Design Diary

Evaluation: The designers of ChineseSkill made good aesthetic decisions. The main color used in the app is blue, which is the most popular color and promotes creativity and ambition. Not only is blue a safe choice for a color scheme when trying to appeal to a wide group of users, but it also encourages users to strive to achieve the goal that has brought them to the app- learning Chinese. The app uses icons to represent lesson categories in the “learn” section of the app. Icons have textual labels of the name of the lesson category beneath the picture and all have a similar artistic style. While the icons are in different, arbitrary colors, so many colors are used that the color choice is unlikely to be mistaken for color-coding by the user. The app uses skeuomorphism in the pages that represent sections of each lesson, which are designed to look like a letter coming out of an envelope. The lesson’s key concepts are written on the letter. This reminds the user of the simple pleasure of opening mail and writing letters while giving important information about lesson content. The text used in the app is highly legible. Text is primarily black on white in a sans-serif font with a reasonable text size. Text also uses the appropriate combination of lower- and upper-case letters. All of these factors make the text easy to read. Lastly, the app logo makes use of the design concept of closure. People will remember the logo more readily and find it more interesting because they are required to mentally complete the outline of the panda’s head.

     The organization of the app is simple and intuitive.  The organization of lessons within the app is an example of the five hat racks- lessons are clearly and logically organized by categories such as numbers, food, and colors. Within previously learned lessons, content is organized by categories of learned sentences, words, characters, and grammar. The app also makes use of chunking by dividing learned example sentences of a given grammar concept into cohesive chunks, each of which contains the sentence written in English, pinyin, and Chinese characters, as well as an audio clip. Chunking this information makes it easier to recall later on. Furthermore, the app uses progressive disclosure to avoid information overload or a cluttered interface. The main screen of the app is divided into three sections: learn, review, and discover. Only the selected section is displayed at any given time, which means that only the desired information is displayed. Additionally, a button in the top right corner displays more options such as settings when selected. ChineseSkill also uses nudges to subtly encourage users to use the app in the desired way by including appropriate defaults and clear feedback. One example of an appropriate default is displaying example sentences in pinyin as well as Chinese characters since some users may not yet be able to read Chinese characters. One example of clear feedback is that when practicing writing Chinese characters, the correct stroke placement will appear on the screen after a mistake is made. Additional feedback is given in the form of the option to check the answer to a question, the correct answer appearing after a question is answered, and auditory feedback when a question is answered correctly or incorrectly.

     ChineseSkill has also been designed with concepts that acknowledge the user’s needs and intentions. It demonstrates forgiveness by providing users with the option to review lesson materials or retake a lesson if they forget a lesson that they have already completed. It also provides users with a fitting level of control through its options to test out of lessons; to display a sentence written in pinyin, Chinese characters, or both; and adjust the speed of audio clips. The defaults are attuned to novices, but expert users may choose to test out of basic skills or forgo pinyin. Furthermore, ChineseSkill provides the option of adjusting font size, making it accessible to people with low vision. The app can be used in English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, Thai, or Brazilian Portuguese, which makes it accessible to people from a variety of countries and language backgrounds.