Tiny Translator Mobile App Design
Translation app for students, families and teachers
Context
The growing influx of newcomers from around the world into public school systems has left a need for a tool that enables students and school staff to communicate effectively.
Goals
Increase accessibility for students in a school setting
Build communication skills and confidence
Personalize learning experience
Participants
Elementary students (3rd - 5th Grade)
Elementary teachers who work directly with students
Role
UX/UI Design
Project Manager
Timeline
4 weeks
December 2024
Skills
User Research
Wireframing and prototyping
Style guide
Component design
Defining the Problem with Qualitative Research
Prior to research, I created a proto persona to efficiently capture and communicate user needs, behaviors, and goals to stakeholders. This approach provided a rapid and adaptable framework for empathizing with our diverse user base and ensuring the project was aligned with their requirements.
Every Learner is Different
I conducted my research through a process of making assumptions, testing them, writing results, and documenting the conclusions and next steps. To gather qualitative insights, I conducted 10 user interviews—5 with students and 5 with teachers. By following this process, I began to uncover the barriers and beliefs influencing the student experience and examine the impact of language ability on student outcomes.
Problem
Students need a way to comprehend grade level content while simultaneously practicing a new language.
Despite teachers intentionally using sheltering techniques aimed at ensuring that Multi-language Learners can access the same content as native English-speaking peers, significant challenges in bridging linguistic gaps among students still remain. Multi-language Learners STRUGGLE with comprehension and communication in their early years of school.
Interview Takeaways
QUOTES
"That's why I don't talk much."
"I don't know how to say ___."
"I don't understand."
THOUGHTS
"Communication is important so you can ask for help"
"I would have more friends if we spoke the same language"
"I wish my teacher could explain this to me more clearly"
ACTIONS
Playing with friends
Reading books
Discussing lessons
Typing on the computer
FEELINGS
Strained/Frustrated
Insecure/Lack of confidence
Hopeful
Students and teachers have a lot in common!
Data Synthesis
Key Insights
1
Streamlined communication would not only allow kids to get the most out of school instruction, but allow them to build meaningful connections with others.
2
If people could communicate more clearly, school communities would be more tolerant.
3
Confusion and misunderstanding are major pain points for students learning new languages along with new academic content.
User Persona
Meet Valeria, the hero of this story.
After synthesizing qualitative and quantitative data collected through extensive research activities, I worked to create a user persona that again could be used to effectively communicate user needs, behaviors, and goals to stakeholders.
User Insight Statement
Valeria, an elementary school student who recently immigrated to the city, needs to feel respected and valued at school because her thoughts, ideas and feelings are important and add value to her classes and community.
We believe supporting students by helping them effectively translate their thoughts and feelings will help them feel a sense of belonging because they are understood, valued and respected.
There are things that we can do to streamline language acquisition!
Ideation
During this phase I worked alongside my team to brainstorm solutions to solve the problem we defined above.
Prioritization Matrix
Following established methodology, I employed organizational tools such as the MoSCoW Matrix to generate ideas and begin prioritizing features essential for inclusion in the design.
Story Board and User Scenario
This tool simplifies translation for students by addressing existing challenges in competing products such as limited input mode toggling and adult-focused sterile interfaces. Gamification elements like confetti bursts enhance user engagement and motivation, improving the overall experience for young users. See how this product will work in context.
1
Valeria had a great day at school, but is nervous about going to her after school tutoring group because she doesn't understand the words her teacher uses to describe math.
2
Her teacher introduces the first problem to the class in English. Valeria panics because she didn't understand her teacher's directions.
3
After solving the problem, her teacher asks her to turn and share her strategy with a partner. She panics, but remembers that she can use TT to help!
4
The teacher invites Valeria to share her strategy with the group. Once she is finished with her explanation the she earns points in TT.
Prototyping and Testing
I designed wireframes for each screen and systematically connected them to illustrate the complete user flow, ensuring that linguistic considerations did not impede efficiency for young users.
Please note that in this early prototype, text labels will go on to be replaced by icons and signaling colors, in alignment with the sheltered instruction techniques currently employed by homeroom teachers.
Wireframe and Prototype
Testing for usability
10 student participants (7-10 years old)
Navigate to the translate by voice function. 100% success rate
Type the word "tiny" into the translation text field. 60% success rate
Translate with the camera function. 70% success rate
Highlighting the positive impact on student engagement and self-efficacy.
Over the course of a week, I provided the prototype to 10 fifth-grade students, allowing them to practice and explore its features during instruction. Following this testing period, I conducted a survey to assess their confidence levels in accessing core instrucitonal content. Results showed that 7 out of 10 students, or 70% reported an increase in their confidence accessing course content.
Mid Fidelity Prototype
The incorporation of color and iconography improved both usability and user engagement. This prototype includes key features such as a history function, which enables users to create a personalized library of frequently translated words and phrases for easy reference. Other notable features in this iteration include profile customization, and support for multimodal translation.
Conclusion and Takeaways
You can't solve every problem and that's OKAY!
The primary goal is to address communication barriers faced by students, particularly in the areas of language translation and emotional expression. Research outcomes revealed a need to prioritize translation due to time constraints of the project.
Thinking Outside the Box
I gained useful and transferrable insights about what makes user flows more appealing and engaging for kids such as gamification, larger text, fun typefaces and bright colors. This project inspired me to continue building products aimed at increasing student eficacy.
Progress over Perfection
The need still remains to support students in expressing their emotions. This problem will be addressed in a subsequent phase of this work.