Project Dao

To capture the brief of ‘Designing for minimum wage in New York City’, designers Ziyun Qi, Isioma Iyamah and Oscar de la Hera Gomez created Project Dao - a free, alternative learning platform aimed at empowering the children of minimum wage earners with valuable, targeted education; as well as providing them a resource to enhance their employability and entrepreneurial potential, to help youth seek futures away from the low-income sphere.

The name Project Dao derives from the Chinese philosophy 'Dao', which signifies 'way', 'path' or 'route', a concept that fit the team’s project goal.

Project Dao uses a gamified, digital platform to connect users to teams that are led by specialized, industry relevant mentors. These mentors customize the users’ journey by providing a series of digestive micro-objectives in the form of timed challenges such as workshops or achieving a specific grade.

The skill building is visualized as a report card, which the student can later translate into a viable resume. This also allows Project Dao entry into an alternative employment marketplace, providing trusted partner companies with a strong employee pool.

Additionally, because parental support is invaluable to a child's growth, Project Dao mentors send parents results and are encouraged to provide verbal and moral support to their child, further affirming their gains and successes. This system enables parents to progress along with their child, and gives them tangible evidence of their advancement.