Overview
Asian International students often struggle to adapt to American cultural norms, social trends, and professional courtesy, leading to challenges in building connections and confidently navigating school and work environments.
By providing resources that help bridge this gap, international students can better adapt to American culture in casual, academic, and professional environments.
I asked 30 international students from diverse backgrounds, their responses emphasize the need for support in navigating cross-cultural interactions.
respondents
Learn more about the survey
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Solution
Brigit
An app helps Asian international students navigate cultural differences with Personalized Cultural Learning, practice conversations through AI-Powered Language Practice, and gain confidence with Real-Time Assistance during real-world interactions.
KEY FEATURE
01
Personalized Cultural Learning
Personalized content helps users explore American culture, humor, and communication styles through videos, articles.
KEY FEATURE
02
AI-Powered Language Practice
Practice communication skills through simulated conversations with real-time feedback, topic selection, and post-session insight.
KEY FEATURE
03
Real-Time Assistance
Smart glasses provide live suggestions, translations, and cultural tips during real-life conversations.
1
2
1
Exploring cultural insights from lecture articles based on your onboarding preferences.
2
Learning how native speakers communicate and understanding humor and language use through clips from movies and TV shows.
Solution #1
Learning American Culture & Interaction
Through articles and weekly watchlist, users gain personalized insights into American culture and communication styles. These resources help them understand differences in language, culture, and social interactions.
Solution #2
Trend Awareness
Keeping up with popular topics, cultural shifts, and current events helps users stay engaged and relatable in social settings, allowing them to connect confidently with their surroundings.
Solution #3
Practicing Conversation On-the-go!
Practice conversation with the realistic and interactive AI-driven simulations. Users can choose talk settings and topics, ensuring practice sessions are relevant to their needs.
It provides real-time suggestions to help improve communication during the conversation. Afterward, users receive an overview to see their progress and areas to work on.
Solution #4
Real-Life Conversation Guidance through Smart Glasses
During conversations, users can receive support through smart glasses. This feature provides live suggestions, translations, and cultural tips, helping users feel more confident in real-life interactions and ensuring smoother and more effective communication.
The design decisions behind Brigit start from a structured process, including user and landscape research, UX design and testing, and branding and UI development.
Survey
I created a questionnaire to understand how international students feel about cultural differences when interacting with locals in America and got 30 responses from users with different background. This survey helps identify their experiences, challenges, and needs.
KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR DESIGN DECISIONS
Personas
The personas illustrate diverse backgrounds, goals, and challenges: Mei, a graduating student preparing to navigate the American workplace, and Joon, a freshman adapting to a new cultural environment.
User Journey
The user journey outlines key stages, emotions, and actions as users transition from onboarding to engaging in real-life conversations, highlighting their growth and adaptation process.
Competitive Analysis
There’s no product on the market that is identical with my app, so my competitor analysis focused on apps that touch on American cultural trends and native conversation practice, underscoring the opportunity for a unique, all-in-one solution.
In-Depth Competitor Research
Building on the initial competitive analysis, I further analyzed a deeper research of three apps from each category, focusing on their strengths and weaknesses of UX and functionality, personalization, and AI capabilities, and summarized key takeaways to guide the design decision of my app.
Cultural Language Learning App
FluentU
Strengths & Weaknesses:
Uses real-world videos (TV clips, music videos) to teach languages in context which helps with vocabulary and listening comprehension.
Interactive subtitles allow users to click on words for instant translations and definitions.
Focuses on passive learning rather than interactive; lacks real speaking and grammar practice.
Personalization & AI Capabilities:
Can choose topics, but lack of deeply personalized content based on behavior; no difficulty adjustments.
No AI conversation feature. Lack meaningful feedback beyond quizzes.
AI Conversation App
Speak
Strengths & Weaknesses:
AI-driven conversation practices with real-time feedback.
Includes role-playing scenarios to simulate real conversations.
Focuses more on language accuracy than cultural nuances.
Some users says that it emphasizes formal language practice instead of casual conversation.
Personalization & AI Capabilities:
Can choose the general talk setting (casual chat, business, travel), but users don’t have full control over specific topics; AI guides conversations based on pre-set structures.
AI controls most interactions, makes the experience feel more guided rather than truly dynamic or user-driven.
AI provides real-time speech recognition and correction; feedback is basic and lacks contextual insights.
Trends and News App
Hypebeast
Strengths & Weaknesses:
Provides up-to-date content on American and global trends in fashion, lifestyle, and culture, a good go-to source for trend spotting.
Primarily highlights luxury and streetwear culture, which may not fully represent broader American cultural trends or appeal to all users.
Personalization & AI Capabilities:
No personalize content based on user behavior or preferences;
Relies on editorial curation rather than an algorithm learning from user interactions to suggest contents, same trending content to all users.
KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR DESIGN DECISIONS
Market Opportunity
Through competitive analysis, I aim to position my market opportunity as a blend of cultural language learning and conversation practice. The service is designed for individual learners, emphasizing guidance and education while ensuring that the experience remains enjoyable and innovative.
Highlights where existing apps fall and identifies gaps in the market.
Defines the interaction and the tone of the experience our app offers.
Information Architecture
Before user testing, I structured the app’s information architecture based on initial research and user needs. After testing, I refined the user flow and adjusted the architecture to better match how users navigate and interact with the app.
Wireframes
I developed high-fidelity wireframes based on the key design decisions and user insights, and used them as a prototype for usability testing before finalizing the design.
User Testing
I tested with six Asian international students, three from New York and three from other states. This process provided valuable feedback that helped me refine features, enhance usability, and ensure the app effectively addresses user needs.
80%
of users love the trend
feature, think the flow is clear to follow, and find it helpful
100%
of users think the talk
feature would be a great tool
but need revision
80%
of users had trouble
understand the logic and flow
under the lecture feature
50%
of users find the current
home page unnecessary
Revision Goals
Based on the feedback I got from the testing, I identified three key learnings for revision.
Branding & UI Design
Branding Positioning
I analyzed the logo, color, imagery, and typography of 10 direct and indirect competitors to identify opportunities for differentiation and alignment.
Brand Personality
Visual Explorations
Here are three UI stylescapes explored three visual directions that all aligned with our brand personality: Reliable, Friendly, and Innovative.
Design System
The design system I developed follows the third visual exploration, emphasizing clean, modern, and user-friendly. It incorporates a consistent set of components, typography, and color schemes that ensure a cohesive and accessible experience.
COMPONENTS
Final Product
Onboarding Questions
These onboarding helps the app understand user’s preferences, goals, and cultural background and provide customize experience.
Reflection
Keep the Problem at the Core
Refine Through Iteration
