Generation Z, Immersive Exhibit

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This project was selected for Best in Show at the 2025 YES! Design show. Showing the user defining aspects of Gen Z, it prompts them reflect on this generation’s unique relationship with techonology as “digital natives”.

Project Brief

This project was created as coursework for DES 458, Integrative Design Studio. We were tasked with researching a problem/topic and designing a Senior Capstone project from our findings. I chose to study the relationship between Gen Z and Technology as it is a critically understudied area. With this project I am not trying to predict the effects of technology on a Generation but to reflect the experience of Gen Z to the user of my Site/Exhibit. Check out the website Here!

Icon assets created for the website.

Research

“As the first real digital natives, Gen Zers—speaking generally—are extremely online. Gen Zers are known for working, shopping, dating, and making friends online; in Asia, Gen Zers spend six or more hours per day on their phones.” (What is Gen Z? McKinsey & Co., August 28, 2024)

After deciding on my topic I started secondary research online and found that there are not too many academic studies on the topic. However the few studies I found influenced how I would conduct primary research, relying on first hand accounts and posts online.

To collect data I created an online form and held interviews on Zoom with the responders of my survey. The form contained qualitative questions about 3 major topics I discerned: Technology, Aesthetics, and Language.

Posters made for the survey (left) and final exhibition (right)

The Site

Responsive home page for web and mobile.

My research revealed to me a unique problem that we face in the modern age of having increased screen time. Whether it be for school, work, or leisure we can’t escape screens and media. I wanted the final exhibition to reflect the idea of content generation and consumption and how people are being consumed by technology. I coded the main site, GenerationZ.world, in HTML, CSS, and Javascript while the generative animations were made using a Javascript library for visual coding, P5JS.

Based on the text “Capitalist Realism” this animation represents the recycling of “content” and how it “consumes” itself.
Gen Z is known for using a lot of new shorthand which is spread rapidly around the world online.
Adding “core” to the end of anything is a unique way Gen Z has created to identify with and classify themselves into hyper-specific groups and aesthetics, which are usually formed online.
Using the user’s webcam, an ASCII filter is applied to represent the digitization of self on the internet in the creation of accounts and avatars online.
Using responses from 30+ Gen Zers responding to the prompt ”describe Gen Z in one word”. This word cloud represents both the positive and negative outlooks held by Gen Z while visually representing their online hyperactivity.

Included in my site is a video essay I made about the impacts of design and technology on modern society, largely based off of Stolen Focus by Johann Hari.

Final Exhibition

For the final exhibition at the UIC School of Design Year End Show (YES!), I used foam core and projection mapping to create a giant phone which served as the display for my website. Users could interact with and explore my site and their changes would be reflected on the screen. I decided a giant phone would give my project a more interesting and dystopian look, similar to digital, vertical billboard displays which I have seen appearing around campus and around the city.

In the end it was a fun and immersive experience. I’m proud that this project was chosen for Best in Show for Experimentation, Though it was more rewarding to watch so many different groups of people engage with my project.

Buisness cards created for the final showcase.

Images taken during Year End Show.