Madison Anderson's civic-minded approach to solving problems

Madison Anderson didn't expect to qualify for the 2020 IUPUI Elite 50, let alone receive the prestigious William W. Plater Civic Engagement Medallion.

"Almost immediately, I Googled the Elite 50 and read a bit about some of the 2019 recipients and thought there was no way I would be selected," Anderson said. "Obviously, when I got the email saying I had made the list, I was totally shocked."

A week later, she found out she was a Plater Medallion recipient for her exceptional contributions to the campus and local communities while attending IUPUI.

Anderson graduates this spring with an M.F.A. in visual communication design ("VCD" for short). We spoke with her over email about why design is a vital asset for innovation and creative problem-solving, and how her service-based mentality comes into play.

HERRON: Congratulations on receiving the Plater Medallion! You join an exclusive group of IUPUI honorees, who are committed to making positive social impact through service-learning and civic engagement. What motivates you?

MADISON ANDERSON: I never expected to be selected for this award and I am truly honored! I think my motivation for pursuing this type of work is just the fulfillment each project brings. Being able to help others and be a part of initiatives that go beyond myself is so fulfilling to me.

I was blessed to grow up in a family with a strong community of support, and when I consider all of the teachers, mentors, leaders, and friends I had along the way, I want to offer that same kind of support to others. Reflecting on everything I've been fortunate to be a part of these past few years, it doesn't feel like service to me because each and every project has been so exciting and rewarding.

HERRON: What attracted you to pursue a master's degree in visual communication design?

ANDERSON: During senior year of my undergraduate studies at Herron, I was introduced to the concepts of design research and service design. I had a really great professor (shout out to Helen Sanematsu), who helped spark an interest in this type of design practice.

When I finished my B.F.A. in 2017, I was introduced to Youngbok Hong and given the opportunity to be her research assistant for some projects with the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI. Once the summer was over, Youngbok invited me to work on a project with Eskenazi Health Senior Care.

Being a part of these projects gave me my first real taste of design research. I knew this was the type of design work I wanted to do, but I also felt like I didn't have the full knowledge and skills to be able to work professionally as a design researcher. Thankfully, having established a great relationship with Youngbok, I had a pretty good in-road to a graduate program focused on design research.

Looking back, I am so thankful I made the decision to study in Herron's visual communication design graduate program. It's been an amazing experience.

HERRON: Youngbok nominated you to the Elite 50. How did it feel when you found out you made the list?

ANDERSON: Youngbok has been an incredible mentor to me over the past few years. She has believed in me and pushed me to do things that were outside of my comfort zone. When I was notified that she had nominated me, I thought it was really kind of her. Being able to show Youngbok that email and see her excitement was a cool moment.

I have been given so many opportunities to work on exciting projects with Youngbok and other Herron faculty, so in a way, I feel like the award belongs to a whole group of people.

HERRON: Tell us about your process.

ANDERSON: I would say there are two major factors for how I approach a design problem. Firstly, I believe in taking an agnostic approach, or in other words, going into a problem space not knowing what the solution will be. This is important because oftentimes when a designer approaches a problem, they already have a vague idea of their potential solution. But by approaching design problems agnostically, you can free yourself to develop the most appropriate or relevant solution to the given problem.

Secondly, I believe in a human-centered approach to design. Human-centered design is simply keeping the humans for whom you're designing at the center of every step of the process. If you've ever walked into a building and felt confused on which way you're supposed to go, or if you've ever struggled to make sense of the medication instructions provided by your doctor's office, you have experienced a lack of human-centered design.

People are the experts of their experiences and even the most skilled designers are only as good as their ability to empathize with who is actually using or experiencing their designs.

HERRON: What do you think is the most common misconception about design research?

ANDERSON: Yikes. Just the term "design research" is confusing. Probably the most common misconception that I run into is the lack of understanding about the potential applications of design research, especially beyond the design discipline and across other sectors. There's a strong cultural understanding of design as the creation of products or things for consumption, so people are often confused by the role that design can have in sectors like healthcare and public policy.

In the VCD program, we often quote Herbert Simon's definition of design: "To design is to devise courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones." Design research is a great process for tackling complex, ill-defined, human problems. I hope as time goes on, society will develop a broader view of design and begin to see the benefits of using design thinking and design research to solve human problems, at any scale and in any sector.

In the meantime, I think it is important for design researchers to develop better ways for communicating what we do to general audiences.

HERRON: You've played an instrumental role in sustaining the IUPUI IDEA Fellows, a student organization dedicated to cultivating a culture of change on campus, and have helped organized several "open-innovation sprints." What issues have the IDEA Fellows explored?

ANDERSON: Being a part of the IDEA Fellows has been a fun part of my time as a graduate student, and the open-innovation sprints are the biggest events we do. Each sprint has addressed a different challenge. These challenges have included envisioning a sustainable transportation system in Indianapolis, including dockless scooter services; connecting IUPUI students to available resources along their student journey; and most recently, placemaking initiatives in the city of Indianapolis.

The open-innovation sprints have been successful in introducing IUPUI students and faculty to the design thinking process and exciting them around the topic of innovation. But beyond that, in each case, Herron VCD graduate students on the IDEA Fellows team have documented the ideas and prototypes generated, then shared them with real stakeholders, allowing IUPUI faculty and students to contribute to real change on campus and throughout the city.

The first-year VCD grad cohort is currently wrapping up the placemaking project and I am excited to see the final outcomes.

HERRON: You've also been involved with the 16 Tech Innovation District. How did this come about?

ANDERSON: Innovation districts like 16 Tech have been successful in revitalizing underserved communities in downtown areas, and 16 Tech is very interested in engaging local residents in their development process. Pamela Napier secured an opportunity for my cohort to facilitate a design strategy session with community representatives and leaders from 16 Tech. The goal of this session was to capture perspectives from both 16 Tech and local residents in order to develop a common understanding of the past, present, and future of this innovation district.

During this session, we led participants through a series of generative activities that allowed them to collaboratively and visually share their perspectives. We are currently working on a strategic report detailing the outcomes of this session, which will help inform 16 Tech's process on this issue moving forward.

HERRON: We hear you're proposing the creation of a values-based organization at IU Health as part of your master's thesis. Tell us a little about your research and the project as a whole.

ANDERSON: When I was introduced to my project partners at IU Health, they were already pursuing the idea of creating a values-based organization and they had actually just redefined their organizational values to that end. However, after the values were officially introduced, they weren't sure how to make a meaningful connection between the IU Health team members and these newly defined values.

The goal of my thesis research is to find ways to activate the connection between these abstract value statements and team members' everyday practice, using human-centered design research strategies. Unfortunately, my original research plan has been put on hold due to the COVID-19 situation. But IU Health has provided some existing data for me to work with and I am looking forward to continuing this project after this period of time.

HERRON: Which graduate studies project are you most proud of—and why?

ANDERSON: The dockless scooter integration project that my cohort worked on stands out in my mind. It was such an incredible experience to be able to work with the City of Indianapolis's Office of Metropolitan Development, and it was so exciting to work on a challenge that was so new and pervasive.

This project opened my eyes to the possibilities for designers to work on issues in the public policy sector. Now I know there are a lot of cities in this country and around the world that utilize human-centered design in their policymaking process, but to be able to play a part in introducing our local government to these approaches was really cool.