Reimagining cultural learning through Chinese calligraphy and collaborative art making.
Timeframe
Feb 2024 - Jun 2024
Role
Product, UX Designer
Team
Sarah Athar, Bethany Poon
Context
The notion of βbelongingβ is a very prominent aspect of Third Culture Kid's (TCKs) cultural experiences as they often report feeling disconnected from their heritage and/or host culture(s). We found that TCKsβ struggle in navigating cross-cultural experiences as they often perceive the need to assimilate to their host culture, with many learning a second language and adopting new cultural traditions at the expense of their first. This alienation from both cultures reinforces the concept of cultural homelessness.
Solution
MoDeng aims to reconnect Chinese-Australian Third-Culture Kids (TCKs) with their heritage culture by promoting a collaborative cultural learning experience. We wanted to find a way where culture/language learning promoted familial involvement and catered to peopleβs different levels and lifestyles. It is a lantern that supports Chinese calligraphy and collaborative art making.
Achievements
Highest mark in the cohort βοΈ
For most TCKs, they often feel like they don't belong anywhere.
How might we reconnect Chinese-Australian TCKs with their family heritage?
TCKsβ struggle in navigating cross-cultural experiences as they often perceive the need to assimilate into their host culture.
Our group sought to re-imagine cultural learning as playful, personalised and collaborative journey encompassing digital, physical and spatial elements.
Design Outcome
Learn with others, helping you connect with language, heritage and culture.
A Collaborative Chinese Calligraphy & Art-Making Lantern
All you need is a brush and some water.
Watch ink magically appear on the lantern as you paint. After four minutes, the ink disappears and the panel can be reused.
Use Projections for Extra Writing Guidance
Use the app to mirror words and images onto the lantern's six panels
Tailored to Your Level and Interests
Choose from thousands of words, images, and custom projections.
Let's Talk Process.
My Contribution πΈ
01
Empathise
πΈ Led the focus group
β Questionnaire
πΈ Interviewed users
πΈ Secondary Research (online ethnography, literature review)
02
Define
πΈ Created personas
β Questionnaire data analysis
πΈ Constructed User Journey Map
πΈ Affinity Diagramming
03
Ideate
πΈ Brainstorming, storyboarding and developing ideas
β Generate usability testing plans
πΈ Facilitated usability testing sessions
πΈ Analysing and synthesising collected data to suggest design improvements for our product.
04
+
05
Prototype and Test
πΈ Creation of the physical prototype (low-fid, mid-fid)
β Mobile prototype creation
πΈ Storyboarding, cinematography and editing (hi-fid)
πΈ Facilitated usability testing sessions
01 Empathise
Exploring the problem.
π§ Age Group: We found the culturally diverse environment of universities prompts students to engage with their cultural identity.
π Cultural Group: Chinese people make up the third-largest migrant group in Australia and we felt most comfortable working with Chinese + Australian cultures.
Self-Identified TCKs
β
Aged 17-25 Chinese-Australian TCKs enrolled in tertiary education
We need to understand...
To better empathise with our target user, we took to conducting various research methods surrounding the following research questions:
- Understand the role of language in forming cultural connections and identity
- Discover participantsβ attitudes surrounding their unique cultural identity
- Identify what internal and external factors enable people to feel a sense of belonging within a culture
Study online communities and identify shared experiences with anonymity for more authentic accounts
Visualise trends in data through the large sample size
Draw deeper personal experience, motivations, beliefs and attitudes
Collaborative discussion activity to identify shared experiences
What Did We Find?
How connected do you feel to yourβ¦
Generally, how do you learn about your heritage culture(s)?
π― β I have a unique proficiency level for my heritage language.β
We found most TCKs are confident in their listening skills but struggle with speaking, and especially reading and writing.
feel very unconfident in their writing skills βοΈ
feel very unconfident in their reading skills π
wish they were more proficient in their heritage language π
02 Define
Pinpointing the problem.
Who and What Are We Designing For?
Through affinity diagram, constucting personas and user journey maps, we organised our research findings by commonalities to discover themes and trends.
While two key personas emerged form our research, we found only one persona felt discontent with their sense of disconnection from their heritage culture.
Our Persona πΈ
Anna Cheung
Age: 20
Occupation: University Student
Anna wants to connect more with Chinese culture, but finds it hard due to her limited language skills. While in China, she tried to connect with her extended family in Chinese, but struggled to join in on conversations and felt a little isolated and shameful.
βI wish I was more in touch with my Chinese side.β
To illustrate Annaβs story into a user journey map, we can better encapsulate key pain points and interactions that affect the evolution of oneβs identity:
The Problem Summarised
03 Ideate
Solving the problem.
δΉ¦ζ³
Concept Iteration
Final Concept
Chinese Calligraphy Cloth
After contact with water, the ink-like marks disappear after 4 minutes.
04 + 05 Prototype and Test
Improving our solution.
Iteration 1
For our low-fidelity prototype, we made a foam board and paper prototype. By using cutouts and a light source, we could project the characters onto writable paper.
Iteration 2
We had 13 users test the learning experience of the lantern...
We observed them as they completed the following tasks while verbalising any thoughts:
- Task 1: Practice writing the eight basic Chinese character strokes
- Task 2: Practice writing the name of the candy, White Rabbit, in Chinese "η½ε
β.
- Task 3: Decorate the lantern as you wish
Afterwards, we asked them some questions like:
- How has using this product impacted your attitude towards learning Chinese?
- Can you see yourself using our product regularly?
Finally, each participant completed a System Usability Scale Survey. We received an average score of 78.3, signifying that most users found MoDeng relatively easy to use.
and made the following changes.
ποΈ Tilting the Panels
People found it uncomfortable and difficult to write on a vertical surface as traditionally, writing and Chinese calligraphy is done on a flat surface.
Users were annoyed with having to wait for the water to dry so that they could reuse the panel, this process took longer if they added excess water.
Iteration 3
We tested the efficacy of different projections to teach stroke order.
To do this, each participant had to trace over the following projections and verbalise what they enjoyed and disliked about each one.
Finally, we improved our app interface
For our app, heuristic evaluation revealed key flaws in our interface. This was mainly regarding system visibility as to show when something was being projected or not. We also added the ability to project strokes one at a time and also your own images to improve flexibility of use.
Final Prototype
Conclusion
Always Give an Idea a Chance
A good idea can get lost behind unclear communication. Through iteration, we turned a seemingly impractical idea into one that effectively addresses our usersβ needs and desires.
Consider Wider Stakeholders
Even when designing for our target user, we recognised our collaborative design solution will also be used by parents, older relatives and other users.
