Interventions: Shift
A conference about design and disability
Each year, Scout, Northeastern’s student-led design studio, hosts Interventions, a conference that brings together bold voices across design, technology, and strategy to explore how design can reshape the world we live in. In 2024–25, I had the honor of serving as Conference Director for our 8th installment: Shift: Design and Disability. Alongside a team of 28 students, I led the strategy, planning, and execution of our largest and most ambitious event yet, one that placed disability not as an afterthought, but as a starting point for design
duration
Aug 2024–April 2025
Role
Conference Director
Team
8 Visual Designers
6 Marketers
5 Developers
6 Experience Designers
2 Ops Coordinators
advisors
Bolor Amgalan & Sara Hendren
Shift was the 8th annual Interventions conference, hosted by Scout, Northeastern’s student-led design collective. Each year, Interventions invites the community to reimagine the boundaries of design. But this time, we wanted to do more than just spark ideas — we wanted to challenge them.
As Conference Director, I set out to create a more focused, intentional experience. Past themes were broad and exploratory. This year, I wanted to center something specific: disability. Inspired by the work of designers who approach disability as a site of creativity, not deficit, I hoped Shift would be a space to uplift the brilliance of disabled communities and examine how design can play a deeper role in access, representation, and justice.
My Role as the Director
I led a 28-person cross-disciplinary team—spanning graphic and experiential design, development, operations, and marketing. My job was to shape the vision, guide the strategy, and make sure every detail reflected our values of accessibility, care, and collaboration.
That meant everything from: curating speakers and securing sponsorships to supporting individual teams, troubleshooting logistics, and shaping the tone of the entire event. More than anything, I saw my role as building trust within our team, with our collaborators, and with the communities we hoped to serve.
To shape the foundation of the conference, we landed on 3 guiding tracks:
Disability Ingenuity
Use a celebratory lens to evaluate how the natural diversity of bodies can lead to innovation.
Disability Discourse
Share insights from disability studies openly and respectfully, embracing diverse perspectives.
Co-Design Practices
Demonstrate how design can be a process for, by, and with disability, fostering collaboration and innovation.
These tracks emerged through months of listening and brainstorming. We held conversations with student disability organizations, professors across Northeastern colleges, accessibility advocates, and designers with lived experience. Their input shaped how we approached programming, speaker curation, and the overall tone of the day.
Navigating the Tensions
Our biggest challenge and responsibility was making sure we didn’t flatten, misrepresent, or overstep. As much as we wanted to co-design, it wasn’t always easy. We grappled with how to create something inclusive without sounding clinical, savior-y, or speaking from a place of unchecked privilege.
Sara Hendren—artist, writer, design researcher, and professor at Northeastern—was an essential collaborator and mentor throughout this process. Her work and mentorship constantly pushed us to move beyond hesitation. She reminded us that we didn’t need to walk on eggshells. We just needed to stay open, be honest, and treat the conference as what it was meant to be: a space for discussion, welcome, and real engagement.
She helped ground our team in the idea that we didn’t need to have all the answers, as long as we were willing to ask better questions, listen with humility, and approach access as a shared responsibility.
Professor Sara Hendren, https://sarahendren.com/
Why Shift?
At its core, Shift wasn’t about spectacle or perfection. It was about movement. Not sweeping change, but small, intentional shifts in mindset and process. We didn’t want to design a conference that just talked about disability. We wanted to create a space that honored it, challenged assumptions, and gently pushed the needle forward. The goal was to leave people thinking a little differently than when they walked in.
02 What We Made
Visual Identity
We created a full brand system with color palettes, typography guidelines, iconography, and layout rules—all designed with accessibility in mind. Every visual asset, from posters to presentations, was reviewed for readability. The brand had to do a lot: inform, excite, invite, but most of all, include. Simplicity and clarity became our north stars.
Website
Our tech and design teams collaborated to build a fully responsive, accessible website from scratch. It was:
Screen-reader tested
Keyboard navigable
Featured an in-depth Accessibility & Accommodations page
Included alt text for all images across the site
We focused on strong contrast, clean structure, and intuitive navigation—so the experience was as seamless as the design.
Live site: https://2025.interventions.design/
Social Media
Our marketing strategy centered on building momentum and sparking curiosity. We launched new platforms (like TikTok and LinkedIn) and rolled out weekly series like Person of the Week and Invention of the Week to spotlight disability-centered innovation. Our posts mixed education, speaker highlights, giveaways, and interactive content—striking a balance between informative and inviting. We stayed consistent with 2–5 posts a week, using a Linktree to keep everything organized and accessible. Every graphic also included descriptive alt text.
