PWMI Academy
PWMI Academy empowers youth through educational and community-centered programs in Eindhoven. The initiative focuses on connecting young people with local residents, mentors, and organizations—especially in neighborhoods like Hemelrijken, where social and neighborhood improvement is underway. Our assignment was to research and design a digital platform concept that makes this connection more visible, inclusive, and engaging for all participants.
Apr - May 2025
Starting point...
I noticed a gap — young people have ideas to share but few ways to connect with residents and organizations.
The Digital Wall serves as the home page — a dynamic space where users can discover upcoming events, explore community activities, and interact directly with them. It encourages participation and keeps the connection between youth and the neighborhood active and visible.
Threads is the community’s conversation space, where members can share updates, ask questions, and support each other. It’s designed to encourage open communication and collaboration, helping build one connected community that grows through shared experiences and mutual help.
The Personal Journal is a secure, password-protected space for interns to document their progress, insights, and reflections throughout their projects. It encourages self-awareness and continuous learning by allowing users to track their development in a private and structured way.
How can we design a digital platform that supports learning and collaboration around real societal issues in neighborhoods?
We tried to understand what the residents, sponsors and the interns think.
I analyzed several existing organizations that also work with youth and focus on creativity, learning, or community engagement. Each of these platforms has elements that could inspire how PWMI builds or improves its own online space.
Understanding users' needs and pain points
The user persona and empathy map helped me understand the motivations, challenges, and needs of partners, youth and community members, guiding design decisions toward a more inclusive and collaborative PWMI platform.
Helping users achieve their goal easily.
The brainstorming sessions helped our team explore diverse ideas and align on features that best support community connection and engagement.
I was responsible to design a chatbot that helps potential sponsors learn more about PWMI and connect with the organization. To define its structure, I created a flowchart mapping how sponsors navigate conversations.
Ideas becoming reality
I created wireframes to define the platform’s layout and structure, focusing on clear navigation, usability, and a consistent visual flow across all pages.
User and A/B testing were conducted to validate design decisions, compare interface variations, and ensure the final solution effectively resolved the existing problem.
Solution
To make the PWMI platform more inclusive and engaging, I focused on three key goals: connecting youth with their communities, creating a space that encourages collaboration and reflection, creating a save space for the interns. During the design process, I defined a clear structure, developed a consistent visual system, and integrated interactive features that make participation simple and meaningful.