Global Religion & Culture
The Global Religion and Culture Learning project was an internal initiative for IBM employees, led by the Diversity & Inclusion team. They provided educational content designed to foster empathy and awareness of diverse religious practices and experiences in the workplace.
Our role was to translate this meaningful but complex subject matter into a digital learning experience that was engaging, respectful, and accessible to IBM employees in North America.
Project context
Role
As the lead designer, I initiated and facilitated feedback sessions with our internal design team early in the process, and presented evolving concepts to the client team to gather input. This research uncovered key pain points—such as fragmented content, inconsistent tone, and lack of clarity—which directly informed our design goals. I worked closely with a junior UX designer to translate these insights into clear priorities: simplifying the learning path, humanizing the tone, and guiding reflection. I also applied the D&I brand system to the UI, ensuring visual consistency. Throughout, I documented decisions for developers and supported the handoff process by clarifying designs and making implementation smoother.
The challenge
Religion is a sensitive and deeply personal topic. Designing for it in a workplace setting required a careful balance of empathy, clarity, and neutrality.
We needed to create a space that felt safe and inviting—one that encouraged employees to explore perspectives different from their own without feeling judged or overwhelmed.
From a design perspective, we also had to consider IBM’s legal and compliance requirements, accessibility standards, and content sensitivity guidelines.
Design
research
1. Sponsor user feedback
Before starting the design phase, we gathered sponsor feedback from IBM employees based on the D&I team’s learning content. Key issues included a textbook-like tone that felt disengaging, overlapping content, and broken links, all of which reduced the effectiveness and appeal of the learning experience.
2. Feedback sessions
During the design phase, we held feedback sessions with our internal design team to reassess our initial choices and refine our goals. Their input helped us focus on reducing friction, simplifying complex content, and making the learning experience more digestible and engaging. We also considered how to better connect the video stories for a more cohesive narrative.
Left image - Sponsor Feedback (Pre-Design Phase):
Early feedback from IBM employees on the learning content provided by the D&I team, collected before the design phase started.
Right image - Design Phase Feedback Sessions:
Feedback sessions with our internal design team during the design phase, which helped refine design choices and ensure the project aligned with user needs.
Opportunity areas
Fix content structure:
Broken or incorrect links made learning frustrating. We saw an opportunity to create a more reliable and organized content experience.
Streamline learning materials:
Redundant resources caused confusion. We aimed to consolidate overlapping content to make learning clearer and more efficient.
Maintain tone neutrality:
To ensure fairness across different beliefs, we focused on crafting content that stayed unbiased and respectful of all perspectives.
Increase engagement:
Lack of interactive or emotionally resonant content reduced interest. We explored ways to make the experience more dynamic and learner-focused.
Clarify workplace guidance:
Guidelines on religion in professional settings were unclear. We worked to present this information in a more accessible and digestible way.
Humanize the tone:
The original content felt dry and textbook-like. We shifted toward a more conversational and empathetic voice to better connect with learners.
Design goals
01
Design learning experiences that foster empathy and understanding of diverse religious beliefs
02
Create engaging learning experiences through compelling storytelling in videos, complemented by interactive Q&A
03
Guide IBMers in navigating workplace religion with clear do’s & don’ts
To ensure our design goals were grounded in real user needs, we began with sponsor feedback and internal design team sessions. These early insights helped us identify key issues in the existing learning experience—such as unclear tone, content overload, and lack of engagement. Based on this input, we focused our design goals on creating a more focused, empathetic, and accessible experience. Each goal—like clarifying the learning path, humanizing the tone, and supporting learners with guided reflection—was directly shaped by what we heard from both stakeholders and peers during research.
Scenario-Based Q&A:
Q&As are embedded throughout the learning experience, paired with video episodes that explore real-life workplace scenarios involving religion. These moments guide learners on what behaviors to avoid and what actions are appropriate.
The Q&A interactions are designed to feel intuitive. When a learner selects an answer, it becomes visually highlighted. Immediate feedback appears to confirm whether the choice was correct or incorrect, along with a short explanation to support understanding.
Encouraging Empathy Through Reflection:
In select modules, learners are invited to reflect on prompts such as “Does your religious faith affect how you show up at work? If so, why?” These moments are designed to help learners consider how faith might influence personal and professional experiences. By introducing reflection at key points, the learning experience encourages empathy and a deeper understanding of diverse perspectives.
Optional vs. Essential Reading
For learning materials that involve reading from external sources (outside this learning platform), we use tags to indicate whether they are optional or essential. This helps learners better plan their learning journey and manage their time effectively.
Reflection
This project reinforced the importance of designing with empathy and intentionality, especially when the subject matter is deeply personal.
It also highlighted the value of collaboration—from content and legal to accessibility experts. We had to ask the right questions, translate abstract goals into tangible design directions, and create a solution that respected the nuances of belief systems without reducing them to stereotypes.
Ultimately, this was a reminder that inclusive design isn’t about making one-size-fits-all solutions—it’s about creating space for many perspectives to exist with care and thoughtfulness.
Full case study available