Sex Work, Reframed WEB EXPERIENCE
TIMELINE Fall 2024 (6 weeks)	ROLE Sole Designer	TOOLS Figma
An interactive web experience that combines data visualization and personal storytelling to advocate for the decriminalization of sex work in Thailand. By sharing real stories, the project challenges harmful stereotypes and highlights sex work as a source of agency and opportunity.

Framing the Problem PROSTITUTION IN THAILAND
In Thailand, tales of prostitution are typically ones of desperation and exploitation, but when sex workers tell their own stories, they are rarely ever ones of woe. On the contrary, many women carry a sense of pride for the agency they've found. The problem is not always forced prostitution, it lies in a system that preys on the limited and often exploited choices of society's most vulnerable members.	As an archive of 10 sex workers' stories, this web experience hopes to humanize and break the portrayal of these women as mere objects of exoticism. “From far away, people are undefined shapes. Only when we come closer can we see them clearly.”

Framing the Problem

PROSTITUTION IN THAILAND

In Thailand, tales of prostitution are typically ones of desperation and exploitation, but when sex workers tell their own stories, they are rarely ever ones of woe. On the contrary, many women carry a sense of pride for the agency they've found.

The problem is not always forced prostitution, it lies in a system that preys on the limited and often exploited choices of society's most vulnerable members.

As an archive of 10 sex workers' stories, this web experience hopes to humanize and break the portrayal of these women as mere objects of exoticism.

“From far away, people are undefined shapes. Only when we come closer can we see them clearly.”

Visualizing Data (Why use flowers?) TRANSLATING 10 STORIES
It took me a while to decide how to represent each sex worker. Should I include their name? Their image? Or let words speak for themselves? Using flowers allowed me to strike a balance between anonymity and individuality—offering each story a unique identity without exposing the storyteller. At a glance, a strand of their story is revealed. The number of petals, colors, and depth of gradation within each vase correspond to different facets of their lives, turning their experiences into a visual language of empowerment.

Visualizing Data
(Why use flowers?)

TRANSLATING 10 STORIES

It took me a while to decide how to represent each sex worker. Should I include their name? Their image? Or let words speak for themselves? Using flowers allowed me to strike a balance between anonymity and individuality—offering each story a unique identity without exposing the storyteller.

At a glance, a strand of their story is revealed. The number of petals, colors, and depth of gradation within each vase correspond to different facets of their lives, turning their experiences into a visual language of empowerment.

Context THE PROSPECT OF DECRIMINALIZATION
The third chapter grounds the previous stories in context of key statistics and analysis. It explores potential outcomes of decriminalization, how this shift might support their line of work and ease their alientation.

Context

THE PROSPECT OF DECRIMINALIZATION

The third chapter grounds the previous stories in context of key statistics and analysis. It explores potential outcomes of decriminalization, how this
shift might support their line of work and ease
their alientation.

Reflecting on the Process REFRAMING DATA VISUALIZATION
I entered the project with an extremely rigid mindset of defining the different ways we show 'data', picturing something cold, numerical, impersonal. ‍ As we moved through the semester, I became more and more excited about the ways we might reframe data, not for its existence to purely serve as a fact, but as a story. In the loose translation of turning 'data' into a visual narrative, I found myself surprised at how deeply human numbers and facts can be. We achieve this not from throwing graphs and charts out into the world, but by making their connected stories tangible. A live prototype is accessible on Figma.

Reflecting on the Process

REFRAMING DATA VISUALIZATION

I entered the project with an extremely rigid mindset of defining the different ways we show 'data', picturing something cold, numerical, impersonal. ‍

As we moved through the semester, I became more and more excited about the ways we might reframe data, not for its existence to purely serve as a fact, but as a story. In the loose translation of turning 'data' into a visual narrative, I found myself surprised at how deeply human numbers and facts can be. We achieve this not from throwing graphs and charts out into the world, but by making their connected stories tangible.

A live prototype is accessible on Figma.

Sex Work, Reframed

WEB EXPERIENCE

TIMELINE

ROLE

TOOLS