Led the strategic product architecture for a cultural preservation platform for the Miccosukee Tribe. This initiative focused on building a secure digital infrastructure to digitize oral traditions while maintaining strict data governance and privacy protocols to respect cultural caution toward documentation.
The My-Tribe platform was architected to serve as a secure digital repository for sensitive cultural assets. By integrating asynchronous audio/video recording with a permissions-based governance model, the system allows tribal members to update and manage oral traditions directly. This approach ensures longterm data sovereignty and cultural continuity through a scalable, modern infrastructure.
The initiative for this distributed learning platform was driven by a critical gap in cultural continuity for the tribal diaspora. With key members of the community living 1,500 miles from the reservation, there was a systemic lack of asynchronous infrastructure to support daily language immersion. I architected a mobile-first solution to bridge this geographical divide, ensuring that cultural heritage is accessible, engaging, and securely maintained for the next generation of tribal members
I conducted deep-dive stakeholder research to define the primary User Archetypes for the platform. By mapping these roles to specific System Governance requirements, I identified the unique technical constraints and access levels needed to support both the tribal diaspora and the onsite cultural educators.
The wireframe phase focused on the Information Architecture of linguistic assets. I mapped out the interaction states for a Multimedia Pronunciation Library, ensuring that users can access high-fidelity audio samples to bridge the gap between written and spoken traditional language.
To maintain a persistent state of clarity across 33 interaction flows, I architected a semantic typography system. Rather than styling based on visual preference, roles were assigned based on information priority nodes—ensuring the 'handshake' between system data and user cognition remains seamless.
Every asset is engineered as a State-Aware Component. By treating icons and triggers as modular logic blocks, the interface scales dynamically based on real-time session data—reducing cognitive load by only surfacing the logic required for the active state.
Mapping the state-machine logic. To ensure absolute platform reliability, I developed 33 comprehensive interaction flows that account for every user transition, authentication handshake, and data retrieval state. This holistic map was essential for validating the system's robustness before moving into high-fidelity component implementation
The My-Tribe platform was successfully presented at the Gathering of the Tribes, validating a community-driven demand for secure, community-governed digital infrastructure. By prioritizing a permissions-based architecture and asynchronous linguistic assets, the project demonstrates how high-level system design can solve the unique geographical and security challenges of indigenous nations.
The final renders showcase a playful yet structured learning experience that helps kids build confidence in Indigenous language skills. The redesigned dashboard, practice flows, and reward system create a clear path from daily engagement to long term mastery. Each screen emphasizes accessibility, cultural respect, and sustained motivation.
The project was presented at KU Design Week and later brought to the Gathering of the Tribes, where it informed broader conversations around Indigenous language preservation. The work contributed to efforts supporting the revitalization of multiple Native American languages by offering a culturally grounded, extensible design approach that communities could adapt to their own needs.