Well-Being by Design Fellowship!
We’re thrilled to share that our Design Director, Noelle Posadas Shang, has been selected for the Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s Well-Being by Design Fellowship! Earlier this month, Noelle joined fellow designers and industry professionals at a kickoff event hosted at the Sesame Street offices, where they explored ways to better support children’s well-being through media and technology.
The fellowship focuses on the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) Toolbox, a resource created by UNICEF and the LEGO Group. Developed through interviews with thousands of children worldwide, RITEC was developed to help designers build experiences that prioritize young users’ well-being.
"Zombie games [are bad for my well-being] ... I was very scared, and I could not go to the toilet." – Child from Tanzania
This research led to a framework of eight core well-being principles:
- Autonomy
- Competence
- Emotion
- Relationships
- Creativity
- Identities
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- Safety & Security
Now available to designers and developers, this framework provides valuable guidance for making informed design decisions that put children’s needs first. You can explore the toolbox [here].
One resource Noelle found particularly useful is the RITEC Card Deck, which offers real-world examples connecting the framework to game mechanics and UX principles. This tool helps designers quickly assess how their features align with well-being guidelines, with practical Do’s and Don’ts informed directly by children’s feedback.
Today, Noelle and her fellow cohort members had the opportunity to meet Shuli Gilutz, a program officer at UNICEF who played a key role in developing the RITEC framework. Her dedication to child rights and well-being sparked meaningful discussions on how the fellows can integrate these principles into their own work.
As a team, we’re excited to explore how we can enhance our technology to better serve children’s well-being—because great design isn’t just about engagement, it’s about creating experiences that truly support young users.