Getting Ahead(set)
Roles: George Zhang, Mayki Hu, Linda Do, Eric Chan - UI/UX Researcher & Designer
Link to blog post here
Project Overview
Despite it being called a melting pot, the United States in many settings still favors those who can fluently speak English in their day to day lives. This is especially true in hospital settings, where the default language to speak there is English and if any patients speak otherwise a special translator must be found and requested (which is not always possible!). So we decided to try and help limited to no English-speaking Chinese immigrants ages 40-60 with just that. After interviewing members of that audience, we learned that the communication barrier is very much real and that while applications like Google Translate are helpful, what people really enjoy is having someone, whether it be a family member or professional translator there to talk and speak freely to. However, due to circumstances like few to none translators for hire and family members unable to be physically present, our Asian patients have to settle for less than ideal which is not what anyone would like to see.
Introducing Getting Ahead(set), a headset paired with a mobile app that allows seamless translation experience between the listening and the speaker. Our users will be able to use our mobile application or the headset to trigger real-time translation, being able to speak and have their voice translated. Also to be able to listen in a different language and have that translated in real time as well, yielding the perfect flow of information between two different languages. We imagine users to use our app to perform all the actions of translations, either through using the software translation or to call a translator to perform the translation.
Research
For our stakeholders, we have Chinese immigrants ages 40 to 60 going to the hospital, their family members, as well as medical staff. For our research, we decided to focus on the Chinese immigrants ages 40 to 60 as they’ll be the direct users of our solution. To better understand our target audience, we employed two design research methods: Interviews and Directed Storytelling.
We deemed these two methods best suited for our project for several reasons. The main reason is that because of the current pandemic, in-person interactions or observations are not possible, meaning we cannot simply go to a hospital to watch patients experience it. Since we are also limited to just a week for our research study, we do not have the time for anything long-term like diary studies.
Regarding our interviewees, we were lucky enough to receive three requests to conduct our design research. Mr. H is 59 years old and has been living in the U.S. for 31 years now. He speaks Cantonese. He can speak Mandarin but has a heavy accent local to his province; this can make Mandarin-Mandarin communication difficult. He has a limited understanding of English and speaks very limited English. One unique thing about Mr. H is that he is hesitant to see a doctor without help and he has a consistent and outstanding workout routine. As a result, he will not see a doctor without a translator, as it is difficult to communicate (and his workout keeps him in good health).
Next are Mr. and Mrs. M, both 53 years old and have been living in the U.S. for 31 years. They mainly speak Taishanese at home but also speak Cantonese. The interview was conducted using a mix of both dialects. Both Mr. and Ms. M have a basic understanding of commonly used words in English and speak limited English. One unique thing about Mr. and Mrs. M is that they have a child who is a nurse, and that helps them have a better understanding when visiting the doctor.
The third participant is Mrs. P. Mrs P, who did not disclose her age and has been living in the US for 30 years now. She speaks mainly Mandarin but can also speak Cantonese. She has some knowledge of English phrases and words and can understand simple sentences, but cannot hold a solid conversation in just English. At best, she can speak “Chinglish”, a mixture of Chinese and English. One unique thing about Mrs. P’s situation is that her husband, as well as both of her children, are fluent in English. Therefore, Mrs. P always relies on her husband whenever she goes to the doctor, which makes it unique compared to Mr. H and Mr and Mrs. M.
We chose these three participants because they fit our brainstormed demographic of being between the ages of 40 and 60 as well as speaking limited or no English in hopes of understanding their experience going to the doctor and resolving the problems they face due to their limited English.
Takeaways
These are the most prominent themes in common amongst all participants we spoke to:
It is hard to do a doctor’s appointment on their own / Usually accompanied by someone on their visit
All participants we have found were almost always accompanied by someone to translate, be it a translator assigned to them by the hospital/clinic or a family member. It was rather difficult to visit the doctor alone, sometimes impossible altogether.
Specific medical terminology is difficult to understand/has a niche set of vocabulary
All participants spoke of the fact that even if words were translated, really niche or new medical terminology that is translated can be hard to understand.
Cannot seem to find a doctor who speaks Chinese Mandarin / Cantonese
An interesting find was all participants mentioned that their primary physicians did not speak their language, let alone dialect. They do not interact much with doctors who do speak Chinese.
Incorrect understanding of translation can happen unless the patient is very cautious
All participants noted that conversing and understanding what the doctor was saying often relied on the participant themself to clarify any confusing points. We believe this is because of an assumption that “translators are enough.” Participants always had to be on their toes.
Translation tools are familiar to participants and used as a last resort
All participants were familiar with translation tools like Google Translate. Translation tools provided a last-ditch effort to communicate with their doctor, especially if a translator was unavailable.
Fully understanding next steps with doctor (if needed) before leaving is a priority
All participants pointed out that making sure their aftercare steps were fully understood before leaving is very important. No one should have to leave without fully understanding their next steps to staying healthy!
Had to schedule appointment around translator / family member’s availability
All participants mentioned that if a translator accompanied them, be it a designated translator or a family member, scheduling around a translator’s availability was an issue. If a translator does not arrive, the appointment would sometimes be rescheduled.
Proposed Design
When it comes down to it, the main goal of what we wanted and what we learned from our interviewees was that Chinese patients between the ages of 40 and 60 just wanted a way to be able to communicate and understand medical staff. We also learned that all of our interviewees really enjoyed being able to have someone there as a translator to talk to. It seemed that still being able to just speak naturally was the preferred communication choice overwriting or typing. So knowing this, the decision was to focus on creating a headset to allow them to speak freely.
Having this communication method established alone is enough to help our patients with the whole hospital visiting experience. When listening to our interviewees’ experiences, we found that participants have used a mix of in-person translators as well as translation tools to help aid them in their hospital visits. It was agreed upon that having someone there in person, whether it was a professional translator or even just a loved one, was preferable over a tool. Still, it was also understood that there won’t always be a physical person available to translate for them. Because of this, we decided that within our headset, we would allow both being able to call a physical person and just using a tool to help translate.
During the usability testing, we found that the participant was confused on the next step on how to make a call after pressing the call button on the headset. This was a significant issue as it prevented the participant from accomplishing the task. We modified our design to include a voice notification on the headset to divert the user’s attention to the app as well as a notification banner on their phone. From the app, users can select who they wish to call and call from there. Another issue we encountered was that when the participant was tasked to make a phone call to a translator, the buttons icons functions were unclear leaving the participant confused on how to make a phone call. It was unclear that the user had the option to make a phone call once they selected the translate button. This confusion caused a disruption to the user’s workflow and hindered them from completing the task. Therefore, we decided to split the automated translate button and call button. There is now a button to access the user’s contacts which the user can then select to call, and a separate button for the automated translation feature. Taking these two main issues into consideration, we modified our prototype in a way to bring clarity to the user on how the headset and app were intended to be used.
End Result
Along with our headset is the companion app. The prototype and demo of the app is shown here:
Reflections
Reducing Language Barriers Health is very important, and many older immigrants who speak limited to no English are reliant on translators for health visits. In the case that translators are not available, we want the power of translation and communication to be accessible to Chinese immigrant adults. Because a language barrier should not deny health access from any individual, and we hope to expand our languages beyond the Chinese dialect and usage beyond medical visits to day-to-day scenarios.