Role: Creative Technologist
Overview
Global Café is an interactive hospitality experience designed for DP World’s pavilion at COP28, transforming a café into a storytelling platform that communicates perishable logistics and sustainability through everyday interactions. The project turns passive consumption into an engaging learning moment.
Problem / Purpose
Complex systems such as global logistics are difficult to communicate in a way that is both engaging and easy to understand. In this context, the café, typically a purely functional space, presented an opportunity to embed learning into a familiar activity. The goal was to design an experience where visitors could intuitively engage with DP World’s logistics network and sustainability initiatives without requiring dedicated attention or prior interest.
Process
I designed the user journey for the café experience around a simple interaction model where each order placed at the café triggered a corresponding animated projection. As visitors received their drinks, the wall would display the journey of the ingredient, tracing its movement from origin through DP World’s logistics network to its final destination. This created a direct link between action and feedback, allowing visitors to “learn by doing”. The interaction was lightweight and repeatable, reinforcing understanding through familiar, everyday behaviour.
I also explored extensions of the system into AR-enabled touchpoints and interactive surfaces, designing the experience as a flexible framework that could be adapted and expanded for future events.
Outcome
The Global Café successfully turned a simple café interaction into an educational storytelling moment about global logistics. The system was expanded, adapted and evolved for other events and campaigns while maintained strong visitor engagement. For me, the project demonstrated the value of thinking beyond the immediate deliverable and designing experiences that can grow into long-term platforms.