The gist
third place
noun
: community space outside home and work where people gather and connect
zine
noun
ˈzēn
: small, self-published booklet for sharing stories, art, or community voices
INTRODUCTION
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
The makings of a co-de(zine) workshop
With a topic as big as loneliness, we wanted our work to reflect the nuances of the problem by working with the community.
We used our research insights to identify what matters most to people in third places.
Free to low-cost
Accessibility
Inclusive environment
Regularity
Basic amenities
Low-pressure socializing
Online visibility
We synthesized the findings to inform the workshop design.
With the users' priorities in mind, we moved forward to design a workshop that upheld the things they wanted.
Why did we choose this direction?
We wanted a format that centered people’s voices and invited open participation.
Each zine provides deeper insights that quantitative methods alone can’t capture.
Zines offered a low-cost, low-barrier medium that made participation accessible to anyone.
WORKSHOP OUTCOMES
PIVOTING
We first planned to compile participants’ work into a single PDF, but received feedback that it limited how their work was viewed.
With half of our participants finding us online, a digital zine library felt like the natural next step to share their stories.
DESIGN FEATURES
We designed the following key features to make the zines accessible and scalable for future volumes.
Want to see our current iteration?
REFLECTION
With the constraints in mind for our first workshop, we hope to consider the following for future workshops:
The initiative is ongoing! As of October 2025, we’re using early testing feedback to expand the website.