The challenge
In 2023, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy hosted American Possibilities Demo Day at The Showroom in Washington, DC. Innovators from across the country came to demonstrate work in health, AI, robotics, climate, microelectronics, national security, and education, with President Biden attending to meet them directly.
An event like this has a built-in problem: a dozen unrelated technologies in one room reads as a science fair, not a national statement. The showcase needed a single narrative strong enough to hold health tech and microelectronics in the same story, and every exhibit had to work for every attendee, including blind and low-vision visitors.
Our approach
We were brought in to shape the experience design of the event, a role that ran from strategy through the exhibit floor.
On the strategy side, we built the thematic framework that tied the showcase together: accessibility, STEM impact, and transformational learning as the connective thread across sectors. Each demonstration slotted into that larger story instead of standing alone.
On the floor, we co-developed the exhibit environment for the KASI demonstration area. That meant designing for two audiences at once: blind and low-vision attendees who needed the exhibit to be genuinely usable, and dignitaries, including the President, who needed to grasp the technology's significance in a brief walkthrough. We designed the spatial flow to tell each innovation's story in sequence — from the need it addresses to the technology to its impact — so visitors understood what they were seeing without a briefing document.
The result
The event delivered what a presidential showcase has to deliver: a cohesive experience where the design carried the message.
The accessible exhibit design did more than accommodate blind and low-vision attendees; for a demonstration built around inclusive technology, it proved the point in person. President Biden engaged directly with the exhibits, and the showcase presented American innovation as one story rather than a collection of booths.