45 minute presentation of the design process of a CHI Design Competition submission for a GE audience. There were 33 in attendance and 80 viewing via Cisco WebEx.

1. My Background
• Studied Fine Arts at University of
Michigan
• Graduated from Michigan State
University with a BA in Advertising
• Freelance designer
• Graduating in May 2015 with a Masters
in Information Science, Specializing in
Human Computer Interaction from the
University of Michigan
Experience at GE
• 2 Co-op Rotations with GE Capital,
Customer Experience (CX) / Real Estate
• 1 Co-op Rotation with GE Capital,
Quality Assurance (QA) / Treasury
Mallory Anderson
mallory.jean.anderson@gmail.com
mallory.anderson@ge.com
malloryjeananderson.com

2. WHEN THE
DESIGN PROCESS
PAYS OFF
2015 CHI Student Design Competition
Mallory Anderson // UX TIG // 18 Feb 2015

3. An online community connecting
with American Indian culture through
language learning.

4. “For over 30 years, the CHI
conference has attracted the world’s
leading researchers and
practitioners in the field of Human
Computer Interaction (HCI) from
businesses and universities to share
ground-breaking research and
innovations related to how humans
interact with digital technologies.”
— CHI homepage
The Student Design Competition:
Designing a solution to solve a
problem and documenting the
design process.
Association for Computing
Machinery (ACM) Library

5. Student Design Competition // Design Proposal Criteria
This year’s theme: “crossings”
Enabling people from different cultures
to be connected through technology
to be heard and appreciated.
Student Design Competition // Design Proposal Deliverables
Academic Paper, Video, Poster, Pitch

6. Presentation Overview
• Our design process
• Identifying the problem // Finding a solution
• The final deliverables
• Collaboration tools

7. Rapid prototyping & testing
Ideate with sketches & wireframes
Affinity Wall organization
User Research
The design process:

8. Interpreting the Prompt // Scoping the Project
Selecting user groups that are:
Underserved and underrepresented.
Novel in the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Community.
Are not new to, but can benefit from technology.
2
1
3

9. Potential User Groups and Problems // Scoping the Project
We narrowed the list and investigated:
Native Americans avoiding misappropriation
while connecting to the culture.

10. Focus the user group // Scoping the Project
Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians
based in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
image source: http://www.saulttribe.com/about-us/service-area

11. Research Methods:
• Literature reviews of Native American research papers
• Several viewings of Native American documentaries
• Attending Native American Student Association (NASA) meetings
• 5 subject interviews
• Attending the Frank Waln concert & workshop hosted by the Arab
American National Museum’s Concert of Colors
• Following Tribal Facebook pages
• Following social media trends related to the NA community

12. Research Methods:
• Literature reviews of Native American research papers
• Several viewings of Native American documentaries
• Attending Native American Student Association (NASA) meetings
• 5 subject interviews
• Attending the Frank Waln concert & workshop hosted by the Arab
American National Museum’s Concert of Colors
• Following Tribal Facebook pages
• Following social media trends related to the NA community
Art contest winner:
Zoey Wood-Salomon

13. Research Methods:
• Literature reviews of Native American research papers
• Several viewings of Native American documentaries
• Attending Native American Student Association (NASA) meetings
• 5 subject interviews
• Attending the Frank Waln concert & workshop hosted by the Arab
American National Museum’s Concert of Colors
• Following Tribal Facebook pages
• Following social media trends related to the NA community

14. Research Methods:
• Literature reviews of Native American research papers
• Several viewings of Native American documentaries
• Attending Native American Student Association (NASA) meetings
• 5 subject interviews
• Attending the Frank Waln concert & workshop hosted by the Arab
American National Museum’s Concert of Colors
• Following Tribal Facebook pages
• Following social media trends related to the NA community

15. Research // User Quote
“…How do you define a sort of, like,
cultural legitimacy that someone has?
You can't give someone a test and say,
can you answer all these questions?
But like I said, when there are financial
and/or political benefits, you kinda do
have to draw the line somewhere.”

16. Self-identity is
complicated.
Affinity Wall // A card sorting process
Group membership
is exclusive.
A distrust of
federal and tribal
government.
Language is a top
cultural marker.
Social media is
commonly used.

17. Criteria for our solution // Ideation
• Promote use of Ojibwe, the Native American language
• Create a new and inclusive space for a community to
connect with the evolving culture
• Incorporate the habits and preferences of this user group

18. Inspiration // Ideation

19. Idea #1 // Ideation
• Visual dictionary
• Counteract or flag
misappropriation
of Native American
culture, language,
and identity

20. Idea #1 // Ideation
• Did not teach
Ojibwe
• One-way
communication

21. Idea #2 // Ideation
Conducted more research on endangered language
revitalization efforts and best practices.
Existing program’s set up:
• Had one fluent speaker paired
with one learner
• Focused on oral learning
• Useful language in daily life
View the lecture, “Two Models of Language Revitalization from California” by Leanne Hinton:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcHrIBmxEWM
What we incorporated in our design:
• Have segments in which Ojibwe
is used exclusively
• Prompt conversation with
culturally relevant material
• Save note taking for the end

22. Idea #2 // Ideation
Built personas & scenarios to sketch a wireframe.

23. Design Defense // Ideation
How do we avoid trolling?
Unlocking the ability to chat requires
a certain level of commitment that should prevent
trolls engaging with speakers.
Who is allowed to use the system?
Anyone. Learners and speakers would be paired up
using keyword matching from their profiles.
This non-intrusive filtering process pushes those that
identify as Native Americans to the front but leaves
the decision of whom to share the language with in
the hands of the speaker.

24. Testing // User Quotes
“Are my notes
private or public?”
“What does
‘leveled up’ mean?”

25. Ojibwe for:
One who speaks well (in Ojibwe).

28. Collaboration tools:
• Google Docs
• Slack
• Trello
• Skype
Production tools:
Ideation
• Pencil & paper
• Whiteboard
Prototyping
• Axure
Visual Design
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Photoshop
Video
• iMovie
• Adobe After Effects

29. Minowe
has been
accepted!
In April, our team will present
at the 2015 Student Design
Competition in Seoul, Korea

30. Thank you!
Q&A
Mallory Anderson
mallory.jean.anderson@gmail.com
mallory.anderson@ge.com
malloryjeananderson.com
*CHI Disclaimer: This was a project done on my own time and none of the
materials used in this presentation were done on GE time or by GE employees.
We welcome any feedback!