Problem: Hope for Haiti faced a gap in awareness and donor engagement. They needed a way to make Haiti's education crisis feel immediate and personal to audiences in the U.S. — not distant, not abstract.

Insight: People don't donate to problems. They donate to people. The research was clear: the closer something feels, the more likely audiences are to act. Awareness alone wasn't enough — the experience needed to close the emotional distance between U.S. audiences and Haitian communities entirely.

The most powerful call to action isn't a button. It's a feeling.

Task: Design an AR Snapchat experience that places users inside a replica of a Haitian schoolhouse, teaches them about the challenges Haitian children face in accessing education, and moves them toward donating — all within a single lens.

Result: Preliminary findings from a within-subjects experiment showed participants reported a significant reduction in perceived distance to the Haitian community after engaging with the AR experience. Presence and interactivity both correlated positively with prosocial responses. The project was nominated at AWE (Augmented World Expo) for Best Societal Impact, and a follow-up between-subjects experiment is currently underway examining the role of embodiment in shaping outcomes.

Role:

• Title: Copywriter, Design Team

• Scope: Creative strategy, storyboards, user journey development, AR lens creation

• Deliverables: Hope for Haiti AR experience · Hike for Haiti Snapchat Lens · Project documentation · AWE presentation support