Stress Management & Survival in a Foreign Country
Main Function: Help new International students acquire basic information and resources of their university quickly and conveniently.
Prototyping tool: Adobe XD
Icons: Adobe Illustration
Course: ARTGR 540 Design for Behavioral Change
Types of project: Group (Collaborator: Grace Lee)
Research & Statement
List of possible problems International Students are facing:
COVID-19/Health in general
Language Barriers
Cultural Differences
Food Cultures
Homesickness
Social Life
Poor Academic Achievement
Financial Challenges
Loneliness
Interface: Kiosk(main), App(sub)
Problem Statement:
As international students, we have experienced numerous barriers and difficulties of being international students on and off campus for the past few years. We assume many other international students we have encountered and who have recently arrived on campus experience the same difficulties adjusting to the new culture and environment or simply surviving what is given to them. Our interface is designed to make newcomers feel comfortable and welcomed to the university and community and provide necessary support as needed.
According to our research, most international students face the same struggles when they are new. To name a few, the issues are family home problems, language barriers, poor academic relationships with instructors, relationships with other students, loneliness, financial challenges, insufficient resources to perform academic work, and culture shock (Oyeniyi, Bain, Furgerson).
Hypothesis:
Our interface will give new international students a good impression of the new school they are about to start and provide confidence to be in a new environment. It will provide necessary support academically and daily.
Our interface consists of 3 significant struggles that many international students commonly experience. Therefore, we understand that the struggles should be handled to have more pleasant experiences studying and living here in the United States.
1. Social Life & Stress Management
2. Language
3. Basic Information/Necessary Support
Each category will have subcategories to support and provide detailed help to the target audience. Since we have decided to design two different interfaces, the app, and kiosk, each one will have slightly different features due to varying levels of accessibility.
2. Logo Design
3. Kiosk Design
When international students first arrive in the US. They may have language barriers, and they don't know anyone. They need to figure out where to reach for help or how to acquire the information they need. If a kiosk with basic information about campus and the city is placed in public places, students could easily access it and collect some information they need. It will help them to start their life in the new place easier.
1. Welcome Page
Say hello in a different language, welcome students, and create a geniality atmosphere.
2. Please choose your language
New international students may be more comfortable using their own language. Our kiosk will allow them to pick their languge. English option is the default.
3. Example of Chinese & Korean version
4. Select the information you want to learn
There are eight categories for users to choose from. The information listed here is what most international students would want to acquire when they first reach school. I grouped them two by two with color. Two categories in each group are related to each other. For example, "Academic" is related to language "study."
5. Contents for selected categories
At this point, users could see each category's contents. These choices, for example, self-study, group study, and the individual appointment, will fit different personalities and learning styles.
Users could continue to click those choices to see what they are. The kiosk will only show basic information about these categories, and users can access further functions when they transfer these contents into the app.
6. Transfer selected information to the phone
Use the app to scan the QR code, and then the user will transfer these selected three categories to the phone.
4. App Design
Users can access further functions when selected information has been transferred to the app. There are more information and functions can be accessed from the app. For example, making an appointment, watching video lectures, and getting study resources, etc.
5. Prototype
Prototype Links