Awa Ora – Mātauranga Māori River Restoration App
A Te Ao Māori–inspired app that supports a awa (river) restoration dedicated to restoring Te Taiao (the natural world) and revitalising local awa (rivers). The app empowers users to connect through mātauranga Māori (traditional knowledge), participate in hands-on workshops, and contribute to environmental action. Designed as a digital gateway to real-world impact, it helps communities learn, collaborate, and nurture both land and people.
Brief
Design a future-oriented community garden system that responds to a real-world challenge identified through your own research and fosters increased community engagement.
My Role
Me | Team Leader | Brand | UX | UI | 3D
Corey Mcbride | Motion
Isabella Thompson | 3D | Illustrator
Di Luo | Illustrator
Our colour palette went through a thoughtful process, initially based on deep pounamu greens to emphasise moss and native freshwater organisms. We later shifted to blue, indigo, and purple hues after realising green gave a saltwater feel.
The final palette symbolises clarity, spirituality, and the mystical properties of freshwater rivers. The gradient evokes light shining through water, referencing 'wiri' — the shimmering, spiritual energy found in nature.
As our research evolved, so did our design philosophy. We re-centered the project on the health of Aotearoa’s rivers, recognising the awa as a living entity and symbol of interconnected wellbeing, deepening our initial theme of balance into 'mauri tau' or equillibrium across Te Taiao..
This inspired a space rooted in kaitiakitanga and a digital companion app for citizen science and cultural reconnection. The visual identity embraced spiritual gradients, and the UI was minimal, designed like a taonga—a treasured object.
The app structure was built around three key tabs: Home, Community, and Te Taiao.
Te Taiao Framework as Foundation
We adopted the Te Taiao framework to guide our design, recognising people, culture, and environment as an interconnected system. Our original idea divided the space into soil, animals, insects, water, and plants — but the Te Taiao model better translated meaning through the four core elements: wai (water), whenua (land), hau (air), and ahi (fire). This shift made the design feel more accurate and digestible for users.
The app was designed to feel like a taonga — a sacred, intuitive tool responsive to the health of the awa.
Three Pillar Structure
Home — real-time awa health
Community — local updates + events
Te Taiao — education through Māori environmental values
The interface was built to be accessible across generations, converting dense information into digestible content with memorable, culturally grounded navigation.
Inputs
1. Early Vision: Smart Garden
The initial concept focused on automation and emerging tech. However, user research revealed this might disconnect communities instead of empowering them.
2. Research on River Health
User interviews and environmental studies revealed rivers as central to food, wellbeing, and identity, prompting a thematic shift toward restoring the mauri of awa.
3. Cultural Consultation
I consulted whānau from my iwi near the Wairoa River to incorporate local stories and whakairo into the design motifs and values.
4. Colour Palette Iteration
Originally based in pounamu green, the palette evolved into blues and purples to capture the spiritual clarity of freshwater rivers rather than saltwater..
5. Design Frameworks
The project adopted Te Taiao as a guiding structure, replacing scientific environmental categories with holistic Māori ecological principles.
Outputs
Community-Led Direction
The design pivoted to a people-first, tikanga-grounded solution, evolving from a western scientific outlook. — supporting real-world wānanga and community leadership.
Te Taiao
My research into Mātauranga Māori shifted our approach toward the Te Taiao framework, which centres on wai (water), whenua (land), hau (air), and ahi (fire). In modern interpretations, “life” replaces ahi to represent the mauri and vitality of all living things.
Rather than separating fish, insects, and birds, Te Taiao views life as a unified, interconnected system. Originally, our structure focused on water quality and species types. Shifting to this framework provided a more spiritual and intuitive UI, simplified navigation, and better reflected critical thought, the intricacy of mauri tau and environmental balance, equillibrium, connection, and survival across ecosystems.
Digital Taonga App
The final product became a calm, sacred-feeling app with a minimal interface inspired by the concept of a taonga — not a tech product.
UI Built for Accessibility
Navigation was structured into three key areas with intentional simplicity, designed to feel intuitive for both rangatahi and kaumātua.
Environmental Storytelling
The final interface used animations, colour gradients, and Māori motifs to reflect the spiritual vitality of freshwater systems.
Collaborative Potential
Awa Ora was positioned as a collaborative platform for iwi, local leaders, and environmental groups — bringing together digital and indigenous knowledge systems.
Design tools