Tote Bags
Everyone walked away with a Shift tote bag filled with goodies, including our stickers, program, fidget toys, and more. We prioritized sustainability and kept bags simple and lightweight.
Name Badges
Our name badges featured color+shape-coded stickers for attendees to indicate their communication preferences. A QR code on the back linked to the digital program for easy access.
T-Shirts
Our team shirts were screen-printed with a clean Shift graphic. Beyond just being a nice memento for the team, they also helped attendees identify who to go to for support and accommodations throughout the day.
Stickers
Our design team had a lot of fun creating a custom sticker sheet that played with the theme in playful, unexpected ways. My personal favorite is the one on the bottom left, designed to fit perfectly on your keyboard’s Shift key. It’s been especially fun spotting them around campus since the event.
Posters
We designed a wide range of bold, accessible posters and placed them across Greater Boston, from local campuses to public spaces and Northeastern’s digital screens. Each one played with our design system in a unique way, with designers encouraged to experiment and push the boundaries of what was possible using our core shapes and visual language.
Programs
Each attendee received a printed Shift program outlining the full day of events, which was complete with speaker bios, session details, sponsors, and a welcome note from yours truly.
March 23rd, 2025 was the day it all came together. After months of planning, it was surreal to finally see people showing up, grabbing name badges, chatting with volunteers, finding their seats. The energy in the space incredible. People were curious, engaged, and willing to sit with ideas that didn’t always have easy answers. It didn’t feel like a typical design event, which was exactly our goal.
13 Incredible Speakers
The voices we invited shaped the entire tone of the conference. We worked hard to bring together a group that wasn’t just diverse in background, but in perspective: people who live, study, design, and advocate through disability in different ways. We heard from researchers, educators, industry professionals, artists, athletes, and students, each offering their own lens on relevant topics like media, mental health, education, architecture, technology, and inclusive design.
5 Keynotes
Our keynote speakers brought tons of depth to the conversation around disability, covering everything from disability theory and ethics to inclusive education, athletics, and adaptive technology.
Dr. Rua Williams opened with a critical lens on tech and access, Joe Walsh shared his work expanding athletic opportunities through Adaptive Sports New England, and Darcy Gordon spoke on culturally responsive teaching and the importance of representation in education. Each talk offered a different entry point into what inclusive design can look like in the real world.
Adaptive Sports with Joe Walsh and Adaptive Sports New England
Challenging Mental Health Stigma through Empathy with Rebecca Erde, Designer, Fabricator, and Educator, Pratt Institute
2 Workshops
In the afternoon, we offered hands-on workshops that encouraged reflection and participation. One focused on co-design and challenged attendees to think about listening as a design method. Another used drawing to unpack mental health stigma. These sessions gave people space to explore complex topics in a slower, more personal way.
2 Panels
We hosted two panels that brought together a range of perspectives. One, moderated by Sara Hendren, featured Andrew Leland and Paul DeFazio in conversation about how disability reshapes publishing, education, and architecture.
The second brought together designers from Fidelity, Khan Academy, and MathWorks to explore how accessibility is being embedded into UX and product design across industries, not as an afterthought but as a core part of the process.
Unruly Design: Disability, Media, and the Built World with Paul DeFazio, Andrew Leland, and Sara Hendren
15+ Student Projects
We featured student work in multiple forms: lightning talks, design showcases, and a poster exhibition. Students from across disciplines, including members of Diversability (Northeastern’s student-led disability and neurodiversity club), shared projects rooted in personal experience, academic research, and creative exploration. From speculative tools to accessibility-focused interventions, their work brought a deeply thoughtful and grounded perspective to the day.
6 Interactive Installations
The ISEC atrium was transformed into a space for interaction and exploration. We showcased a collection of student-made, 3D-printed accessibility tools: simple, meaningful objects designed to meet everyday needs. Alongside those were some more speculative design pieces and interactive prompts created by my team, inviting attendees to slow down, reflect, and connect between sessions.
We also had…
15+ Student Projects
Free Swag + Food!
Portfolio Reviews
04 Impact
At its core, Shift was about sparking new ways of thinking. And I’m proud to say it did just that. Throughout the day, we saw conversations unfold that challenged assumptions, deepened understanding, and left people thinking differently about design, disability, and inclusion. From packed rooms to quiet moments of reflection, the event made space for both learning and unlearning. We heard from countless attendees who left with a new perspective, a powerful takeaway, or simply a great conversation they couldn’t stop thinking about. And beyond those personal moments, the numbers speak for themselves.
Attendees
The highest we’ve ever had!
