LINGOTALK
Duration
Aug 2022 - Dec 2022
LingoTalk aims to make language learning easier by creating a digital community.
Team
Anisah Mohamed
Mililani Rosare
Sanskriti Kumar
Kassandra Chin
Tools
Figma, google sheets
Key Responsibilites
User Interviews, Survey Questionnaire, Brainstorming Workshop, Conceptual Development, Personas, User Flows, Low-fidelity screens, Prototyping, Visual design
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Have you tried to learn a new language through a course or ‘language learning’ app and wound up forgetting about your goal or losing motivation? You may have even tried to find a partner to hold you accountable and keep you motivated, but finding someone can be a struggle. Or, if you did succeed in learning the language (congratulations!), you might have learned the grammar and formal version of the language. However, holding a conversation with someone is probably still challenging due to unfamiliarity with everyday language or different dialects.
Our solution is to connect with people who are also trying to learn a new language or practice their skills. Finding a community of people you enjoy speaking with will provide you with ample opportunity to practice and keep your motivation alive. This app will allow you to translate your messages in real-time while chatting if you need assistance. Thus, it can especially benefit amateurs who want to learn a new language without prior knowledge since they can immediately start having fun conversing and creating connections with others while building their vocabulary.
PROPOSED SOLUTION
findings
STAKEHOLDERS
Members of Our Stakeholders Include:
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People wanting to learn and practice a new language
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People who want to practice a language they know but don't use daily
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Travel enthusiasts
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Individuals who want to connect with people from around the world
Goals:
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Our stakeholders are looking for a convenient way to:
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learn a new language
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practice newfound knowledge
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maintain skills
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USER INTERVIEW
We interviewed 12 people and asked them several questions based on their past experience with learning a new language. Our goal with our questionnaire was to understand their experience with learning a new language, things that helped them be motivated, and situations or reasons if and why they lost track in their learning journey. As a flow of the conversation, we also wanted to pitch our current idea and get their reactions, opinions, and suggestions about LingoTalk.
AFFINITY DIAGRAM
We used the Affinity diagram for organizing our notes from the interviews to understand the user's experiences, frustrations, and needs better. We used Zoom to discuss the notes and diagram and Figma to work on the diagram collaboratively. The following process was followed:
- The yellow notes were highlights and notes from individual interviews and transcripts.
- The yellow notes were sorted into groups based on common themes and labeled with blue post-its for the middle-level grouping.
- Once we had similar themes, it was easier to break them into smaller groups to identify specific and common information, which we
clustered under purple post-it notes.
- Lastly, we arranged the blue post-its under top-level labels, which are the green post-its, that identified the user's experiences,
frustrations, and expectations.
FINDINGS
From the interviews and interpretation sessions, we gained new insights that we can apply to the design of our app. Our conclusion with the problems and motivations people have while learning a new language are:
1. People mostly want to learn a new language to interact with more people or to enjoy entertainment from different cultures.
2. Peer interaction and cultural exchange make the learning process engaging and motivating for learners.
3. Consistent practice and using the language in the real world instead of only reading and watching led to better understanding and fast learning.
4. People lose motivation either when they cannot find consistent learning methods or cannot find time in their schedule to dedicate to their learning.
5. People are concerned about time zone differences, and some feel embarrassed to talk to people. This finding also made us realize the limitations of our idea.
PERSONAS
To create our personas, we researched and considered the contextual inquiry's highest level of points. One primary, two secondary, and one anti-persona were among the four that we developed.
Primary
ideation
BRAINSTORM
The group connected over a zoom call to decide on the features the LingoTalk application will possibly have and the possible screens that need to be made to give the user those features.
