Our Master of Graphic & Experience Design (MGXD) students recently found out when they partnered with the NC State Laboratory of Analytic Sciences (LAS) to design AI-powered tools for intelligence professionals.

The Challenge

Target Digital Network Analysts (TDNAs) face a daunting task: they need to understand how data moves through the entire global internet—a system so vast and constantly evolving that it’s like asking a doctor to master all of medicine while diagnosing patients in real-time. These analysts must not only grasp complex technical systems but also apply that knowledge using numerous specialized tools to support critical intelligence work.

The Design Brief

In our Spring MGXD Design Studio, students dove into this real-world problem: how do you visualize something as massive and abstract as global data movement in a way that actually helps analysts do their jobs better? The project pushed students to think beyond traditional interface design—they had to harness AI to bridge the gap between the enormous scope of internet communications and the precise, practical tasks analysts perform every day.

What Students Explored

Working from this central question—How might we design an interface that uses artificial intelligence to help analysts efficiently track and understand data as it flows through the global network?—students tackled three interconnected design challenges:

• Making the Invisible Visible: How do you create a visualization that makes sense of a subset of the global communications network? Students designed systems that help analysts quickly see and analyze data movement patterns.
• Learning While Working: How can the interface itself teach analysts about the complex web of protocols and regulations that govern data as it crosses borders and networks? Students created designs that educate while analysts work.
• AI as a Search Partner: How might A.I. transform the way analysts search, discover, and query both the data itself and the paths it takes? Students explored cutting-edge AI applications that make complex analysis more intuitive.

Student Outcomes

_{Designers: Alexis Boone, Rebecca Planchart, Kweku Baidoo, Graphic & Experience Design}

_{Designers: Olha Novikova, Parinita Das, Vaishnavi Parni, Graphic & Experience Design, © NC State University, All Rights Reserved}

_{Designers: Soumya Batra, Aashka Patel, Leah Tatu, Gabrielle Thorpe , Graphic & Experience Design, © NC State University, All Rights Reserved}

Why This Matters for Design Education

This project showcases what makes MGXD unique: students work on consequential problems with real stakeholders, apply emerging technologies like AI to human-centered challenges, and learn to design systems that are both powerful and usable. They graduate knowing how to tackle the kinds of complex, interdisciplinary projects that define the future of experience design.