Shift became the largest single design event ever held at Northeastern, thanks to strategic outreach, consistent marketing, and a topic that sparked real curiosity and conversation.
Through a combination of sponsorships, ticket sales, and in-kind contributions (like snacks, captioning services, and accessible print materials), we raised over $24K. Our team covered all major costs and ended with over $3,000 in savings for next year’s cohort.
Total Raised
Our Incredible Sponsors
Securing sponsorships was especially difficult this year, with many organizations scaling back or reevaluating their DEI commitments in response to the current political climate, including Northeastern itself. Despite that, we were able to adapt, leaning on early outreach, existing relationships, and creative budgeting to meet our goals and support accessibility throughout the event.
Partnership with the Center for Design
This year, I led a partnership with Northeastern’s Center for Design to align Shift with Design Research Week, an annual celebration of design-led research across campus.
By making Shift the culminating event, we amplified our reach, connected with new audiences, and positioned the conference within a larger conversation about design’s role in shaping the future. The collaboration also strengthened Scout’s relationship with the college and reinforced the value of interdisciplinary, research-driven design.
It was a powerful example of how design can act as a connector—bridging students, faculty, and professionals through meaningful, shared experiences.
Quotes from Attendees
After the conference, we asked attendees to fill out a form with their key takeaways from the day. Here’s what they had to say:
Disability is often overlooked by many who are able-bodied, myself included. Having a new perspective on it really helped me understand that I should try to incorporate more perspectives in my every day life.
Both experts in the field and people with lived experiences can have extremely differing perspectives on accessible design practices, and discourse and building community is the best way to understand and appreciate the context of each individual case.
Learning that I may delve deeper into accessibility and disability as a focus in my future because I have not been certain of what I will utilize my major for in the future, but I would enjoy working to design and engineer products and services that can serve everyone, not just one target audience!
How we should reframe our thinking of design in general. Although we have models to represent it, no one model will be able to represent all experiences.
Keep showing up, keep caring, demanding more and asking good questions.
(my favorite)
Designing for accessibility does not equal designing for disability.
There were a lot of things I didn't realize were not very accessible for everyone, as an able-bodied person.
Conversation around disability can be a lot more comfortable than initially seeming!
Preet, what a great day! You made it look easy — which is evidence of hard, hard work. Well done, all of you. I hope you're celebrating and taking a big break. I am really proud of how you represented Northeastern: the projects and student groups and ideas that you put forward, the spirit of welcome, the sophisticated thinking throughout. Thank you!
Professor Sara Hendren
05 Reflections
Leading Shift was one of the most meaningful experiences of my design journey. The experience didn’t just make me a better designer—it made me a better listener, teammate, and person. I learned how to lead with care, ask better questions, and sit with complexity instead of rushing to solve it. It reminded me that the best design work often starts in the in-between moments: the late-night Slack messages, the tough feedback conversations, the deep breaths before trying again. I left this experience with more clarity on the kind of work I want to do, and the kind of collaborator I want to be.
1
Accessibility Starts at the Beginning
I learned that real accessibility isn’t something you tack on. It has to be baked into the foundation. From team-wide alignment to visual formatting and space layout, our most successful decisions happened when access was treated as everyone’s job, not one person’s checklist.
2
Co-Design Means Letting Go
Working alongside disabled collaborators taught me to listen differently and take a step back when needed. Designing with, rather than for, meant staying open to feedback, being okay with not having the answers, and building processes that invite real collaboration.
3
Design as a Tool for Systems Thinking
Framing disability as a lens (not a limitation) helped me understand how design can be used to rethink systems, not just improve them. It pushed me to think more critically about power, voice, and the structures that shape who gets to participate.
4
Time Is a Design Material
Managing this project taught me how to work with time: building flexible timelines, staggering deliverables, and planning around real life. I also saw how time and energy are deeply linked, and how pacing can shape the quality of the final experience.
5
Care Is a Deliverable
Creating an inclusive space meant planning for emotional as well as logistical needs. We built in buffer time, supported each other through difficult conversations, and made room for reflection and rest. Good design is just as much about how people feel as what they see.
6
Build It for One, Make It Better for All
Many of the accommodations we designed—clear signage, live captioning, built-in breaks—ended up benefiting everyone. Prioritizing access led to a smoother, more intuitive event overall, reinforcing the idea that inclusive design is just better design.
7
People Want More Than Polished
We didn’t oversimplify things... and people appreciated that. Attendees were open to complexity and nuance, as long as the space felt welcoming. It reminded me that clarity and depth don’t have to be at odds and that people often want to be challenged.