York Equity Timeline
UX & Systems Design | Web Design & Development | Visual Identity
About The Project
Launched in 2026, the York Equity Timeline is an interactive platform developed with York University’s DEDI Strategy team. Through milestones and community contributions, it invites visitors to explore York’s equity history, share perspectives and envision its future.
My Role
As an independent Design Consultant, I helped transform an initial idea into a complete digital experience. My role spanned platform strategy, information architecture, UX, visual identity, and website design and development in WordPress.
UX & SYSTEMS DESIGN
From an Idea to a Participatory Platform
The project began as an open idea rather than a defined digital product. Working with the DEDI team, I helped shape the platform strategy, content and story flow, information architecture, and opportunities for community participation.
Through the design process, the experience evolved into a more sustainable model with moderated submissions and structured pathways for participation, balancing community contribution with accessibility, safety and long-term management.
At its centre is a customized TimelineJS experience, integrated into WordPress, with interactive features that invite visitors to explore, engage with and contribute to York's equity history.
Shaping the content, structure and interactions behind an evolving community experience.
Designing a System Built to Grow
The final interactive timeline, bringing decades of York's equity history into one experience.
1. Content architecture
Spreadsheet showing how milestones, dates, descriptions and categories were organized.
Transforming decades of York’s equity history into an interactive experience meant designing beyond the interface. Working from a detailed content archive of milestones, historical context and imagery, I organized the information into a scalable WordPress system of events and categories.
2. WordPress management
Backend system for managing and publishing events.
From content planning to the live experience.
This system allows visitors to easily explore York’s history while giving the DEDI team a sustainable way to manage and add new milestones that automatically appear on the live timeline.
From Rating to Reacting
The evolution of the reaction system.
An early concept asked visitors to evaluate each milestone on a positive-to-negative scale. Recognizing that equity histories can carry multiple meanings, we developed a more nuanced reaction system that allows visitors to express different perspectives. I conceptualized and designed the reaction system and its custom icons, creating a simple, anonymous way for the community to engage with each milestone. and add this;l The evolution of the reaction system
Reimagining York's
Visual Language
Bringing historical imagery to life through colour and contemporary design.
Working within York University's established brand guidelines, I developed a distinct visual identity that combines archival photography, bold colour and contemporary graphic elements.
With no new photography produced for the project, York's archives became central to the visual direction. Historical photographs were reimagined through expressive compositions that bring new energy to the imagery while maintaining a strong connection to York's identity.
Archival photography meets contemporary design
Original archival photograph
Final composition using York's brand palette
