Effective Language Teaching Pedagogy
Information-gap activities involve users sharing missing information to complete tasks, promoting communication and language practice.
Effective Language Teaching Pedagogy
Information-gap activities involve users sharing missing information to complete tasks, promoting communication and language practice.
Effective Language Teaching Pedagogy
Information-gap activities involve users sharing missing information to complete tasks, promoting communication and language practice.
Effective Language Teaching Pedagogy
Information-gap activities involve users sharing missing information to complete tasks, promoting communication and language practice.
An interactive app designed for families to bridge language gaps. It pairs English learners, such as first-generation immigrant parents, with native speakers, like their second-generation immigrant children, through collaborative activities. Users take turns reading, describing, selecting and listening. Then. building stories from images, fostering communication, learning, and teamwork.
Context
47.8 million
immigrant adults in the U.S.
14.3%
of the U.S. population
47%
have limited English proficiency
55%
immigrant children live with parents who
have difficulty speaking English
THE PROBLEM
Many first-generation immigrants struggle with learning English, leading to difficulties at work and strained relationships with their second-generation children, who are usually proficient in English.
Key Pain Points
01
Time Constraints
Balancing work and caregiving leaves little time for improving English skills or personal growth
02
Stress in talking to native speakers
Lack of confidence in English causes stress, especially when speaking with native speakers at work.
03
Language barriers causing shame and distance of children
Parents feel a sense of distance when their children become embarrassed by their limited English proficiency in public and sometimes even avoid talking to their parents, leading to strained family relationships.
“I speak English at school and with friends, but I feel embarrassed when my dad struggles with English in public.”
Emily, 10 years old
4th grade student
"I wish I had more time to practice English so I could talk with Emily without feeling like I’m holding her back."
Alejandro, 36 years old
Cashier in a Spanish-speaking community
Solution
Stress in talking to native speakers
Language barriers causing shame and distance of children
Time Constraints
Parents can use time spent playing with their children to join a fun "create a story" activity via teamwork. While children enjoy the game, parents practice English with their native-speaking children, easing stress in conversations with native speakers, improving their language, and strengthening their bond.
HOW IT WORKS
Parents and children, using two devices, take turns describing and selecting pictures to collaboratively create a story.
1
Read a short description
2
Describe to the tablet user from memory
3
Assist the tablet user to select matching pictures
4
Wait for the tablet user to read and prepare
5
Listen to the tablet user’s description and select matching pictures
6
Review pictures together and create a story based on the scenes
7
Record the story, get feedback from an AI teacher, publish the story
Tablet user: child
Phone user: parent
Project Overview
RESEARCH
Literature Review
Understood the target audience and their language learning challenges
Explored studies on parent-child dynamics and communication barriers
6 In-depth Interviews
Explored daily routines and English learning challenges
Understand parent-child communication dynamics
Identify pain points related to language barriers
After analyzing research findings and insights, I came up with three Design Principles
Enhance Child-Parent Relationship
A solution that fosters teamwork to strengthen the bond between children and parents
Learning by Playing
A solution that appeals to children through fun gameplay while encouraging parents to engage and learn English collaboratively
Communicative and Interactive
A solution that helps practice English in an interactive way
IDEATION
I created four concept sketches and evaluated them against the design principles. The final concept chosen is an English learning activity where users read, describe, and select pictures based on another user's description, then use the pictures to collaboratively compose a story to complete the activity.
DESIGN
Wireframe
User Task Flow
High Fidelity Design
USABILITY TEST & FILMING
Moderated Usability Testing
Participants: 1 kid & 1 parent
Asked participants to complete different tasks by using the app
Gathered in-depth feedback
Filmed & Edited a Video
Planned a video for the project
Hired participants
Filmed & edited the video
ITERATE
After gathering feedback from usability testing, I refined my design based on user insights, resulting in the updated version shown below