relate mobile application
SOCIAL DESIGN
One of the main issues that the deaf face while seeking employment is communication. Due to language barriers, they often have to resort to gestures or writing to express what they want to say. However, this may lead to misunderstandings and confusion.
Difficulties in communication usually results in the deaf feeling isolated and unmotivated to work. Consequently, they typically quit their jobs after a short period of time. On the other hand, many employers also lack the knowledge and preparation to accommodate deaf employees at their workplace. Therefore, they are reluctant to hire deaf employees even if they are qualified and capable.
Relate bridges the gap between persons with disabilities (PwDs), employers, and Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs), making the employment process more efficient and enhancing communication between the different parties.
National University of Singapore (2017)
Designed with Yang Ran and Sheryl Teng
Collaborators:
PROJECT OVERVIEW
ROLE/SCOPE
Research, Personas, User Journey Mapping, Ideation, User Testing, Wireframing, Prototyping, UIUX Design
DURATION
4 months (Aug - Nov 2017)
SOFTWARES
Illustrator, Adobe XD
background
TERMINOLOGY
PwD: Person with Disabilities
VWO: Voluntary Welfare Organisation
MOM: The Ministry of Manpower
PROJECT BRIEF
For persons with disabilities (PwDs), finding a job can be a major challenge. Not being employed or meaningfully engaged is a key factor that greatly affects their quality of life. Currently, job placement rates for PwDs are low and majority of those working are in low-wage jobs; even for the skilled and educated. Ironically, there is a significant pool of high functioning PwDs without jobs and there are interests from employers to hire PwDs.
MOM identified issues such as hiring managers’ lack awareness and capabilities in redesigning jobs for PwDs. It currently takes at least a month for job coaches to work out job redesign plans with hiring managers.
"How might we better enable employers to redesign jobs for PwDs, increase the number of quality jobs and meet PwD’s job aspirations?"
THE SINGAPORE ASSOCIATION FOR THE DEAF (SADEAF)
For this project, our target group were deaf individuals. We partnered with the Singapore Association For the Deaf (SADeaf), a Voluntary Welfare Organisation (VWO), who assists deaf individuals in finding employment. This ranges from the application process, to matching them with a suitable employer and post-employment.
design process
OVERVIEW
Through this project, we conducted research with VWOs, employers and job-seekers, to understand the challenges involved in job-redesign, job matching, prototype and test solutions to meet PwD’s job aspirations. At the end of the 4 months, our proof-of-concept solution was presented to MOM and the relevant agencies.
RESEARCH
To kick off our research, we interviewed the principal case manager at SADeaf, Ailing, who assists deaf individuals in their job application process. As a deaf individual herself, Ailing often steps in to mediate issues that occur between employers and PwDs, since most employers struggle to communicate effectively with their deaf employees.
We also spoke with the Lionel, the general manager of Central Laundry. Lionel shared with us his challenges as an employer and issues faced by his deaf employees at work. He also gave us a quick tour of the facility where we could observe where the employees worked and the tasks that they performed.
PERSONAS
Subsequently, we created 2 personas, a PwD and a deaf-friendly employer, to build greater empathy for our stakeholders.
USER JOURNEY MAPPING
We established 8 key stages of the employment process and created a user journey map to identify the stages with the greatest pain points. Here, we realised that the problems mainly lie in the probation and follow up stage.
With all our insights gathered so far, it was time for us to define the scope of our project. We concluded that there were 3 key pain points that needed to be addressed:
These pain points were largely the reason for PwDs quitting their jobs after only a short period of time. We saw that there were several potential opportunities that we could tap on here, and therefore we arrived at our design direction and approach:
IDEATION
Since communication was one of the biggest pain points faced by all our stakeholders, we decided to center our solution around this aspect. Tapping on a mobile platform ensured that our solution could be easily accessed by the users anytime and anywhere. We also incorporated administrative functions as well as feedback channels for both employers and deaf employees. Besides communication, we wanted to help smoothen the current work processes and build greater rapport between the employers and PwDs.
WIREFRAMING & PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT
Lo-fi Wireframes
Mid-fi Wireframes
Hi-fi Wireframes
USER TESTING & FEEDBACK
We tested our app interface and flow with our stakeholders, as well as a deaf employee. This helped us to directly pinpoint what was good, and what needed to be worked on further.
FINAL SOLUTION
Daily mood assessment is completed by deaf employees at the end of each day, providing an avenue for them to express their thoughts and feelings
01 CONVERSATION
02
TRACK
03 ADMINSTRATION
04
FEEDBACK
FOR DEAF PWDS
List of common conversational phrases with visual cues to facilitate better communication with employers and co-workers
Convenient administrative system that eases the process of leave application and receiving overtime notifications
Employees will receive a monthly feedback review from their employers, informing them of their work performance, strengths and areas for improvement
List of common conversational phrases with visual cues to facilitate better communication with deaf employees
FOR EMPLOYERS
05
FEEDBACK
03
TRACK
02
CONVERSATION
01
SCENARIO SIMULATION
A simulation activity that allows employers and employees to better understand the needs of deaf PwDs
04
ADMINSTRATION
The deaf employees’ daily assessment can be tracked by employers, allowing them to better understand any problems or dissatisfaction that the employees may face
Administrative system where overtime announcements can be easily disseminated to the employees
Employers can give monthly regular feedback to deaf employees to help motivate them and inform them of their work progress
03
REVIEWS
01
OVERVIEW
02
TRACK
FOR VWOS
VWOs have a quick overview of client profiles and can closely monitor their progress at a single glance
Tracking and feedback summaries can also alert VWOs of any red flags and prompt them to intervene interventions when the situation arises
Access to daily tracking and monthly reviews allows for consistent updates from the clients