfamiliar language and concepts in real time. To recreate this dynamic digitally, we introduced contextual “aside” components that allowed learners to access definitions and supporting explanations without disrupting the primary learning flow.
Creating Space for Pause and Reflection
Conversations about race can be emotionally heavy and cognitively demanding. Working closely with educators, we introduced “Stop and Think” moments throughout the experience to encourage reflection, create emotional pacing, and give learners opportunities to pause before continuing through difficult material.
Supporting Different Learning Styles
The platform’s “Think, Talk, Act” framework helped structure learning into approachable next steps, guiding users from reflection to discussion to action. We created flexible content structures and visual systems that supported a wide range of educational materials, learning preferences, and engagement styles.
Designing Language Intentionally
Language choices became an important part of the experience strategy. Working closely with educators and stakeholders, we carefully evaluated terminology, labels, and content framing to ensure the platform felt approachable, respectful, and aligned with the educational goals of the initiative.
Impact
Following its launch in May 2020, Talking About Race became a widely referenced educational resource during a pivotal national moment. The platform received millions of page views and sessions within its first months and was featured across major national publications including The Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, Travel + Leisure, and Washingtonian.
The project was later recognized with a Gold Anthem Award for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and nominated for a Webby Award in the Diversity & Inclusion category.
Washington Post
As Protests Rage, African American Museum Offers New Forum for Talking About Race (June 1, 2020) Read Article
Travel & Leisure
'Talking About Race' Is a New Online Resource by the National Museum of African American History — Here's How to Use It (Video) (June 4, 2020) Read Article
Washingtonian
Educate Yourself Today: The African American History Museum Wants to Help You Talk About Race and Racism (Jun 1, 2020) Read Article
Smithsonian Magazine
How to Have That Tough Conversation About Race, Racism and Racial Identity (June 4, 2020) Read Article
The Anthem Awards
2022 Gold Winner — Best Community Outreach, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
The Webby Awards
2021 Nominee — Diversity & Inclusion Websites & Mobile Sites
"You and the Forum One have been a joy to work with and we look forward to our continued work together."
Client
Building Trust Through Collaboration
A significant part of the project involved building strong relationships with educators and stakeholders in order to deeply understand how conversations about race unfold in classroom environments. Through strategic workshops, listening sessions, and collaborative discussions, I worked closely with the education team to translate nuanced teaching approaches into scalable digital interactions and learning structures.
Visual Pacing and Brand Expression
The visual system balanced the established NMAAHC brand with a more approachable and emotionally paced digital experience. Working closely with the Art Director, we created a distinct visual rhythm that emphasized openness, reflection, and accessibility while maintaining consistency within the broader Smithsonian ecosystem.
BRANDING & DESIGN SYSTEM
I've worked with NMAAHC since 2017, so when this project started in 2019, I had a great understanding of how to use the NMAAHC brand system.
For this, we wanted to create a new sub-brand within the overall NMAAHC brand. We also wanted to emphasize the visual pacing to align with the pacing that someone may have as they learn something new.
I collaborated closely with the Art Director to ensure that the brand was expanded on and utilized in a way that fit within the system, but also had a unique and distinguished look.