A self-starting project to create a gamified app to help my students learn Chinese tones, a B2C product (ongoing)
Product designer and user researcher
I am responsible for the entire process, from conducting research, crafting the design, to conducting usability tests
Figma
Webflow
Miro
UX Testing
GSurvey
Zoom
As a language instructor, I observed that mastering tones can be a challenge for Chinese language beginners. Proper tonal pronunciation is crucial for effective communication in a tonal language like Chinese, and a small mistake in pronunciation can lead to confusion. To alleviate this problem for my students, I envisioned a solution that would make tone mastery attainable from the early stages of their learning journey. By effectively tackling the tones, my students will be equipped with the necessary skills for confident and successful communication.
Chinese-learning beginners who struggle with tones are the target user of this app. The participants completed a remote unmoderated task via the UX Testing platform
2* US diplomats / Chinese students for 6 months
1* UK school teacher / Chinese students for 1 year
🧠 Memorize the tonesParticipants are given a list of Chinese characters and corresponding tones. They can choose their methods of preference (i.e. think aloud, writing, whatever they are comfortable with) to memorize the tones. There is no time limit for studying.
📝 Complete a quizAfter studying the tones, participants then are asked to complete a quiz on what is studied. The purpose of the quiz is to understand the efficacy of their existing learning approach.
I conducted user interviews to uncover any challenges faced by learners during the tone learning process. The aim was to identify potential pain points and gain insights into the learning experience. I carefully crafted the interview questions to achieve this goal.
The person finds learning tones to be a recurring obstacle before mastering the language
The person is active in seeking solutions such as an app to help them learn the tones
The person does not seem to benefit from the drills of language apps because there is a lack of interactive feedback
I utilized the concept of "embodied cognition" in the design of a gamified app for Chinese tone learning. The app allows students to learn and reinforce their memory by physically swiping along with music notes that correspond to tone markers. The app also breaks down the learning process into manageable chunks by having users practice sets of 3 homophones at a time. In its first iteration, the app focuses on individual characters of the first tone for practice.
I implemented a system in the app that allows users to test their tone pronunciation accuracy. Users can practice speaking the characters displayed on the screen and receive immediate feedback from the app. This system guides users towards speaking with the correct pitch, aligning with the corresponding music note for each tone.
I integrated a feature in the app that enables users to seek guidance from real teachers. This provides a unique opportunity for personalized support and clarification on the training material. In the future, this feature has the potential to enhance the app's capabilities, enabling teachers to connect with students and even teach through the platform.
I designed a gamification aspect in the app that rewards users with gems upon completion of each level. The more gems they collect, the more time they earn for personalized support such as practicing with real teachers or asking questions. This incentivizes users to engage with the app and reinforces their learning experience.
I conducted a usability test to validate the design of my gamified tone training app prototype (v1). I recruited participants from my student pool, striving for a diverse group of learners with varying backgrounds and proficiency levels to counteract the limitations of convenience sampling. The goal was to ensure that the app effectively teaches tones through a fun and engaging experience."
The usability test aimed to validate the design of the prototype v1, which features tone training and gamification. Participants were recruited from my student pool and varied in Chinese proficiency and background to counteract the limitation of convenience sampling. Conducted via Zoom, users were asked to verbally share their thoughts as they interacted with the prototype. The researcher took note of all user feedback during the session.
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🤔 One participant did not understand the purpose of the numbered lines
🤔 One participant did not understand what to do when he saw a Chinese character card, so he asked should he swipe, tap or wait
✍🏻 One participant enjoyed using a swipe to learn between the tone and the character, and as he swiped back and forth, he realized he could only swipe right to pop the bubble, so he would like to be able to pop it both directions
The goal of the usability test was to validate the design of the tone training and gamified app prototype v1. Participants were recruited from my student pool, with a diverse range of backgrounds and Chinese proficiency levels. The test was conducted remotely using Zoom, where users were asked to think aloud as they interacted with the prototype. Feedback was captured and analyzed, resulting in the creation of a demo to better showcase the gesture of swiping the bubble to learn tones.