Yalla for the Underreported
& Undercounted

— SPATIAL DATA VISUALIZATION
— DATA COLLECTION
— UI DESIGN

“There is no ethnic category for Arab Americans on the U.S. Census. This has led to a significant undercount of the community, creating barriers to many basic rights and services. While the Census Bureau estimates the number of Arab Americans in the United States is 1.9 million, the Arab American Institute estimates the total is actually closer to 3.7 million. The undercounting and underreporting of Arab Americans has served as a barrier to representation, education, health, and employment for the community.”

Following research on this subject, I conducted interviews with members of the Arab community in NYC, designed cultural probes, and collected data from multiple sources in order to create this design response. This project aims to help the Arab community in NYC by consolidating helpful resources and information relating to organizations, services, restaurants, grocery stores, and websites, among others. It serves as a helpful tool for the Arab community in that it serves as a ‘one-stop shop’ for all their needs. ‘Yalla’ is also a very popular term in Arabic and has multiple meanings including “let’s go” and “come on”.