This is a really interesting study and I’m really glad that your oral presentation expanded on your poster rather than just covering it. As well, I love that in your presentation you discussed the specific steps for designing for translation. Did you encounter any accessibility issues with your audience? I know you discussed the digital literacy issues you considered but it also occurred to me that there might be those in your audience with accessibility considerations so designing for that might be a “for further research” consideration if it’s not already (that might be something you already did but just didn’t mention because of time constraints).
Hi Jane! We tried to make Interbyte as accessible as possible. However, it was difficult without direct contact with the intended users. As stated in my presentation, we wrote the application’s questions and user documentation using clear, simple sentences so that the text could be easily translated to Nepali. Furthermore, we designed Interbyte as a mobile application instead of a web application to promote accessibility. Our research showed that people in Nepal are connecting to the Internet using mobile phones. In fact, the Nepali Times stated that 99% of Internet users “browse using mobile devices whereas only 7% use desktops, laptops, and tablets.” I agree that accessibility considerations could be further explored. Code for Nepal recently informed us that they are considering developing the application, so I am hoping that this will allow us to conduct some additional research!
danielliddle
1 year ago
Between the topic, the genre, and the focus on non-US audiences, it’s clear how much you learned from the project! I was wondering what tools you used to design the interface itself, and whether you found the tool constraining (with few choices and options) or freeing (many choices and options), and whether those constraints and freedoms led to an enjoyable design process. In other words: was it fun to work in this program to design the site visually?
Hi Daniel! I did learn a lot from this project — especially about design. We used Canva to design Interbyte’s interface, and we enjoyed the design process. We did not want to overwhelm users, so our priorities were to keep the application simple but engaging. Canva allowed us to customize the application using Code for Nepal’s logo and colors. To cater to our young audience, we implemented a robotics theme (I believe that the application’s background and the design of its buttons reflect this). If given more time, I would have loved to try out the Canva animator feature to design a mascot that can interact with the user.
Jessica Campbell
1 year ago
You could expand your study by performing usability testing with the documentation you created. Well done.
Thanks Jessica! Code for Nepal recently informed us that they are considering developing Interbyte. I hope that we can conduct usability testing as they move forward with the idea.
slee15
1 year ago
Thank you for sharing your project. I think this design project contains a truly important significance and contribution to developing cross-cultural design. Your focus on the gender-focused cultural and historical contexts of Nepal made a clear and meaningful connection with your communication design.
Could you explain why you chose a mobile application to achieve your goal (i.e., promoting cyber safety awareness)? What kind of understanding and consideration about your users led to this choice, as Interbyte could be a website or other types of communication products. Could you add a bit about your design choice? Also, if you found the context of your users and cultural/environmental factors in using mobile applications, you could add them too, if your time allows. I enjoyed your talk a lot. Thank you again for sharing this project.
Hi Slee15! Thanks so much for your comment. This project was done for an assignment for my Creating User Documentation course. We had the option of designing a mobile application or a website. My group opted to design a mobile application to make our information as accessible as possible. Our research showed that mobile phones are responsible for connecting many people in Nepal to the Internet. 81% of users use mobile phones to access Facebook. In fact, Facebook and Facebook Messenger are the most popular mobile applications in Nepal. Furthermore, we based our prototype’s design as an Android application on reports that Android is the primary operating system in Nepal. By putting Interbyte on mobile phones, the same mobile phones people are accessing the social media platforms where cybercrime is occurring, we hope to encourage users to revisit the application. Ideally, users will use it as a reference when they have safety concerns. We consulted with our SMEs, the Code for Nepal representatives and my professor, when making design choices.
Thank you, Kylie, for the poster presentation here.
I love that you were able to do this project in a service-learning course and that one of your takeaways was your hope that more professors strive to create these partnerships! I believe there is a lot of value that students can get from these kinds of partnerships as well, and I’m happy to see that you got that in this project.
Additionally, (as another person commented) I was really curious as to your decision to do a mobile application, rather than the web-based prototype options that you were given originally.
I also wonder if what you found as your results would be any different if you compared your mobile application to a web-based version of the same content that you have here? What kind of affordances does the mobile version, or an app have for your particular set of users that a web-based version does not?
Hi Jlabrio1! Thanks so much for your comment. We prioritized accessibility when designing Interbyte, and we felt that a web-based prototype would not be able to reach as many people.
As I mentioned in some of my other replies, our research showed that people in Nepal are connecting to the Internet using mobile phones. In fact, the Nepali Times stated that 99% of Internet users “browse using mobile devices whereas only 7% use desktops, laptops, and tablets.” Furthermore, the Nepali Times noted that the average Nepali household has 2.5 mobile phones per household. It has been suggested that the increase in social media use via mobile phones has played a role in the increase of cybercrime cases. My group wanted Interbyte to serve as a resource that users can revisit while they use social media platforms, such as Facebook, on their mobile devices.
I also wonder if our results would have been different if we designed a web-based version of Interbyte. Code for Nepal recently informed us that they are considering developing Interbyte. Maybe we will have the opportunity to further research the benefits and drawbacks of a website!
