COMMON SKY 


Educational Product | Participatory Design | Sustainability & Biodiversity 
Individual Project (Dec. 2024 - May 2025)
Centred on bird-human coexistence, I use interactive, participatory design to raise public awareness on how urban planning impacts biodiversity. Through an introductory tablet, an interactive building board, and a takeaway folder, participants move from understanding to action — engaging in playful yet informed decisions. In collaboration with the London Wildlife Trust, I hosted the workshop at Walthamstow Wetlands (London) in May and June 2025.

Though the main problem this design addresses is for birds in an urban context, the outcome system and framework are universal and could be applied in other educational environmental contexts.







(sound available)


Rationale:


The design of urban environments has long prioritised human convenience, often overlooking the ecological impact on non-human inhabitants, particularly birds. Many city landscapes contribute to bird fatalities due to glass collisions, artificial lighting, and habitat destruction that resulting in millions of fatalities annually.

From my secondary research, I discovered that there are already many effective solutions—ranging from architecture and products to legal regulations—that address the problem of bird collisions. However, the primary challenge lies in the lack of public awareness, as many people do not realise the significance of bird collisions or how deeply connected birds are to human life.
Design Inspiration -Climate Positive Design & Participatory Design

Pollinator Pathmaker (Ginsberg, 2021) Sketch Town (teamLab, 2014)

A key reference is Pollinator Pathmaker, an interactive platform that generates and designs gardens for pollinators based on the user’s input. It is algorithm-based, and this participatory aspect inspired my project’s engagement-driven approach, where participants actively contribute to shaping an environment that benefits both birds and humans, instead of shaming them for what has been done to the environment. Sketch Town is a virtual town that evolves based on children’s 2D drawings, which are scanned and transformed into 3D components within a digital townscape. Its effectiveness to engage users proved that the interactivity of physical making combined with an immersive space cannot be replaced by digital games or physical toys alone. 




Design Aim:


To raise public awareness about the importance of coexistence between birds and humans through participatory, climate-positive design.

Research question:


  1. How can interactive participatory engagement effectively challenge and transform preconceived notions or behaviours to encourage biodiversity and sustainable actions?
  2. How could participatory design be enhanced through tangible interaction and multi-sensory exploration to create empathy in the users?


Collaborative Brainstorm


Mapping Workshop - Building a Bird-Friendly City
Aim: Find out the community’s attitude toward the theme and what best engages them to make positive changes.

I designed and hosted several quick activities, involving participants aged 18 to 45, to map and brainstorm a friendly immigration path for birds.

As a result, I collected 10 collective maps and conducted an interview with each participant to gain their insights. 


Insights


Prototype 1.0





User Testing (Prototype 1.0)




Refined Workshop Process:




User Tests in the Process:

In the process of refining the workshop process, I consistently conduct user tests and receive feedback from my target users and professionals from LWT and the London Bird Club.



Visual Language:



Introductory Application:





Mechanical Development


I did not find any existing technical solution for a grid-based location and orientation identification system, so I decided to design and fabricate my own using affordable sensors and materials.  The final outcome relies mainly on a simple combination of resistors and reed switches.


Game Design and Development










Program Tests and Fabrication








Final Outcomes





Building Board





Game Design 


Screenshot of the game process


Take-away Folder and Booklet

Book-binding





Workshop - Making Real Influence (Walthamstow Wetlands, London)

 


Feedback from Lora Todorova, Visitor Engagement Officer, London Wildlife Trust

Citation


Burgstahler, S. (2020) Universal design: Process, principles, and applications, Universal Design: Process, Principles, and Applications | DO-IT. Available at: https://www.washington.edu/doit/ universal-design-process-principles-and applications (Accessed: 01 April 2025).

Cousins, S. (2022) Tall buildings should not kill birds, RICS. Available at: https://ww3.rics.org/uk/en/modus/built environment/commercial-real-estate/ tall-buildings-should-not-kill-birds. html#:~:text=Buildings%20should%20 be%20designed%20to,to%20 prevent%20collisions%20and%20 deaths. (Accessed: 12 March 2025). 

Davis, N. (2023) Time to end war on birds and find a way to coexist, say experts, The Guardian. Available at: https://www. theguardian.com/environment/2023/ jul/14/time-to-end-war-on-birds-and-find a-way-to-coexist-say-experts (Accessed: 24 March 2025). 

Ginsberg, A.D. (2021) Pollinator Pathmaker. Available at: https:// pollinator.art/ (Accessed: 24 May 2025). 

Hendry, L. (2024) Eleven ways to help birds in towns and cities, Natural History Museum. Available at: https://www.nhm. ac.uk/discover/ways-to-help-birds-urban towns-cities.html (Accessed: 9 March 2025). 

Hornecker, E. (2015) Tangible interaction, The Interaction Design Foundation. Available at: https://www. interaction-design.org/literature/book/ the-glossary-of-human-computer interaction/tangible-interaction?srsltid =AfmBOoqYe4y54qn6LhCAQ7hOqA R8ybhrgisXY8GePo-nBZ0T732YVr4L (Accessed: 02 February 2025). 

Hornecker, E. and Buur, J. (2006) ‘Getting a grip on tangible interaction: a framework on physical space and social interaction’, Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 437–446. doi:10.1145/1124772.1124838. 

Levent, N.S., Pascual-Leone, A. and Lacey, S. (2014) The Multisensory Museum: Cross-disciplinary perspectives on touch, sound, smell, memory, and space. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. 

McCandless, D. (2012) Information is beautiful. London: William Collins. McLuhan , M. (1964) ‘Chapter 1: The Medium is the Message ’, in Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man . 

McGraw-Hill. Simonsen, J. and Robertson, T. (2013) Routledge International Handbook of Participatory Design. New York: Routledge. 

teamLab (2014) Sketch Town. Available at: https://www.teamlab.art/w/ sketchtown/ (Accessed: 24 May 2025). 

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in society. London: Harvard University Press.