TIME: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Description
Architecture doesn't end at the building. We believe it extends into every interaction people have with a place—before they arrive at the destination, as they navigate it, and long after they leave. As public infrastructure becomes increasingly complex, architects have an opportunity to expand their role beyond the design of physical environments and into the design of the complete human experience. This webinar explores how Customer Experience Design is emerging as a natural extension of architectural practice, bringing together architecture, wayfinding, placemaking, art, technology, and human behaviour to create environments that are legible, memorable, and easy to navigate.
Through case studies from transportation, aviation, and healthcare, participants will discover how journey mapping, information design, digital integration, and data driven design can become valuable tools within an architect's practice. Rather than presenting these disciplines as separate specialties, the session will demonstrate how they complement architectural thinking and create new opportunities to lead multidisciplinary teams, influence public projects, and deliver greater value for customers, clients, and communities.
Attendees will gain a broader perspective on what it means to practice architecture today and explore practical approaches for integrating customer experience into projects from the earliest stages of planning and design. The webinar will offer real-world examples of how architects can expand their services, strengthen their role within complex public systems. Ultimately, it challenges the idea that architecture ends with buildings, proposing instead that architecture is a versatile way of acting on the world. When the invisible, subtle experience is considered as carefully as form and function, public infrastructure becomes more inclusive, intuitive and like a Thomas Keller plate a joyful experience!
Learning Objectives
- Define the scope and value of integrating CX, wayfinding, and info design into architectural services for public infrastructure.
- Apply a four step method journey mapping, friction analysis, prototyping, and standardization to improve user experience in transit/healthcare settings.
- Differentiate roles, deliverables, and risk allocation for architects vs. CX/wayfinding specialists within multi consultant project teams.
- Measure outcomes using data driven KPIs (e.g., wayfinding clarity, dwell times, accessibility touchpoints) to inform design decisions and post occupancy evaluations.
Presenters:
Gelare Danaie, OAA, Int'l Assoc AIA, Founder, CEO, DEXD
"Experience design is cultural infrastructure."
Gelare Danaie is an architect, design strategist, and founder of DEXD with 25 years of international experience leading multidisciplinary projects across public infrastructure, transportation, aviation, civic, institutional, mixed-use, and cultural environments. She specializes in helping public agencies, municipalities, institutions, and private organizations shape places that respond to human needs while supporting long-term community, operational, and economic objectives.
As Founder and CEO of DEXD, Gelare leads an Integrated Human Experience Design consultancy dedicated to realizing life-centered design opportunities across public infrastructure and cultural environments. She integrates Customer Experience Design, Accessibility, Creative Placemaking, Wayfinding, Environmental Graphics, Public Art, and Digital Communication into a unified framework that connects people, place, operations, and commercial strategy.
Prior to founding DEXD, Gelare served as Design Manager and Associate at Stantec Architecture, leading multidisciplinary teams on major transportation and aviation projects throughout North America. Since founding DEXD, Gelare has focused on transforming the way public infrastructure is planned and experienced. She works with clients to integrate customer experience strategies, journey mapping, stakeholder engagement, and design thinking into complex civic environments, creating places that are intuitive, inclusive, emotionally engaging, and scalable for long-term growth.
Her collaborative leadership style enables her to bring together clients, consultants, operators, government agencies, and community stakeholders around a shared vision, ensuring redevelopment initiatives are not only technically successful, but also meaningful to the people they serve.
Karen Zwart Hielema, OAA, MRAIC, Principal - Strategic Projects, DEXD
Karen Zwart Hielema is an architect and human experience strategist with more than 25 years of experience delivering complex healthcare, transportation, public, institutional, and mixed-use projects across Canada. She specializes in helping organizations align architecture, wayfinding, accessibility, public art, environmental graphics, and stakeholder engagement into integrated strategies that improve how people experience and navigate complex environments.
Throughout her career, Karen has worked at the intersection of design strategy and implementation, translating organizational objectives into coordinated solutions that support both operational performance and human experience. Her work connects planning, design, communications, and operations to create environments that are intuitive, inclusive, and adaptable over time.
Working alongside DEXD's multidisciplinary team, Karen contributes Human Experience Strategy to projects where architecture, customer experience, accessibility, wayfinding, public art, and environmental graphics must work together as an integrated system. She is particularly recognized for helping clients navigate complexity by integrating multiple disciplines into clear, implementable frameworks that improve decision-making, user experience, and long-term project outcomes.
Karen believes that successful environments do more than function efficiently—they help people understand where they are, where they need to go, and how they belong within a place. Working collaboratively with clients, consultants, operators, and stakeholders, she develops integrated Human Experience Strategies that translate complex objectives into practical, implementable solutions.
Pricing:
Licensed OAA Members: $34.00 + HST [20% OFF!]
OAA Interns and Students: $26.00 + HST [20% OFF!]
Non-Members: $63.00 + HST
NOTE:
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OAA Continuing Education
e: OAAContinuingEducation@oaa.on.ca
t: 416.449.6898 Ext: 232
Attendance Policy: Members are required to attend at least 80% of a webinar in order to qualify for Continuing Education learning hours.
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