DIALECTISH LANGUAGE APP

Delivering language-learning that's catered to your life

Overview

As a student of CareerFoundry, I performed project-based assignments including the Dialectish Language App.

The objective was to create an app that empowered people to learn new vocabulary in an accessible way that catered to their interests and goals.

Role

Product Designer

UX researcher, designer, and tester

Aug - Oct 2021

THE CHALLENGE

Approaching this within the realm of design-thinking I began by performing a competitive analysis and content audit using that data to inform potential user stories and identify barriers, frustrations, as well as needs and goals. From there, I framework a problem brief as well as solutions that represented the target audience.

The problem I was facing was how do users juggle a number of responsibilities and hobbies while trying to improve their language skills in their day-to-day lives with ease?

The solution should feature flexible lesson scheduling, progress tracking, and content catered to unique interests and applications for user's lives.

RESEARCH

USER INTERVIEWS

Session Details

I interviewed 4 participants between the ages of 25-55.
Interviews lasted between 20-30 minutes and were performed in-person and remotely.
Participants were asked a number of questions about how they typically go about learning new vocabulary - specifically about experiences that were enjoyable or frustrating to identify common pain points.

Findings

The key takeaways echoed in each interview has been a need for different modes, methods, and exercises of learning.
Each voiced similar barriers to learning such as social stigma and general self-consciousness when learning something new which beckons for positive reinforcement.
Participants mentioned interacting with learning through relevant content that interests them as an important element driving successful learning.

USER PERSONA & STORIES

Understanding a potential users drivers in life, beyond elements pertaining to the function of an app or website is essential for understanding how they truly feel motivated in relation to, and interact with not just technology, but all influences and tools in their life. Thank you!

JANELLA

"I've been in America for over ten years but I know there's always areas I can improve in how I phrase, use, and pronounce words in English. I feel better about myself the more easy and accessible English feels to me."

Age: 29

Occupation: Hotel Concierge

Location: Miami, FL

Relationship Status: Single

Hobbies: Dancing, editing YouTube Videos and Instagram Reels, makeup.

pexels-nichole-sebastian-3220360 (1)-1x.jpg

Behaviors

Regularly interacts with social media outlets for socializing.

Maintains her own YouTube and Instagram channel for makeup tutorials and reviews but also for sharing life tips.

Socializes with friends and family regularly but values her alone time.

Enjoys her job and wants to continue building her career in hospitality.

Needs

An easily-accessible way to improve language.

A clear way of scheduling her work, social life, pursuits, and language improvement.

Have multiple ways of making sure she understands new words, phrases, and idioms correctly.

Relevant content that interests her and pairs with lifestyle.

A designated learning path.

Goals

To balance improving her language abilities with her personal, professional aims and social life.

To be more versed in English lingo and vernacular.

To be able to track her language improvement progress.

Being confident in using more challenging, context-driven English.

USER STORY/JOB STORY

01.

User Story

As a person with a busy schedule, I want a learning source that helps me schedule times to learn effectively so that my learning aligns with my other responsibilities.

02.

User Story

As a person eager to improve my abilities, I want to be able to easily track my progress and see areas I need to improve so that I can practice and learn more effectively.

03.

User Story

As a person who uses their phone and social media frequently, I want an easily-accessible application and platform for learning so that I can easily transition to adding it to my other routines.

01.

Job Story

At work, I want to more easily communicate with customers about ways I can assist them, local attractions, and other travel tips.

02.

Job Story

By working better with customers I can showcase my English and work strengths to upper management so I can be offered a higher position or new opportunity.

03.

Job Story

When improving English skills I want to be able to learn in different styles and methods to stay engaged and motivated.

USER FLOWS

I created a series of a user flows for a number of user tasks and scenarios including creating an account/logging in. These designs are based on typical design guidelines, user behaviors and interview findings

PROTOTYPING & TESTING

LOW-FIDELITY PROTOTYPES

Compiling user research findings and user flows I was able to construct initial sketches to deliver on navigation and tasks required by the user. After a few rapid prototyping sessions I refined the sketches and created a Marvel User Test to gauge initial app design and functionality with testers that reflected the qualities of our user personas and ideal audience.

USER TESTING

This session aims to find solutions and fill gaps in the existing functionality of the vocabulary-building app, Dialectish. Dialectish utilizes interest-based learning and offers a variety of conventions for fulfilling learning needs, the tester will be asked to try and fulfill a number of tasks that demonstrate these abilities.

Session Details

5 individual sessions
Sessions lasted 10-15 minutes
Moderated in-person or remotely via Zoom.
Users were asked to perform both direct and scenario tasks.

USER TESTING ANALYSIS

After I reviewed the notes and recordings from each test session and was able to identify thoughts, feelings, frustrations, as well as any problems or confusion that arose. I then labeled prototype type issues on a severity scale from 1-5 before beginning my hi-fidelity prototype sprint and applied iterations. View a simplified version of the results below or a more detailed version here.

IDENTIFIED ISSUES

RECOMMENDATIONS

Using both 'next' and 'done' for user to transition to next page in interests screen, course assignments, etc.

+Labeling all of them 'next' should be done.

Specify the 'practice' section as part of the welcome tutorial otherwise it may be confusing to the user that they've dived right into actual course-related content.

+Install an additional message or distinguishing design that clarifies that it's part of the welcome tutorial.

No Back button that traps people in certain sections

Add back button

List of existing saved words should be editable/deletable

Make all saved words editable, and deletable.

'My Courses' section not accessible on every screen.

Make accessible from every home screen or bottom navigation.

Misinterpreted 'Login' in upper left-hand corner for 'Welcome' and clicked that instead of proceeding to Welcome Screen.

Ensure screen sizes during prototypes and that language is clear/consistent throughout app.

User accidentally pressed 'skip' as opposed to proceeding forward without a next button.

Redesign to promote moving forward and understanding the flow of 'next', 'back', 'skip'.

0 = I don't agree that this is a usability problem at all

1 = Cosmetic problem only: need not be fixed unless extra time is available on project

2 = Minor usability problem: fixing this should be given low priority

3 = Major usability problem: important to fix, so should be given high priority

4 = Usability catastrophe: imperative to fix this before product can be released

Mid-Fidelity Prototypes

Based off the feedback I moved forward transferring my pen-and-paper designs into mid-fi prototypes and applied the changes that were most needed that I gathered from user testing.

Hi-Fidelity Prototypes

I continued to iterated on the mid-fidelity design with the aim of keeping the app as straight-forward and accessible as possible for the user - emphasizing user focused content, flexible scheduling, and relevant alerts and options.