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Login/signup
> Email, password
Profile setup
> Profile pic, Username, Name (optional), Bio, Language you want to learn, Have the option to skip now/edit later
Preferences/inquiry: (multi-screens)
> Native language, Timing they will be using the app/time zone, Daily or weekly goals/time for each day, Level of
language,Interests
Suggestions for connections
> People, Groups
Feed (users can scroll around, join groups, recommendations, and discussions)
> View Posts, Comments, Like button, Create posts/groups
Explore page
> Search field (add a button for groups/posts), contains 4 tabs (interests, groups, discussions, people)
Create your own group/community/forum
> Group name, Bio, Policies, Privacy, Tags of Interests
Create a post
Group page
> Name, Bio, Tags, posts/ discussions (upvote or like system), People of the group, Add a discussion/posts
Chat with connections
> Tap and hold feature, Two text bubbles (one original - one translation), Read aloud texts
Profile page
> Bio, Profile picture, Language learning, Native language (languages they know), Interest tags, Number of groups,
Number of connections, Settings
Bottom navigation
> Profile, Explore, Feed, Messages
SITE MAP
To achieve a clear and efficient path towards my intended goals, we undertook the task of creating a site map. This visual representation allowed me to organize and visualize the various elements that needed to be included and their respective placements. By adopting this approach, we aimed to streamline the process and ensure a simplified and effective navigation experience for users.
DEsign
PAPER PROTOTYPE
Sketching was a process to put my ideas on paper in order to view or have a realistic sense of how my ideas will come to life. We wanted my sketches to be simple and straightforward to help users confident while using the app.
WIREFRAME
We initiated my Figma workflow to transform my sketches into low-fidelity wireframes. This enabled me to meticulously analyze each screen and make necessary adjustments to optimize its functionality. By doing so, we could identify additional elements to incorporate or remove, prioritizing the overall usability of the design.
STYLE GUIDE
After wireframing, the high-fidelity prototyping stage began by working on color and type elements to create a consistent brand identity. Through trial, error, and discussions, the following style guide was created for the LingoTalk mobile application. The primary emphasis of the style guide lies in the app's logo, dimensions, color scheme, and font selection. This meticulous attention guarantees the preservation of consistent branding across the app, ensuring that every element adheres to established standards.
HI-FI SCREENS
Returning our focus to the interactions and navigation, we started enhancing buttons, adding additional frames, and including animations to the prototype. The focus of LingoTalk is connecting and chatting with others. As a result, the functionality of the chat and explore features have more depth in comparison to other features. We've excluded frames such as password recovery since the design would follow standard conventions.
Additional settings were added to make it easier for users to choose the languages they wish to see while chatting with others. The questions asked during profile setup will allow the app to make appropriate suggestions and populate the explore tab initially. This helps to mitigate concerns, such as differences in time zone, that were discovered during the contextual inquiry.
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Play with the prototype:
TESTING
TESTING BACKGROUND
Each team member conducted a usability test with one participant (total 4 participants), so our findings come from the feedback of four users. The users were asked to complete the following tasks during the usability test:
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Log in to your account and complete the setup process
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View the Home page
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From the home page, setup by creating a post
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From the home page, setup by creating a new group
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View the explore page
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View the chat page
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Check your latest message (should be Aidan Lee when the user clicks on Chat)
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Find how to listen to a message
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View the different chat displays for translation
HIGHLIGHTS
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Found the profile setup process smooth and easy to follow
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Quickly found home page, group icon, explore page, and most recent message
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Appreciated the idea of getting the option to choose how the chat would look like
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Figured out how to play audio immediately
PAINPOINTS
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Some icons are too small to see right away (i.e. create post, chat icon)
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Icons are not consistent with one another (i.e. home page vs. group page posts)
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Concerned about privacy
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Did not know they could scroll down on suggestions
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Took some time to find translation settings
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Concerned with language the entire app is in
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Google translate or translation not always accurate - will there be moderators or translators to help?
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Chat settings titles were confusing
REFLECTION
NEXT ITERATION
Although we were unable to update all the design issues based on the user testing due to timing constraints, we thoroughly analyzed the findings and have compiled a list of elements that we can integrate into our next iteration of the prototype.
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Make some icons larger (i.e. create post, chat icon)
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Add concise information regarding privacy to setup (preferences) since people tend not to read privacy policy or terms and conditions
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Have a pop-up message explaining the chat boxes when new users click the chat icon for the first time
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Make icons more consistent throughout the application
CONCLUSION
Working on LingoTalk has been a great learning experience and has allowed me to work on different steps of the design process. A considerable aspect has been working and making decisions as a team, which has helped me prepare to work with others in a professional setting. I've also learned from past mistakes, such as incorrectly conducting the contextual inquiry. It would have been more appropriate to ask our participants to walk us through the language learning apps they use. Since our sample size for user testing is small and not representative of our entire target audience, conducting more usability tests would lead to better and possibly more suggestions for the next iteration of LingoTalk.