Publication Design for Experience You

Empowered by Experience

How AI can generate LERs at scale for the current workforce

Role*
Graphic design, publication design, art direction
*completed in partnership with Education Design Lab as Associate Designer for Visual Design + Impact

Tools
Google Docs, Google Slides, Canva, The Noun Project, stock photography

Timeline
August 2023–October 2023

Background

In collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Walmart Foundation, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Experience You aims to unite data and technology vendors and researchers. The goal is to create AI tools that efficiently translate past education, work, and life experiences into machine-actionable data, forming a practical learning and employment record (LER).

Colin Reynolds, senior education designer at Education Design Lab, presenting at the T3 Innovation Network Mid-Year Meeting, July 2023. (Photo Credit: U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation)

Designing Experience You

“Empowered by Experience,” published in October 2023, captures the early lessons of the design teams in the process of scaling creation and adoption of LERs so employers can find the talent they need, and individuals can find the opportunities they deserve.

My design approach to publications with the Education Design Lab team and external partners involves a balance of collaboration, adaptability, and attention to detail. I prioritize meeting the needs of all contributors and refining the design as the content evolves.

In every publication design at the Lab that I’ve done far, I know the co-authors of the content are very close to the work itself. They are the knowledge experts, so I ensure they’re involved in my design process to align my design with their vision of how they want their research to be presented.
In this case, the co-authors of this publication include Education Design Lab staff, partners, and funders. They compiled their research in a Google Doc, allowing all contributors real-time access to the up-to-date version.
By the time 90% of the content was solidified, the co-authors had already divided it into sections, so I decided to create a more polished version in Google Docs to streamline the iteration process.
As this publication includes external partners, the Education Design Lab team felt it was more appropriate to style the publication in alignment with the main funder of this project, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
Borrowing inspiration from their most recent presentations, I created a similar dotted pattern in blue for the cover in Canva.
From there, I widened the margins to minimize the page breaks in awkward places. To add more visual interest to some pages, I organized the content into tables, including the materials in the Appendix.
To allow for easy navigation, I added a quick link to the Table of Contents in the header of each page.

Created in Google Docs, cover created in Canva. Stock photography pulled from Pexels, Unsplash, and Adobe Stock.

Redesigning an infographic

Since the content and design of the publication remained in Google Docs, this allowed contributors to insert images whenever it was appropriate. Prior to public release, the text within one of the infographics provided wasn’t clear. Rather than coordinating with the contributor to find a better, readable version of the graphic, I recreated it in Google Slides, with bigger text sizes, strategic use of color, and assets from The Noun Project. Recreating this infographic in Google Slides allows all contributors to have access to a high-resolution version to include in future presentations if necessary.

Before

After, recreated in Google Slides, using assets from The Noun Project.

Social Media graphics

Prior to public launch of the paper, the contributors held a virtual webinar, celebrating the success of the first phase of the project. Borrowing inspiration from one of the key quotes of the night, we proposed to market the thought paper under a more thematically appropriate title—Empowered By Experience: How AI can generate LERs at scale for the current workforce—rather than the formal, stakeholder-facing title, “Experience You, Phase 1 Demonstration Report”.

A separate set of social media graphics reflecting this headline was created to promote the paper across social media, our website, and in our e-newsletter.