Visualizing Path to Freedom
This project addresses the challenges individuals face in seeking freedom and pursuing their dreams, mainly Iranians immigrating to different countries. The project seeks guidance, resources, and inspiration for those on similar journeys by creating Visualizing Paths to Freedom, a reciprocal map-based platform. By sharing her vulnerable experiences and collaborating with others, the author encourages trust-building and sharing essential information. The project's goal is to create an online platform accessible to everyone, facilitating the exchange of stories and knowledge to help individuals overcome obstacles and accomplish their aspirations. Using design to address social problems, the project highlights the designer's responsibility to find solutions for such issues.
My name is Samira, meaning a gift from the sea in Farsi. As a designer, I was not allowed to express this oppression in my work or use my design skills as a tool to fight for my freedom, so I immigrated seeking freedom. Living in the USA, I have found many misconceptions about how people view Iran with stereotypes, judgments, and cultural difficulties. Freedom is an aspiration tied to human rights. In the West, this is understood to be a person's universal right to freedom and, generally, each person's innate right of choice to pursue their goals (Valentini 2012). I chose to leave my country and my beloved family to seek more freedom. Though I'm already an accomplished designer, studying in the US gave me a new hope of fulfilling my personal goals and future pursuits of social impact by personally enacting liberalism, which promotes the idea that human beings are self-directed individuals capable of acting in pursuit of an end goal they have set for themselves (Valentini 2012). Coming from Iran to study in the US was not easy, and there were practically no good resources to help smooth out the strenuous process.
Framing an Issue
I have been living in the US for almost three years. Many fellow Iranians contacted me to ask how I arrived here. Sometimes, I cannot answer or advise their questions but refer them to someone better equipped to help. I feel strongly committed to helping fellow Iranians change their lives and live their dreams because I know how living in oppression can extinguish desires.
Screenshots from some of the author's conversations with people who wanted to leave the country. These images show they ask about the process, resources, and information.
Reframing Options
As a visual designer who wants to be an activist and advocate for others, I seek to foster the power of a living collective memory to aid others. While Leitão and Roth (2020) argue, "A collective living memory is directly connected to the ability to envision different futures. From this perspective, culture is not a group's static starting point nor a monolithic viewpoint; it is a trajectory that links a dynamic sense of memory to the ongoing formation of its members' diverse and, at times, divergent, aspirational projects." (4)
To do this, I sought to design a system that can make finding guidance, resources, and information about pursuing freedom simple. I set out to do this by designing Visualizing Paths to Freedom, a reciprocal map-based platform. The project intends to serve as a tool and digital platform for those with experience and knowledge of creating a new life to share with others, especially those interested in following a similar path but lacking guidance, knowledge, information, and inspiration. This project was initially designed in English to connect people from different places worldwide, although I began with Iranian stories, first articulating my journey. In a collaborative team setting, it could be argued that the ability to be vulnerable is a much-needed component of building trust. This trust and emotional safety gained from vulnerability extends to more easily receiving help from others in a group-style collaborative situation (Eteläpelto and Lahti 2008). I began a reciprocal trust-building process to obtain data by sharing my journey with all its complexity. In sharing my vulnerabilities and truths with other participants, I intended to model this complexity and encouraged openly sharing with others.
Sharing
Visualizing Paths to Freedom Project Mockup.
As a designer, creating my example first led to obtaining more information from others, including a long-time friend. He recounted more details of his story, including those previously hidden from me during our friendship. He noted that sharing my experience and vulnerability as the first story helped him trust me and share more of his story. Without this personal vulnerability and openness, important details might have been left out. More importantly, the project's goal and hearing more of my story were interesting to him and motivated him to collaborate and share more detailed information, all of which could help other people who are considering similar paths.
Having a vision of what will happen and what one should expect can help people create more informed plans. These stories can help people learn from other's experiences, making the process easier and safer. To do this, the stories must be honest and share the essential parts of the journey. Sharing this project in progress has prompted many friends in different parts of the world, to share their stories particularly after learning of the project's goals. The framing of an issue is about understanding and making informed decisions about what it is, brought forth by understanding its perspective in the foreground, background, and any additional shadings or complexities that the framing may possess (Smith 2013).
An interactive infographic designed by Samira Shiridevich visualizes her journey from Iran to the US, including mistakes, links, and details about each step. Rings around each step indicate the amount of stress, time, money, and effort to set expectations in each step.
An interactive infographic designed by Samira Shiridevich visualizes the participant's journey from Iran to Australia so he could safely practice his chosen religion. This includes mistakes, links, and information in each step. Rings around each step indicate the amount of stress, time, money, danger, and effort to set expectations.