My undergraduate thesis began with researching historical examples of how visual communications made an impact on culture and, by extension, design's capacity to change human behavior.

In researching the evolution of language and communication, I recognized a pattern: namely, that advancements in language led to solutions to many of the problems associated with growth in civilization.

Contemporary research

Environmental design, which included examples of wayfinding, Nudge Design, and exterior signage, was a category of design I researched in a contemporary context. This led me to an area of interest: human emotions and empathic actions. I began to study the works of Matthew Hoffman, Jessica Walsh, Stephan Sagmeister, Timothy Goodman, focusing on how visual communications in experimental forms can provoke empathic emotions in one another.

Pursuing a thesis around the concept of empathy was a hard proposal to make. It was my experience as an intern at IBM Design where I learned and practiced methodologies in Human Centered Design. By combining my research with my experiences at IBM Design, I shifted my thesis to focus on design accessibility for the visually impaired.

Institutions such as Perkins School for the Blind, Phillips, and the America Print House for the Blind custom make games to incorporate social skills using various types of tactile communication such as texture contrast or object shapes.

Unlike the institutions, toy companies like Hasbro and Mattel only used braille making the assumption that braille is the primary form of communication for the majority of those with visual impairments.