DES230_A2_EDUCATION SERVICES

Erin Kim
Oct 28, 2020
4 min read

We were assigned with Education. Education is an ambiguous topic, so after researching, we choose to target international students because they go through more issues and struggles than a domestic student would face.

Background information about the context and community

We used the ecosystem map to identify the issues that international students go through. We found that international students go through more than a domestic student would because they have to learn a new language (English), becoming independent and adapt to a foreign country.

We then used the problem-space map to go deeper into the issues. The experiences that people face is racism, communication, homesickness and culture shock. We decided to narrow down to a specific topic which is communication and social interactions. This was when we asked a question:

“How can we provide a service that international students feel included in uni?”

Documentation of the research process

With those issues in mind, we conducted secondary research by interviewing people within our friend groups to gain their insights as an international student or as a student who interacted with international students. I decided to interview domestic students as that’s the range I have available and willing to participate in the project.

We interviewed 14 students in total, 9 of them were domestic, and 5 were international students

When we merged all the resources, we found that:

31% struggle because of the speaker’s accent, dialects and pronunciation. A common issue that native English speakers go through; when a domestic student is listening to an international student speak.
27% struggles with grammar and vocabulary range.
19% struggle with mistranslations or misunderstanding of context. This is a common issue and can cause conflict.
15% struggle with the pace of the speaker mostly when domestic students or even teachers babble than the students
The remaining 8% were confidence and fear of approaching people.

Development of selected solution

We then did the value composition map so we can clarify the issue and start developing concepts. We already had decided on focusing on international students, but we decided to focus on a university setting. Before coming up with ideas, we asked ourselves with a brainstorm question:

“How might we improve communication so that students can achieve inclusivity even a person’s differences and overcoming the language barrier?”

With the problem defined, we came up with rough concept ideas that can help possible resolve the issues. To which we narrowed down to three potential strategies - which are;

Interactive social networking app so that an international student is talking to a domestic student. It is a way to socialise with fellow peers and have a diverse friend group. Be able to communicate and develop communication skills and English virtually.
Use visual methods of communication which refers to the effective communication and presentation of design ideas using the modelling and graphic design techniques. Initially, students learn to communicate and present their design ideas and information by applying 2D and 3D visual communication techniques.
Set up an inclusive communication standard/policy for the uni to identify needs, gather information, draft, consulting and review.

Although we had a lot of options to choose from, we had to choose one concept that we can further develop. Based on the feedback from the class and our discussion, we decided to create on the social networking app than policy or visual communications. We made this decision because we see having multiple functions on a social networking service than visual methods and policy (which is one dimensional).

Canvas composition map

The strategy behind the concept is not to allow linguistic discrimination, improve communication skills and create pre-departure friends. The idea behind this is to gain more friends to improve on English and gain a friend from a foreign country that they can rely on a pre-existing friend. This benefits the community in a sense that it increases diversity and develop trust in a community in a sense that it is a safe place almost like home. The pain behind this strategy is student’s participation, language barrier, as well as the extra workload that international students have to carry (from learning English, understanding content, etc.). These can alter the community, but we don’t want that to prevent people from not improving and overcoming barriers.

Service blueprint

We then did the blueprint map which helps refine the process and develop the concepts. Our journey map starts before flying overseas. This is a pre-departure journey:

Students receive a recommendation from the university to use this app.
Students then download the app.
Signup and do the form. The user will select the major(s) which then generates a chatroom with individuals with a similar major(s) and different cultural background. That way, an international student is paired with domestic students).
Once the forum is formed, then students will start to communicate with other students.
Once they create a bind, by the time they arrive, the student will already have a friend overseas by the time they move overseas.

Behind the journey, there needs to be an app developer and OS system compatibility. There is a lot of support required to make a start a forum or even make the strategy possible.

Resulting design strategy

When we presented the idea, realised that there might have been some opportunities that we could have added in our strategy. We asked ourselves these questions:

Is there a cycle to this? Based on our journey, there is an option to match experienced users with new users.
Is this the only service for making friends? Are there no professionals or mentors involved?
Is there a translation system? an opportunity where we can add a translation?
Is there secondary filtering? Does it have to be majors? Although this is an opportunity, our intention behind this is to not only create a friend but also have a study buddy.

The strategy we currently have isn’t finalised and still developing, and we aren’t going to neglect feedbacks given.