DH110

DH110 Assignment 3: User Research

Carlie Huang, Spring 2023

Main Design Challenge

What is the main activity your project would support the users in accomplishing?

• This project would support users in eliminating a language barrier they have with their loved ones.

What is the basic need involved for that activity?

• The basic need involved in this activity is belonging and love. Humans desire group membership and interpersonal relationships, and one of the most intimate connections people have is with family. Therefore, the inability to effectively communicate with family is a huge setback in fulfilling this need.

What are the traditional/current solution(s) to satisfy the needs?

• The traditional solution to satisfy this need is simply learning the other language. Classes, online tutorials, and books are common ways people attempt language acquisition.
• A current solution that attempts to satisfy this need is translation technology. Tools such as Google Translate and others quickly produce translated text and audio to millions of users worldwide.

What are the limitations that possibly would be improved with (digital) technology?

• The traditional solution of learning the other language isn’t always possible, especially for those of an older age, and it can take years and years for full fluency. While this may eventually lead to the best possible communication, it requires immense dedication and does not improve communication in the short-term. Technology, on the other hand, can aide both in short-term communication and in long-term learning.
• The current solution of translation technology is far removed from the personal aspect of interpersonal communication. If a user copies a text message over to Google Translate to understand what it means, they can’t refer back to it later if they want to re-read the text or understand it in context. Furthermore, it’s prohibitive for users not adept at using technology as it adds an extra layer of complication.

Target Users

What are the characteristics of users?

• The target user demographic is immigrants and their children, plus the generations previous and after— this reflects the language barrier that the project aims to solve. Furthermore, users will need to be technologically proficient and have a desire to communicate with family members, so they likely fall between 15-80. One of the goals of the project is accessibility, so intuitive design and assistive tutorials will aid older populations in using the app.

In which context (where, why, under which conditions) would the users do that activity?

• Users communicate with loved ones remotely (via text message, voice memo, video call, etc.) as well as in-person, mainly to simply have a conversation and connect with one another. In more extreme circumstances, users may contact a family members in case of emergency or in crisis.

What would the users usually do in order to complete that activity?

• Typically, users send text messages that are either in the language the receiver does not understand or that have been processed through a translation app. In person, communication is much more difficult; many people might stumble through conversations using the few words they know in the other’s language or simply resort to non-verbal forms of communication such as hand gestures.

Research Methods

• I decided to conduct user research using a combination of contextual inquiry and participatory observation. I prepared several interview questions to lead the discussion as well as several activities participate in.
• The interview was conducted in the participant’s home, in the living room. We agreed that this was a comfortable, conversational area conducive to the user research process.
• I used the Voice Recording app on my iPhone to record the contextual inquiry section and the camera app to video-tape the participatory observation section.
• The script that I followed for the interview and the activies is linked here

Research Data

• The audio recording of the contextual inquiry is linked here
• The video and screen recording of the participatory observation is linked here
• The audio recording of the follow-up and closing questions is linked here
• The transcription of the entire session is linked here

Research Insights

:one: Spoken fluency obtained from childhood does not necessarily correspond with reading/writing fluency.

I can speak Hindi very naturally and think of the phrase. I think the difficult part is translating the sounds I know into the actual script because then there’s more strict rules and it’s not always exactly the same. So I guess I found it out the best I can and then check on Google Translate if I’m not sure, and I can use the English keyboard, but it’s set to Hindi and then that will spell check for me in the other language.

:two: Regional differences can make a difference in making language sound natural.

I would say it in a different way. That’s the only thing. I wouldn’t say the B-E-E-T word. I would say C-H-A-L. So there’s some differences. Yeah. And I think I’m not 100% sure if that’s, like, a regional thing because my knowledge is very much just based off just my parents, what they say.

:three: Harder-to-translate items, such as video, images with text, etc. can make people feel disconnected from their groups.

I think sometimes it makes me definitely more disconnected from the group because I can’t respond to everything and engage with everything. It’s kind of like I’m just like observing a bunch of things and there’s some things that I get.

:four: Effective communication via translation is hard because not all language is literal. I think sometimes, like, sometimes I know how to convey things more easily in English, but I need to say some of the meaning— some things end up getting lost in translation, I think, because language isn’t just like the literal translation, but also whatever the cultural sayings, the phrases and the understanding.

:five: Current translation models do not sound organic.

I don’t think I’m going to use it day to day like that. I think I use translate to unpack things, but not to generate my own thing. It doesn’t always sound that organic. I could use it to look first for a certain word on my own, but I don’t use it for full phrases if I’m translating something for me.

Reflection

Overall, this process was very rewarding. As opposed to the pilot ut, user research- in the form of an interview, in particular- felt much less structured and very conversational in a pleasant way. This allowed me to really connect with the participant and build a rapport; I think as the study went on, she got more and more comfortable and voiced her thoughts more freely. In relation to my project, I learned some valuable lessons as well. She mentioned that she trusts Google Translate to translate informational language or particular words or phrases, but not things like conversational language and stories. It’s important, then, in an instant translation app, to be able to have intuitive translation that is compatible with different language structures such as slang. I also found the discussion around the cultural norm of propogating information through WhatsApp flyers very interesting, and it’s something I’ve observed within my own parent’s social circle as well. The Photos app on iPhone failed to detect non-English script when I’ve found it very reliable in the past for accurately detecting English script. This would be an interesting feature to look into for my project. Finally, during the closing question where I asked her to conceptualize a tool that she would want to use to communicate with anyone who speaks any language, her answer was astroundingly similar to the central concept of my project, which I was very happy about. Next time, to make this process smoother, I would probably choose a different technological setup, maybe Zoom. It turned out to be incredibly tedious and time consuming to try to stitch videos together and do transcription by hand.