The Project
After animating an explainer video for Peterhouse School, an autism-focused school, I was invited by the team at Autism Initiatives to live scribe their One Vision, Many Voices Knowledge Share Event! As a multi-stakeholder event, this day was dense and discussion heavy, with a lot of key information being shared on the day by keynote speakers and representatives from all around the UK. My job was:
- To synthesise real-time information into accessible visual formats
- To prioritise the most important information to retain and visualise for post-event discussion and sharing
- To create a shared visual artefact, created live on the day, that attendees could reference in real time!
My objective was to summarise key discussions in an accessible, user-friendly format, making complex conversations easy to follow and remember. This method of working also supports inclusive engagement by catering to different learning and communication styles, particularly for non-verbal individuals. Check out some of my designs here!
My Design Process - What Worked? What Didn't?
Due to the nature of the event, information was fractured across speakers and sessions, meaning I had to work to produce cohesive, readable work throughout the day which would tie together key insights shared on the day. I also scribed a set of lightning talks, pictured above, which were only ten minutes long per person, meaning I had to carefully cherry pick which information I would be including!
My work acted as a reference point to connect all shareholders together, and was beamed onto the wall in the middle of the day for guests to see my progress. This also supported a feedback loop between speakers and audience - check out me standing with my work below!
Being neuro-inclusive was incredibly important here, due to the content of the talks; there was a focus on empowering autistic young people to communicate their needs and wants, and my objective was to sum up the day's positive message in a way that was both memorable and accessible.
Impact
My designs improved cross-stakeholder alignment and understanding, and was received extremely positively by key figures at the event. As well as improving accessibility for neurodiverse participants, my designs tied every speaker's key points together, serving as an integral touch point throughout the day. I was able to capture important information across parallel sessions, designing live using custom branded palettes for visual cohesiveness and brand recognition.
I loved attending this event, and had a brilliant time creating visuals for key Autism Initiatives stakeholders! Following the event, my work was used on AI's social media, as well as internal and external communications.
Upon reflection, if there was anything I would do differently, I would have perhaps varied some of my templates more when designing, as some of my layouts mirror one another and I could perhaps use some room for diversity of composition!