• “We don’t know how get people excited about this abstract idea.”
• “We don’t know why women aren’t applying.”
• “We threw a meetup but no one came.”
• “I didn’t deserve to be there.”
• “We’re not sure if people are learning.”

I hear these complaints all the time.

They are signs your community needs to refactor. Building (or patching up) your community requires thoughtful and strategic design. Successful communities have asked themselves:

• How do we invite people to participate?
• How do we design for folks to feel welcome?
• How do we build opportunities for people to connect and share?
• How do prompt folks to personalize the community to meet their needs and contexts?
• How do we empower individuals to carry the mission forward?
• How do we ensure a learning program is engaging, usable and effective?

That is Community Design.

Hi, I’m Vanessa. My mission is to build healthy communities that last—on the web, in the office, and informal settings too. As a learning designer, researcher, and community-builder, my process breaks down into the following steps:

My Street Cred:

• I’m the Educator at , one mighty org that is open-sourcing money so it works for the developing world. 
• I’ve worked with and designed communities for GitHub Education, littleBits, Mozilla, MIT, Creative Commons and the Open Knowledge Foundation.
• My projects have been featured in the , , the  and the .
• I frequently write and speak on learning design at spots like Echoing Green, the White House, Educon, NTEN, NYU’s MuseEdLab and ITP. 
• My Master’s degree is in Educational Technology from Harvard University, and I’m a former Research Intern at the MIT Media Lab in motivation and engagement. 

Who is community design for?

• Edtech folks who need help with product evaluation and growth
• Anyone designing conferences, events and meetups 
• Community managers who are looking to build sustainable communities
• Product people who need help with community design