// September 2021 – April 2022 (33 weeks)
Timeline
My Role
// Solo project for thesis paper
The Problem
Newcomers biggest hurdles are making connections and bursting out of their cultural bubbles. Connections give you better access to jobs, housing, and language.
Coming from a family of immigrants I was able to see first hand how powerful connections are to newcomers. These connections give us an abundance of knowledge, when language is a major barrier and you cannot turn to the government website for help.
The Solution
People helping people
Understandable Onboarding
// Reduces room for confusion
// Stronger first impression, less abandon rates
// Higher engagement + boosts long-term retention
// Utilizing coach marks, tooltips and guides help create a more general understanding
Interacting
// Live posts coming in of people using the application
// Without having to have friends to see posts, we break down barriers and promote inclusivity
// Translation feature to breakdown language barriers making it so anyone can ask and answer a question
// Utilizing human-centric design like having green notification buttons to not overwhelm the person and create a relaxing environment
Community Support
// Newcomers can type in their postal code and have a list of community organizations near them that can aid them
// Being able to expand your community is not only important virtually but in-person as well
// This could be helpful to newcomers if they need help with documents, someone to speak for them if they find an organization that speaks their native language
Messaging
// If you make friends you can add them to speak privately and create chat groups
// In messaging you can translate text, send image, doodles, voice messages and gifs. This is done to create a playful ways of communication
/I Safety is extremely important so throughout the application you can report users for bullying, spreading false information or any forms of harassment
White Paper Research
Before touching anything related to design, I dived into research.
Understanding what are the main pain points newcomers face in Canada.
2005 newcomers study found that these were 3 giant problem areas for newcomers.
Competitive Analysis
The space for supplying newcomers with information is extremely limited and typically provided in English or French only. Information provided to newcomers is rarely provided in their native language.
This made me ask the question what is out there to help newcomers? So I dived into competitive analysis to get answers and found that almost every resource is only in English or French. Knowing how many people struggle with language this came to me as a shock, that information is not being provided in their native language. This is creating friction for the newcomers when they arrive in Canada.
Existing information and resources that I found were the Canadian provided booklet. This booklet provides a bunch of information, but again this is only in English or French and over one hundred pages long, which again is creating friction for the users. Next, I found this app called Welcome to Alberta and it has a similar premise to the booklet but since the majority of newcomers come to Ontario this is only helping out a small niche. Lastly, the Canadian government website, this one was pretty much a disaster. Being a native English speaker I even had trouble navigating and using the website I could only imagine how hard it might be for someone who doesn’t speak English or french well to try and use it.
User Interviews // Primary Research
The space for supplying newcomers with information is extremely limited and typically provided in English or French only. Information provided to newcomers is rarely provided in their native language.
Being able to hear from the people was crucial, I wanted to see if what I have researched added-up with what the real problems were. It was important for me to do this ethically and without bringing in bias. Since this problem space is constantly changing and evolving I wanted to hear from the people, with COVID being around this problem space is completely different than what it might of been 3 years ago.
No shortage of questions, but a lack of answers
Most things can be found online, but the most common problem found is how to build connections.
Other difficulties reside in language barriers, when looking for information everything is mainly in English or French. This makes it difficult for newcomers, refugees who are fleeing to be able to learn, gain connections and burst out of their cultural bubble.
There is no shortage of questions, but a lack of answers. The most common problem found in my research was building connections almost everyone I interviewed stated this. Other difficulties resided in language and all the information is provided in English or French ~ no surprise right. Now imagine you’re a refugee from Ukraine coming to Canada and all the information is only in English or French. If you did not study English you will be lost when looking for information. Then the problem of trying to build connections or meet people will be that much harder.
Survey Results
I surveyed to see if the information I had from my interviews did add up. I found that 75% of newcomers said their biggest problems and concerns were socializing and making connections. Followed up with 58% said that the language was a giant barrier for them.
