Ling the Chatbot
Ling is a mobile-based educational purposed chatbot that provides real-time inquiry functionality and learning resources about equity, diversity, and inclusion to help Chinese international student to identify and prevent discrimination and harassment that happened to them. The app also connects users to their school’s trustful case report sources.
Focused area: Design for social good, chatbot
Platform: Mobile
Duration: 3-4 month
My Role
The led designer.
- User research
- Identify design opportunity
- Design iteration
- Usability testing
Problem & Users
Ling is a mobile-based educational purposed chatbot that provides real-time inquiry functionality and learning resources about equity, diversity, and inclusion to help Chinese international student to identify and prevent discrimination and harassment that happened to them. The app also connects users to their school’s trustful case report sources.
Impact
Ling demonstrates great potential at the personal and societal levels. Research shows that there are 47,000 Chinese students studying in the USA Anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 339 percent nationwide last year. Statistically, it’s important for students to build knowledge and safety awareness ahead. It is also backed by user research findings that students need more immediate and real-time emotional support and trustworthy resources.
Research
I interviewed 11 Chinses international students who are currently studying in the USA and who had experienced racial discrimination. I mapped their journey, mood, and reaction with the user journey to identify the design opportunity. Then I did literature research to learn how to measure racial discrimination systematically.
Challenge
It was hard to initiate such a difficult topic with people who experienced racial discrimination. Sharing my own stories that resonate with people helped me drive the conversation. I also found that much existing research has been done only on post-discrimination experience, but it doesn’t cover all the needs. People often didn’t realize when things happened, not to mention to look for help in time. After mapping out their journey, I realized that lack of knowledge leads to those consequences.
I use the following framework to ask myself when I want to change any component. Helps me avoid self-referential design.
