Using design to care for others: Graduating ASU student brings empathy and innovation to experience design
Experience design student Marisa Costagliola graduates this May. Photo by Julianna Piechowicz
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2025 graduates.
After several years working in speech therapy, Marisa Costagliola realized she wanted to make a broader impact — but she wasn’t quite sure how.
It wasn’t until she learned about the Experience Design graduate program based at Arizona State University’s Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center in downtown Mesa that everything began to fall into place.
“The MIX is very integrated with the Mesa community,” Costagliola says. “It is all about working with people and solving human problems. That really resonates with me.”
Now graduating with a Master of Science in design (experience design) from The Design School, Costagliola has blended her background in health care with immersive technology and human-centered design to create meaningful, community-focused work. Her time at ASU helped her discover how powerful art and design can be when used with intention.
From speech therapy to design thinking
Costagliola, who grew up in Gilbert, Arizona, earned her undergraduate degree in speech and hearing science from ASU and spent several years working as a speech therapy assistant. Though she found the work meaningful, she felt drawn to something more expansive — something that combined creativity and community.
“I’m not an artist in the traditional sense,” Costagliola says. “I’m a creative problem-solver. I love hearing about people’s challenges and figuring out how to make things better.”
With her health care background and natural interest in human-centered design, the Experience Design program felt like the perfect fit for Costagliola.
“I could have gone somewhere else, but the MIX Center aligned with my values — caring about people and creating meaningful work,” she says.
Now 29, she reflects on how that shift — from health care to design — wasn’t just a career change, but a values-based decision to pursue design as a tool for connection and impact.
A reflection of the community, for the community
One of the most impactful projects of Costagliola’s graduate experience was “A Reflection of Us,” an immersive installation created in fall 2024 with classmates Juliana Piechowicz, Doster Chastain and JoAnn Lujan. The project originated in the course Bridging Digital and Physical Realities, taught by Sven Ortel, a professor of practice in the School of Music, Dance and Theatre and the School of Arts, Media and Engineering.
Each student in the course pitched a concept for the final immersive project. When Piechowicz proposed interviewing Mesa residents and transforming their memories, advice and personal stories into abstract audiovisual art, Costagliola was immediately drawn in.
“This is exactly why I came to the MIX,” she says.
The team conducted interviews with community members and translated those lived experiences into layered projections of light, sound and motion. These immersive compositions were displayed in the Enhanced Immersion Studio (EIS) at the MIX Center, where the semester culminated in the MIXibition public showcase.
“We didn’t want the community to come see something about us,” Costagliola explains. “We wanted them to see something inspired by them.”
For those who participated in the interviews, seeing their own voices and emotions reflected back in the work was a powerful moment — simultaneously personal and collective, rooted in recognition and empathy.
Where design meets community
For Costagliola, the MIX Center’s connection to the Mesa community wasn’t just theoretical. It was something she experienced firsthand.
“From what I understand, when the MIX was created, they actually formed a community group to help shape the direction of the center,” she says. “It feels very symbiotic — like, ‘What can we do for each other?’”
She credits that relationship to a mix of thoughtful hiring, intentional programming and inviting architectural design. Staff members like Johanna Richards, assistant director of community and public engagement, and Megan Cauthen, graduate program coordinator, were instrumental in making the space feel welcoming and community-centered.
“The glass walls make it feel like the community is part of the building. You walk by, and it says, ‘Come on in,’” Costagliola says. “And because the campus is small, you get to know everyone. You walk down the hallway and say, ‘What’s up?’ to almost everyone. It feels like home.”
Designing with accessibility in mind
“A Reflection of Us” didn’t end with the showcase — it sparked new conversations about how inclusive design can shape the future of immersive experiences.
“People talked about being hard of hearing, having low vision or reduced mobility,” she says. “It made us think: How can we make these experiences more accessible?”
The team is exploring a 2D version of the project for platforms like YouTube. But translating a layered, spatial experience into a linear, screen-based one comes with its own technical challenges.
“We had overlapping visuals and audio in 3D space,” Costagliola explains. “Flattening that out is tricky, but we’re exploring it.”
They’ve also discussed inviting community members back for user testing, especially those who experience barriers to access.
“We want to design for everyone. And we want to learn from people who experience the world differently.”
Finding joy in the process
When asked what advice she’d offer to current students, Costagliola doesn’t hesitate: “School is hard. Grad school, undergrad — both are taxing. But if you can figure out how to do things joyfully, it changes everything.”
That mindset shaped her approach to teamwork. Late nights and collaborative challenges became opportunities for connection.
“We were a diverse group with different skills and perspectives,” she says. “We had to stay aligned, and that took effort — but joy made it easier. It turned us into friends, not just collaborators.”
Her favorite place to reflect was the small grassy mound outside the MIX Center.
“When the weather was nice, I’d sit there and watch the screen on the building showing other people’s projects. It helped me reset. The building’s transparency made me feel like I was still part of everything, even from outside.”
Looking ahead with purpose
As graduation approaches, Costagliola is being intentional about her next steps.
“I want to find a team whose values align with mine — people solving human problems and working for the greater good,” she says.
She’s interested in product design and immersive technologies like AR and VR, ideally applied in health care or wellness-focused fields.
If given $40 million to solve a global problem, she knows instantly what problem she'd tackle: “Homelessness — or more broadly, helping people find stability. Because it’s all connected: mental health, addiction, food insecurity. You can’t address one without the others.”
She’s already worked with Nourish Phoenix, a nonprofit offering food, clothing and job support to people in need. That experience, along with interviews she conducted for “A Reflection of Us,” reinforced her commitment to community-based work.
“There are so many ways to help,” she says. “And I plan to keep doing that.”
Reflecting on her graduate experience, Costagliola says her biggest takeaway isn’t a technical skill — it’s a way of thinking.
“With new technology, something’s always going to break,” she laughs. “You're going to lose progress. But I’ve learned that everything is ‘figure-out-able’. I might not know the timeline, but I’ll figure it out.”
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