Degree Show 2025

This project discusses topics such as racism, inequality, and systemic discrimination. Some content may be distressing or triggering for readers.

“70% of ethnic minority workers say that they have experienced harassment at work in the last 5 years. – Trade Union Congress Report, 2019”

My final self-directed project at GSA tackles something deeply personal – as a person of colour, I’ve often thought, “This could easily be my reality.” But it’s not just about me. It’s about making workplaces and communities fairer, safer and more inclusive for everyone.

RefrAction is a design intervention that challenges cultural and religious bias in the workplace through empathy-led training and tools. It aims to bridge the cultural education gap and create accountability for others, while empowering people of colour to reduce feelings of impostor syndrome and self-doubt. The training is suited but not limited to small teams in SME’s, guided by a facilitator through three activities – The RefrAction cards, game and website.

“People don’t know enough about different cultures and religions. Sometimes, I want to learn more and educate myself, but I know it might not be appropriate to ask a Person of Colour.” – Non-Person of colour interviewee

One of the biggest hurdles to real inclusion is that people who haven’t faced bias or racism can never truly understand the experiences of those who have. RefrAction’s unique culture-focused DEI training overcomes this through the use of ‘personas’. Employees step into the shoes of personas like ‘The Imposter’ or ‘Mr. Just a Joke’ and complete training roleplaying as them.

“Training in the past has focused a lot on figures, which is very useful from a business perspective but can be cold and distant on an emotional level. This felt very different. The character cards allowed for me to take a different perspective and think about the feelings and humanity behind DEI training.”
– Stakeholder during User testing.

By helping people understand each other better, RefrAction enables companies to build a foundation for more respectful, inclusive, and connected workplaces. This promotes the growth of individual employees and teams, leads to better results, and helps dismantle the broader systems of inequality in society.