Process + Data Analyzation ?
Through my process and data analysis, I conducted interviews with newcomers and subject matter experts to get a better overview of the problem space since they’re the ones at the forefront of helping out newcomers and understanding their struggles. Followed up with a survey and a lot of interview coding.
Insights & Analysis
Countless number of pages coded later... ??
Theme 1: Community
When newcomers arrive to Canada their biggest fear is making friends and connecting with people. People say your network is your net worth.
These connections are extremely important in the process of coming to Canada since through connections you get to develop your language skills and work connections.
Canada is one of the most diverse countries in the world, if you’re not getting out of your cultural bubble you end up missing out.
Theme 2: Finding Work.
Finding work was always brought up, since work is key to being able to sustain and live.
Finding work was a problem since language skills might not be good enough. This results in newcomers having to work low paying jobs to survive.
When having to work to survive, this results in people shutting down and not letting themselves be open to new communities and experiences around them.
Theme 3: Where to go, What to do, & Why?
Newcomers are confused when it comes to simple things that are normal to native Canadians. These things are not explained to them until they experience it. For example, the yellow cold on a bus is used to tell the driver to stop.
This trickles down to smaller things like when do children start school, or where and how do I sign up my child for school? These questions might be hard to find answers if you barely speak the language.
A lot of newcomers have a hard time finding answers to their questions since they don’t have connections or friends when they first come here. On top of this if you’re a refugee things become extremely difficult.
Work, language, friendships, questions all came back to community.
I came up with three main themes. The first theme was community (shocker) the main theme was people trying to network and make friends, but something that stood out to me was when someone said in Canada “your network is your net worth”, this hunted me because it was so true how else are newcomers supposed to better their lives if they have no connections. This followed up to finding work, this theme was important because through work they can sustain and live, but with the language being such a big problem newcomers end up having to work low-paying jobs where they end up having to work to survive. Lastly, where to go, what to do and Why? This theme was important because it showed how many unanswered questions newcomers have. When I was interviewing people they didn’t know when where or how to set up their children to go to school, they didn’t understand that pulling the yellow bus cord is used to tell the bus driver to stop for your stop. This shows a complete disconnect between the process and the user.
How might we...
Make easier connections, create simple ways of asking questions and answering them? ?
Design & trying different concepts
Forming different ideas. "Trusting the process."
My first idea was to create a booklet in different languages to spread information to newcomers, but this idea was pretty much redoing what the government did. The second idea was a website, but I figured that not everyone will have a laptop or computer to access the website for information. This is why I went with an application since everyone has a smartphone, and this way the user will have the information that they need at their fingertips.
App design concepts
App design concepts
Through prototype testing and user testing my prototype I was able to learn how to create a smoother flow.
I was able to come up with more user friendly ways of displaying the focus of the application, right away through an on-boarding menu at the start.
I was able to learn as well what special use case’s I might come across that might be harmful to users.
Core & Design Improvements
Through review, I was able to notice my application did not show off its core and the main focus. Through iterations, I was able to create a more user-friendly flow.
Using green for notification alerts creates a calming affect that doesn’t stress or overwhelm the user. The idea was to focus on a more human-centric design.
This ideology ties in with the mood of the overall app. Making a calm environment for the user is important since they’re most likely overwhelmed with the experience of coming to Canada.
If I had more time...
• Maybe having a section with a rating system, where someone show’s a newcomer around an area or helps them with tasks.
• Adding more flexibility for different users and figuring out specific edge cases.
• Better adhere to WCAG standards.
• Figure out better ways I could categorize different subjects.
Takeaways & What I’d Do Differently With BURST
Working through this project has taught me the importance of thinking intentionally about each element of the project. Showing the core of the design and not focusing so hard on smaller things that might not necessarily matter. Putting myself in the shoes of the user sometimes makes me think harder about edge cases, since I’m naturally a black hat thinker. Making sure to use all the hats is vital.