HCI: From Theory to application
Academic projects that increased the breadth and depth of my knowledge, and honed my essential user research and design skills
8
Projects
50+
Users
9
Months
Use of mobile machine translation in cross-lingual communication in simulated clinical settings: An exploratory study
Rationale
The prevalence of cross-lingual communication issues in healthcare settings has risen, with clinicians and patients increasingly sporadically resorted to MT tools to bridge language gaps. Despite the tools' potential for healthcare communication, there is limited research on their effectiveness and on the variety of challenges users face when engaging them.
Read full dissertation (154 pages)
Methods & Impact
This study drew on the concept of grounding from communication research to investigate interaction patterns and challenges between the patient, the clinician and the system in face-to-face clinical scenarios. It employed a well-rounded approach that combined participatory and qualitative methods, including co-creation workshops, role-plays, observations, and one-on-one interviews, to capture the user strategies and the dynamics of mobile MT-mediated conversations.
Positioned at an intersection of MT, healthcare communication, and HCID, this research provided valuable insights into factors to overcome for effective MT mediation, deriving relevant design implications that could contribute to the development of more useful, reliable and user-friendly systems for cross-lingual medical contexts.
Score: Distinction
Ethno-method study: Real-time wayfinding
Rationale
The primary objective of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of user interaction with mobile navigation technology and the physical environment, in light of growing use of hand-held devices in the context of wayfinding.
Read full ethno-method study report
Methods & Impact
Thoughtful considerations were taken to determine the most fitting observational approaches that would align the research goal and procedure. By applying the resource competition framework (Oulasvirta et al., 2005) and external cognition (Kirsh, 2010) in field observations to identify chief areas of interest in city walk navigation using Google maps, I zoomed in on compelling user behaviour and aspects relevant to system design.
Empirical data were collected, analysed and interpreted with care. From the study results, I put forward overarching design principles and guidelines for the improvement of digital maps for ‘the real real world’.
Score: Distinction
Interaction design: KitchenMate
Rationale
A group of advocates for healthy living and sustainability are launching a business aimed at improving diets and making people more mindful of the environmental impact of their food. The core product will be the 'KitchenMate app', aimed at Amazon's Echo Show devices.
A design team of 4, we needed to understand what content and features users would value through this app.
Read full interaction design report
Methods & Impact
Following a rapid UCD process over 6 weeks, we conducted 9 interviews, 5 observations and 2 contextual inquiries, revealing four main factors upon which the target users’ behaviour and decisions are heavily contingent. We identified opportunities and proposed ideas that would bring prominent positive impacts on users.
We then designed a software system to simplify users’ information seeking behaviours and daily tasks, enabling easy management and improvement of diets and lifestyle. The lo-fi wireframes were prototyped and tested on 11 users, results from which were used to iterate on the build. Our final solution affords our target consumers' casual attempts and endeavour to maintain healthy and sustainable habits. Any feature or function can be voice/speech activated.
Score: Distinction
Accessibility audit: Website evaluation
Rationale
Stemettes is a UK based non-for-profit organisation on a mission to inspire and support girls, young women and non-binary people into STEM. It is interested in knowing how accessible their site website is for people with access needs and what steps they should take in fixing the most important accessibility issues for using their service.
Read accessibility evaluation report
Methods & Impact
My 6-step review process is explained in Methodology, followed by a table of prioritised issues specifying error locations, identification methods, guidelines violated, detailed descriptions, impact on users, and recommended fixes.
The website appears not to meet WCAG 2.1 at the conformance level of AA, as critical issues have rendered part of the website’s content and features impossible or difficult to perceive, understand or use, requiring strenuous effort of different users with disabilities and posing challenges that can induce confusion, anxiety and frustration. This report advises that issues of higher severity ratings are addressed as soon as possible to improve accessibility for a wider range of users with diverse profiles, abilities and needs.
Score: Distinction
Usability testing: Speech & language UK
Rationale
This evaluation was purposed to determine the extent to which Speech and Language UK’s website architecture and interface facilitate its target audiences’ ability to complete key tasks, as well as their overall experience with the charity’s digital presence.
Read usability testing report
Methods & Impact
Six potential users of the system participated in remote moderated usability testing sessions, completing a series of defined tasks developed to address the client’s brief, using the concurrent think-aloud method. The sessions were recorded, transcribed and analysed in a rigorous process to identify usability problems, to which provisional solutions were suggested.
All users encountered difficulties in their respective journeys; recurring issues reflect larger areas of improvement pertaining to IA, content language and site-wide UI design choices. Fixes of higher priority are reported, although further systematic testing is strongly recommended for different parts of the site to improve usability and site-wide navigability.
Score: Distinction
Information architecture: Hiking site
Rationale
The project focused on developing the information architecture for a website dedicated to mountain hikers, in the hope of addressing issues observed in the current digital space.
Read full IA project
Methods & Impact
I followed started with desk research and content audits, followed by interviews with experts and hobbyists to identify user expectations and key concepts to create a domain model. Insights from data analysis of card sorts were deployed to create a sitemap, establish taxonomies and organise schemes. I then developed a hybrid hierarchy-database structure to enhance discoverability and navigation. Next, I mapped out detailed user journeys balancing findability and discoverability, and created low-fidelity wireframes for key pages. Next, I conducted usability testing for feedback on iterations, including enhanced faceted navigation, clearer interaction elements, and improved search options.
The final hi-fidelity wireframes proved fitting for users of different needs and behaviors, ensuring the website offered a balance between simplicity and functionality. I also emphasised the importance of accessibility in my solutions.
Score: Distinction
Design justice: Terrifying wonder of medical AI
Rationale
AI has unleashed a power so formidable that it has captivated scientific communities of the world. In medicine and healthcare, its promise to level the playing field and revolutionise innovations has been celebrated with great anticipation, and before long the technology has been applied across fields to develop systems and tools. However, when medical AI fails to account for the biases that are entrenched in society, forged from the interlocking systems of race, gender, socio-economic status, and power, the results can be devastating: vicious cycles where inequalities are amplified and entrenched through digital tools are born.
Methods & Impact
To fully comprehend AI’s impacts in medicine, this case study examines the literature on its design, development and deployment observed within and across countries through an intersectional lens, recognising different marginalised groups, acknowledging whose rights are at stake, and questioning whose needs are being served. It is my personal act on a deliberate intention to develop socially transformative AI technology, to address the underlying structural problems that perpetuate existing biases.
Score: Distinction
Read full design Justice case study
Web application development: Dance training camp
Rationale
This website was my first foray into coding and to lay a foundation to communicate with developers as well as designers.
Read web development report
View the website I coded
Methods & Impact
I created an event website for a dance camp, whose inherent focus would be on visual appeal, information organisation, and support of key journeys. To ensure its functionalities cater to the knowledge, needs and behaviour of my target audience, I first undertook IA work (sitemap & low-fidelity wireframes). I created a solid HTML foundation (e.g., no misuse of headings to style pages), then effectively using CSS to balance compositions for user-friendly layouts and clear navigation.
With clarity, readability and consistency as first priorities, my UI choices aligned with the site theme and the target users’ expectations. The pages feature a variety of dynamic responses to input or action, and their responsive designs allow for smoother experience across different devices. I used JavaScript to serve the website’s purpose. I strived to adhere to design principles of usability, accessibility inclusivity while also considering overall user experience.
Score: Distinction