American Sign Language is an important form of communication for those who are hearing impaired and only .1% of the US population is fluent. It is important for more Americans to familiarize themselves with ASL in order to increase general accessibility of the hearing world for the hearing impaired community.
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The resources for learning ASL online, which are often only taught in classes or online, are not always reliable and often don't account for the importance of facial expressions in signing.
OUR
FEATURES
01
HAND TRACKING
Obviously an important part of sign language is the gestures. Whether it be finger spelling or full sentences, getting the gesture down correctly is crucial to proper communication. By tracking hand movements, users can practice with precision.
FACIAL TRACKING
Did you know that an important part of accurate signing is the facial expressions? The wrong expressions can drastically change a phrases meaning. By tracking your facial movements, we can help users know if what they're saying is coming across properly.
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03
LEARN WITH OTHERS
In addition to our lesson plan, users will also have access to ASL experts and the ability to practice with other app users.
WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK?
“The hand tracking would solve all the shortcomings on online asl dictionaries and the facial tracking would be a quintessential part of learning the languages sentence structure/grammar and intonations.”
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"[When learning ASL] there was no help from the internet. We would do the work in class, but we were warned that online ASL dictionaries and other only resources are not only not comprehensive enough but can be counter productive due to how much information is not able to shown via these platforms."
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quotes
EMPATHY MAP
I want to learn sign language!
Where can I learn Sign Language?
Not enough people know ASL
I'm being so rude right now
Am I doing this right?
I forget how to say that
Am I signing this correctly?
This videos going too fast
Frustrated
Leia
Let me just type it out.
Finds a new way to learn
Tests our different services
Talks to others trying to learn
Starts a daily routine of learning
Bored
Confused
Impatient
Interested
OUR
COMPETITORS
While there are no other services that implement hand gesture recognition for learning ASL, there are other companies that offer methods of language learning besides ASL.
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Direct Competitors: Duolingo, Babbel, Busuu, Lingodeer, Rosetta Stone, Memrise, In-person Classes
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Secondary Competitors: Script by Drops, Skillshare, Youtube, ASL Dictionary, ASL Connect by Gallaudet University
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Indirect Competitor: Mirror, XBOX Kinect, Wii, Kaia Health, Snapchat
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Business Plan
Customer Segmentation
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People of all ages who live in the United States of America
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Channels​
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Digital Ads​
Promoted Social Media Posts
Word of Mouth
Revenue​
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Freemium based plan. Locked lesson plans and features which are only accessible to those who pay for the app of a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis.
Sponsorship based revenue. Perhaps a google application as it is Google AI
OUR
USERS
USER JOURNEY
Alex works in the service industry and often has customers who are deaf or hearing impaired.
They want to learn ASL to help communicate with their customers, but don't have time for a weekly class and struggle with getting the hand gestures down properly.
Alex looks up ways to learn ASL at home.
They come across SignSchool and are intrigued by the gesture accuracy feature.
Alex makes an account and begins progress on learning ASL.
Alex ends up subscribing to SignSchool and getting their co-workers and friends to join and compete on the leaderboard.
STORYBOARD
INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE
LOW FIDELITY
WIREFRAMES
COMPETITOR
BRANDING
•Color: To combine a neutral color palette with pops of bright fun color, that will entice to users and evoke the feeling of a game. We can combine simple grey tones mixed with bright blues and reds.
• Typography: To achieve accessibility and legibility a serif typeface would be the best option. To appear more welcoming, a rounded font could be better than geometric. Setting us apart from other language competitors who often use a geometric styles. There can be a mixture of thin to heavy line weights to achieve an intuitive hierarchy.
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• Imagery: As a platform that is striving for a game-like structure, we don't want to appear too cold and serious. We will use illustrated icons throughout the navigation and interface and simple photo and videos to create a comprehensive learning and information experience. Icons will be drawn rather than line vectors, and multimedia will be clean and simple.
Branding
Strategy
Vision​
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Become the company known for bringing American Sign Language communication in to the mainstream of society.
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Mission​
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To provide a more comprehensive and precise form of learning.
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Tone of Voice
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Comprehensive - Direct wording that prioritizes the users learning experience
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Concise - Wording and imagery is easy to understand so users are able to understand the flow intuitively.
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Friendly - Building a comfortable rapport with users
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Design Principles​
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Engaging - A strong, colorful palette that holds the users attention
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Accommodating - Easily understood and adaptable for all ages
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Welcoming - Attracting users with a friendly and approachable interface.
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MID FIDELITY
WIREFRAMES
USABILITY
TESTING
Testing Goals
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Uncover latent and unmet needs and identify opportunity spaces
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Identify failures in the intuitiveness if the product.
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Obtain feedback on the positive and negative aspects of the app's current interface and prototype.
Feedback
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Need to clarify the categories toggle versus lessons going horizontally.
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Add more visible back buttons for returning to homepage from lesson plans or profile.
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The AI section feels awkward and tight.
2/3
users thought the interface was easy to understand
3/3
users believed they would benefit from this product
2/3
liked the accessibility of the categories and lessons
"When you learn sign language, compared to other languages, at every moment you have to be able to communicate with someone else"
- Maia 20, Student
"Sometimes with language you don't necessarily know where to start, you just kind of want to start. So as much as you can100% go find what you're looking for in this app, it also gives you a place to start. It gives you a path to take."
- Maia 20, Student
"My instinct is to tap the logo to get to the homepage since theres no back button. I don't know how to go back."
- Drew 20, Student
"Why part of this app is so interesting is because we were advised to stay away from internet apps because they can cause a lot more confusion when they don't incorporate all the information we need like facial expressions."
- Maia 20, Student
"I like these little categories at the top here. I think it's nice to have them right in the front and that they look so different from the rest."
- Calliope 20, Student
BEFORE AND AFTER
WIREFRAMES