This is a really interesting study and I’m really glad that your oral presentation expanded on your poster rather than just covering it. As well, I love that in your presentation you discussed the specific steps for designing for translation. Did you encounter any accessibility issues with your audience? I know you discussed the digital literacy issues you considered but it also occurred to me that there might be those in your audience with accessibility considerations so designing for that might be a “for further research” consideration if it’s not already (that might be something you already did but just didn’t mention because of time constraints).
Hi Jane! We tried to make Interbyte as accessible as possible. However, it was difficult without direct contact with the intended users. As stated in my presentation, we wrote the application’s questions and user documentation using clear, simple sentences so that the text could be easily translated to Nepali. Furthermore, we designed Interbyte as a mobile application instead of a web application to promote accessibility. Our research showed that people in Nepal are connecting to the Internet using mobile phones. In fact, the Nepali Times stated that 99% of Internet users “browse using mobile devices whereas only 7% use desktops, laptops, and tablets.” I agree that accessibility considerations could be further explored. Code for Nepal recently informed us that they are considering developing the application, so I am hoping that this will allow us to conduct some additional research!
Between the topic, the genre, and the focus on non-US audiences, it’s clear how much you learned from the project! I was wondering what tools you used to design the interface itself, and whether you found the tool constraining (with few choices and options) or freeing (many choices and options), and whether those constraints and freedoms led to an enjoyable design process. In other words: was it fun to work in this program to design the site visually?
Hi Daniel! I did learn a lot from this project — especially about design. We used Canva to design Interbyte’s interface, and we enjoyed the design process. We did not want to overwhelm users, so our priorities were to keep the application simple but engaging. Canva allowed us to customize the application using Code for Nepal’s logo and colors. To cater to our young audience, we implemented a robotics theme (I believe that the application’s background and the design of its buttons reflect this). If given more time, I would have loved to try out the Canva animator feature to design a mascot that can interact with the user.
You could expand your study by performing usability testing with the documentation you created. Well done.
Thanks Jessica! Code for Nepal recently informed us that they are considering developing Interbyte. I hope that we can conduct usability testing as they move forward with the idea.
Thank you for sharing your project. I think this design project contains a truly important significance and contribution to developing cross-cultural design. Your focus on the gender-focused cultural and historical contexts of Nepal made a clear and meaningful connection with your communication design.
Could you explain why you chose a mobile application to achieve your goal (i.e., promoting cyber safety awareness)? What kind of understanding and consideration about your users led to this choice, as Interbyte could be a website or other types of communication products. Could you add a bit about your design choice? Also, if you found the context of your users and cultural/environmental factors in using mobile applications, you could add them too, if your time allows. I enjoyed your talk a lot. Thank you again for sharing this project.
Hi Slee15! Thanks so much for your comment. This project was done for an assignment for my Creating User Documentation course. We had the option of designing a mobile application or a website. My group opted to design a mobile application to make our information as accessible as possible. Our research showed that mobile phones are responsible for connecting many people in Nepal to the Internet. 81% of users use mobile phones to access Facebook. In fact, Facebook and Facebook Messenger are the most popular mobile applications in Nepal. Furthermore, we based our prototype’s design as an Android application on reports that Android is the primary operating system in Nepal. By putting Interbyte on mobile phones, the same mobile phones people are accessing the social media platforms where cybercrime is occurring, we hope to encourage users to revisit the application. Ideally, users will use it as a reference when they have safety concerns. We consulted with our SMEs, the Code for Nepal representatives and my professor, when making design choices.
Social media has become a social outlet for people in Nepal during the COVID-19 pandemic. With 8 million Nepalis on Facebook, the government is attempting to mitigate cybercrime. However, it has faced backlash because media groups feel that the proposed bill is a violation of personal freedom.
Thank you, Kylie, for the poster presentation here.
I love that you were able to do this project in a service-learning course and that one of your takeaways was your hope that more professors strive to create these partnerships! I believe there is a lot of value that students can get from these kinds of partnerships as well, and I’m happy to see that you got that in this project.
Additionally, (as another person commented) I was really curious as to your decision to do a mobile application, rather than the web-based prototype options that you were given originally.
I also wonder if what you found as your results would be any different if you compared your mobile application to a web-based version of the same content that you have here? What kind of affordances does the mobile version, or an app have for your particular set of users that a web-based version does not?
Hi Jlabrio1! Thanks so much for your comment. We prioritized accessibility when designing Interbyte, and we felt that a web-based prototype would not be able to reach as many people.
As I mentioned in some of my other replies, our research showed that people in Nepal are connecting to the Internet using mobile phones. In fact, the Nepali Times stated that 99% of Internet users “browse using mobile devices whereas only 7% use desktops, laptops, and tablets.” Furthermore, the Nepali Times noted that the average Nepali household has 2.5 mobile phones per household. It has been suggested that the increase in social media use via mobile phones has played a role in the increase of cybercrime cases. My group wanted Interbyte to serve as a resource that users can revisit while they use social media platforms, such as Facebook, on their mobile devices.
I also wonder if our results would have been different if we designed a web-based version of Interbyte. Code for Nepal recently informed us that they are considering developing Interbyte. Maybe we will have the opportunity to further research the benefits and drawbacks of a website!
I am really hopeful that you get to continue your development project, and I will definitely be following this!