My Roles:
UI & UX Designer, UX Research
Skills:
UI/UX Design, Visual Design, User Research, Survey Design, Data Analysis, Branding
Tools:
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Figma, Figjam, Miro, SwiftUI, iOS Design/Developer Tools, Firebase, ARKit, Github
Problem Statements:
Busy Schedules, Non-fun & Dry Methods for Cultural Exploration:
1st & 2nd gen immigrants have a burning desire to explore their heritage and expand their cultural knowledge but are stuck with traditional learning methods and resources that don't offer a fun and engaging way to learn. Busy schedules leave them with limited time, making it a struggle to stay motivated and consistent. They need a solution that fits into their lives.
Scattered Resources, Lack of Centralized Platform:
There is a lack of a centralized platform that offers a fun and engaging way to learn about diverse cultures. Current resources are scattered and require significant effort to research and navigate. This makes it difficult for students to find content that caters to their interests and learning styles, hindering their ability to deepen their cultural understanding.
Research Question:
How can a mobile app design leverage engaging games and interactive features to motivate 1st and 2nd gen immigrants to explore their heritage and diverse cultures, despite the competing demands of their busy lives?
Objective:
‘Cultured’ is a gamified educational app designed to be a fun and engaging platform for immigrants, specifically school and college students, and young professionals, to learn more about their cultural heritage/s and explore various cultures worldwide.
Solution:
‘Cultured’ addresses the problems by offering a variety of engaging features like games, AR/VR site exploration, social engagement, and informative lessons on various cultural topics like pop culture, food, language, history, places, customs, etc.
Easy Onboarding, Cohesive Home Page & Triumphant Self Profile
Cultural Kaleidoscope: Music, Dance, Sports, and Screen Hits
Discover Delightful Dishes and Sip into Local Flavors
Explore Global Grace and Become a Cultural Jetsetter
Discover Local Gems and Historical Wonders
Learn, Quiz, and Conquer: Deepen Your Cultural Knowledge
Play 'Connections' & Feel More Connected to Your Roots
Play 'Guess the Word' & Never Be Left Guessing Again
Design & Development Process:
User Research:
The design research process involved survey design user research, brainstorming, ideation, prototyping, branding, and continuous iteration to achieve optimization.
User interviews, surveys, and data analysis helped us identify the target audience, the problems, and their needs.
Developing 'User Personas' helped us identify potential app features and functionalities.
User Flows & Journey Mapping:
User flows were created to map out the user journey within the app and streamline the front-end and back-end development process. We created two versions: one being the actual user flow and another map that aided the development team.
Wireframing:
Low-fidelity and high-fidelity wireframes were built to visualize the app's design and functionality.
Design System:
A design system, color palette, and app logo were designed to represent the app's brand identity.
SwiftUI Development:
Dark Mode Views:
More dark-mode views are coming soon...
Challenges and Learnings:
The design team faced challenges like:
Balancing the development team’s need for speed with the design team’s focus on quality.
Collaboratively working on prototypes using Figma while balancing school work & exams.
Choosing the right color palette for the app and designing a logo that effectively captured the essence of the app.
The team overcame these challenges by working collaboratively, providing feedback, and learning from each other.
Work In Progress:
'Cultured' is an ongoing project with the potential to be a valuable resource for immigrants interested in exploring cultures around the world. This project is a part of our iOS Club Spring 2024 deliverable and we are continuously iterating to make the product reach a level of perfection. We are also developing a Dark Mode version of ‘Cultured’ and I’ll be posting the views for that soon!
Coming soon to the App Store!
Thanks for viewing!