Land and Identity
Case Study
"Land and Identity is a website created by Indigenous people for those on a journey to reconnect with traditional and cultural knowledge. Through storytelling and collaboration, we aim to provide respectful resources for learning and sharing. Whether you're here to learn or contribute, there's a place for you."
My role:
Researcher & designer
Collaborators:
Rea Koochicum
Tracey George Heese
Outlined below is my very first case study. I worked with an amazing team, and learned how design thinking can really allow a team to break down the design to get to the root of the problem, which then leads to the best solution for potential users. Working on this case study is what sparked my love for design!
The Process
Given the topic of sharing traditional and cultural knowledge, our team brainstormed to begin to discover the problem. Each member of our team individually came up with as many problems related to the topic that we could think of and then used a voting system to determine our top 5 problems. We then discussed them and determined which problem we would like to focus on. Using the same brainstorm and voting system, we reframed the problem into a how might we statement:
How might we gather information for those who want to learn to share cultural and traditional knowledge?
We conducted user interviews and determined that our users like to watch videos, but prefer to learn in-person. Those we interviewed wanted more information about ceremony, language and art, so we made sure to put those topics in focus. We settled on a website that has art and history information, submitted by Indigenous users. We also wanted to have a search function for users to find in-person events.
We then developed tasks, and mapped out a task flow outlining the tasks we wanted to exhibit and eventually prototype. Using the task flow, we then developed our example wireframes. Determined to have a finished set of wireframes for our presentation, we skipped over the low- and mid-fidelity stages of designing, but that's something I would consider for future design, because there is a lot of value in testing from a lower fidelity. We divided the pages and each designed 3 pages at different points in the task flow.
I designed the Home page, the Art and History page, and the page outlining specific tribes.
The home page is an introduction for the website, titled Land and Identity. It outlines the main functions of the website: Learn, Contribute, and Participate. When interested in learning more, you can read from the site's content for free and access traditional and cultural knowledge, like art and history.
The art and history page outlines a list of Indigenous tribes that are grouped by general location. It exhibits an example of art from that tribe, and the option to learn more.
The tribe specific page outlines some art specific knowledge such as common colours and their meanings, some language pertaining to art, and significant symbols.
Next Steps
- Develop a style guide
- Conduct usability testing
- Finalize high fidelity wireframes
- Put out a call for contributors and conduct initial research for baseline content
Reflection
If I could go back, I would have liked to start with low fidelity wireframes and conduct some usability testing before proceeding to the high fidelity. I also would have liked to develop a style sheet so that the whole team is on the same page.
I learned how to be patient while working on a team, and to have patience with myself while working on this project. I feel like sometimes I try to rush through a project like this because I'm just so excited to continue and to see the outcome, but there is so much value in taking it slow and really putting your all into each step of the process.
I plan to utilize a project planner in the future to keep track of all tasks, and to add tasks to this as I think of them. I want to prioritize my time better to ensure that I not only continue to hit deadlines, but to be confident in my design.
My final reflection on this project is that it was so much fun to work on a team and come up with something meaningful and useful for our users. This project really sparked by interest in UX design and I can't wait to continue to learn!