Hello Friends!  We are taking a little break for the winter, working up some new offerings for you, and lining up some exciting episodes! Our first digital offering is almost ready for you!  It’s the 5-Step process I’ve used when facilitating teams to design personalized ways to build more trust, encourage vulnerability and lead with compassion. We've created a robust, visual guide to help your teams follow those same 5 Steps. The guide helps you and your team identify resistances and...

When designing spaces, why is a feminist lens important? What might egalitarian social spaces look and feel like? How might museums, parks and cities be designed differently to include the needs of women, caregivers and girls? Historically,  a male-centric perspective has been dominant in the design of spaces - particularly cities - which has led to a series of decisions and standards with long-term consequences on the experiences of others, including women and girls, people with diverse...

How does close observation lead to empathy and compassion? This week, we’re honored to  hear from Bonnie Pitman, a national leader in education and the public engagement of art, who has been a thinker and a doer on the bleeding edge of arts education and engagement for 40 years.  After a long career in art museums, Bonnie is now working on ways to cultivate empathy and compassion through viewing art. Her Power of Observation Framework™ was developed in part to guide medical students using a...

How does close observation lead to empathy and compassion? This week, we’re honored to  hear from Bonnie Pitman, a national leader in education and the public engagement of art, who has been a thinker and a doer on the bleeding edge of arts education and engagement for 40 years.    After a long career in art museums, Bonnie is now working on ways to cultivate empathy and compassion through viewing art. Her Power of Observation Framework™ was developed in part to guide medical students using...

What does a trauma-informed digital experience look like? Or, better said, what does it feel like? Why is trauma-informed design particularly important for today’s digital experiences?  We hear answers to these questions and more this week from Melissa Eggleston and Carol F Scott, PhD - the women behind Trauma-informedTech.com. Melissa is an expert in user-experience design and research with a focus on inclusive, trauma-informed technology and design. Carol is a social worker and social...

We know we all have biases - it’s our brain’s way of speeding up decision-making and keeping us safe. We also know these quick decisions and snap judgments often don’t reflect today’s real world challenges and dangers.   Destigmatizing bias is an important step toward acknowledging and then interrupting bias, but how might that work, exactly? And how might we help our report-tos, leaders and teammates sit with, challenge and unravel their own biases so we might all be better designers and...

I ran across the concept of Feminine Exhibit Design when doing some post-conference research - and it perked my ears right up! What is feminine exhibit design? And, why is it important? Margaret Middleton has been focusing on these questions for several years now, and spent a little time with me to discuss.  Margaret is a thought leader in the inclusive design space, designer of playful, enriching learning experiences, and speaker and consultant advocating for inclusive museum practices.  ...

- Summer Break Announcement - I hope everyone is enjoying their summer, taking things a bit slower, getting rest and having some fun! Here at Dig In UX and MuseumX podcast - we are wrapping up a few large consulting projects, and I’m trying to take things a bit more slowly this summer, so we are moving into a little podcast break. We'll be spending some of this break time this time lining up episodes with cool new guests! Later this summer you can look forward to episodes that dig into...

PART 2 of 2 This week - the tables are turned! If you wanted to learn a bit more about me - here’s your chance. One of my favorite people, who is also a former neighbor and former museum colleague, interviews me! Nicole has the curiosity bug as badly as I do, so she’s one of my favorite people to explore ideas, make connections and generally chat with. She’s awesome. In the episode, you’ll first hear Nicole tell the silly and fun story of how we met and became friends - it’s pretty good....

This week - the tables are turned! If you wanted to learn a bit more about me - here’s your chance. One of my favorite people, who is also a former neighbor and former museum colleague, interviews me! Nicole has the curiosity bug as badly as I do, so she’s one of my favorite people to explore ideas, make connections and generally chat with. She’s awesome. In the episode, you’ll first hear Nicole tell the silly and fun story of how we met and became friends - it’s pretty good. Vintage Stef...

We know creating equity-driven, inclusive experiences is critical to our institutions, sector, communities and society. But how might we make strides towards equity - as an institution? How might we continue on our own individual equity, diversity, and anti-racism journeys - together as an organization?   We heard from Lauren Young with Beloved Community about their suite of Equity Tools, in particular their EQUITY LENS MAP (ELM), a tool to help teams and institutions identify needs and...

How might a nature experience be purpose-built for healing?   The Bloedel Reserve is a botanical garden with a very unusual design choice - no signage! There are no plant identification labels and (almost) no navigation signage. It’s a space not meant for learning about nature, it’s meant for learning about yourself. At the Blodel, the point is to slow down, focus on the moment, experience your body within nature, and to heal.    Recently, a new and incredibly successful program - Strolls...

  PART 2:  What’s the formula to spark and then activate compassion? As you’ll learn in this episode - there is one! I had the pleasure of interviewing Amanda White, Director of Content for Local Projects in NYC.  Amanda is a leader in experience design on a global stage - with 17 years' experience in leading content development for design. She leads teams to transform concepts into impactful experiences for user engagement - with a specialty in strategic messaging and storytelling.   In...

What’s the formula to spark and then activate compassion? As you’ll learn in this episode - there is one! I had the pleasure of interviewing Amanda White, Director of Content for Local Projects in NYC.  Amanda is a leader in experience design on a global stage - with 17 years' experience in leading content development for design. She leads teams to transform concepts into impactful experiences for user engagement - with a specialty in strategic messaging and storytelling.   In our two-part...

How do you present emotionally challenging content to your audience in a way that they might connect with, rather than be overwhelmed? I interview Kelley Szany at Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center about strategies and tactics they use to help visitors connect with holocaust and genocide content. We discuss the art of storytelling, the concept of rescuing the individual, floor guide tactics to help visitors move from emotional to cognitive responses, and more.  Kelley Szany...

Episode Summary What might a trauma-informed space look and feel like? I interview Lorne, an architect who spent his career building schools and education spaces. During the episode, we discuss the reasons for and importance of trauma-informed design (TID), the free TID workbook Lorne’s team created, and how museum professionals might use it to guide designs of trauma-informed spaces and experiences.     Download the free TID workbook, or connect with Lorne’s team Lorne and team invites...

Introducing MuseumX: Designing Experiences for Good.  Hello! I'm Stefanie Mabadi, and I'll be your host. This podcast is meant to be a resource for heart-centered designers who are called to create experiences that heal our world. In it, you'll hear from professionals inside and outside the museum and cultural sectors whose expertise can inform questions like, How might we design for compassion? Or, Create digital experience accessible for all? Or, how might we create teams primed to foster...