The gist
With beloved spaces disappearing and loneliness on the rise, Pittsburgh faces a decline in third places (accessible, physical social spaces beyond the home and work).
To address this, my partner, Olivia Terry, and I led a zine-making workshop as a research milestone, using co-design principles to foster connection and gather insights on Pittsburghers' thoughts on third places.
Key Outcomes
✅ 16 participants joined our very first collaborative zine workshop
✅ 82-page digital zine titled "Yinzers on Third Places"
✅ Prototype of a digital zine library for future volumes
✅ Workshop guide for future facilitators who want to run a similar workshop
Next Steps
Originally a capstone project, we've evolved into a passion project with more workshops and an evolving digital zine library.
Reconnecting in a disconnected world
Awareness has not translated to action.
Third places have been a trending topic in the past few years. However, real solutions remain scarce, leaving a gap between awareness of the problem and an accessible solution.
We surveyed residents to hear about their experiences with third places in Pittsburgh.
Out of 30 participants…
100%
However…
34%
14%
How can we engage people in Pittsburgh to address the decline of accessible, physical third places?
We didn't want to just make another app.
Too often, UX takes a top-down approach, assuming new tools alone can solve complex issues while ignoring the root problem.
That's why we wanted to make sure we understood the problem before designing a solution.
The process
We took a community-first approach, ditching the script and directly engaging with people where they are.
Some key actions:
Aligned vision for zine workshop through storyboarding.
Conducted expert interviews to inform design and execution of workshop.
Secured sponsorship from Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse (PCCR).
Optimized recruitment via physical handouts & digital outreach.
