Shefali Dahr and Rishi Shankar: Bridging Divides Through Design
Shefali Dhar and Rishi Shankar, both MS Strategic Design and Management ’24, often worked on projects together during their time at Parsons. Their thesis, Breaking Echoes—an analysis of the media’s role in fostering political and ideological polarization in the United States—was named the program’s capstone project of the year.
"The way people consume news is very myopic," says Dhar. “How do you break the echo chambers?” To address this problem, Dhar and Shankar developed Abridge, an AI-powered app that aggregates news from sources across the political spectrum. As users interact with the content, the app generates a dashboard that identifies their biases and encourages them to reflect on their news consumption habits. “The aim is to address black-and-white thinking and get people to communicate with empathy and nuance,” explains Dhar. The app also features a moderated forum where people with differing opinions can engage in conversation. “Polarization often stems from a lack of visibility of the nuances of complex issues. Our app encourages users to actively engage with different perspectives and across divides, helping them find understanding and common ground," says Shankar.
The project was inspired by Dhar’s observation of increasing polarization and antagonism in political discourse. It’s also personal. “I’m from Kashmir, which is a conflict zone, and I’ve seen the ill effects when two groups can’t see eye to eye,” says Dhar.
The collaboration drew on the strengths of each, with Dhar leading the concept development and research and Shankar bringing the idea to life with his branding and product design expertise.
Both say the Strategic Design and Management program changed the way they think about their careers. “For me, Parsons amplified the scope of what you can do with design and how it can be applied,” says Shankar. Dhar explains that her education at Parsons transformed her career goals. “Instead of chasing trendy problems to solve, I now want to focus more on people problems.” They cite instructors Jeongki Lim, Sareeta Amrute, and Matt Robb as having played a major role in shaping their thesis project and their Parsons experience.
The product Dhar and Shankar developed may have an impact beyond news and politics by serving as a tool to bridge other divides. “Empathy, fairness, making sure there is room for everyone—that’s what design is all about,” says Dhar.