The Design of Everyday Language Apps

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THE DESIGN OF EVERYDAY LANGUAGE APPS NATASHA NAZARI

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DESIGN FOR BEAUTY DESIGN FOR CLARITY DESIGN FOR LEARNING

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DESIGN IS A TEACHING TOOL

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SMALL DESIGN CHOICES HAVE HUGE EFFECTS ON LEARNING

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OVERVIEW ‣ How can we help users retain more material? (Text) ‣ How can we get rid of the cultural barriers that inhibit learning? (UI)

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SOME BACKGROUND ▸ 4 years of experience teaching languages ! ▸ 3,510 students, 3 countries, 8 language groups ▸ 6 years of experience learning languages ! ! ▸ 3 years of Spanish (C1) ▸ 2 years of Japanese (A2) ▸ 2 years of Chinese (B1) ▸ 1 year of Russian (A2/B1) ▸ BUT only 15 months of programming experience

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TEXT

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HELPFUL LINKS ▸ NSSCREENCAST ▸ http://nsscreencast.com/episodes/207-intro-to-text-kit ▸ http://nsscreencast.com/episodes/208-syntax-highlighting- with-textkit ▸ http://nsscreencast.com/episodes/211-indenting-text-with- text-kit ▸ KISHIKAWA KATSUMI’S TRY! SWIFT NYC TALK ▸ https://speakerdeck.com/kishikawakatsumi/mastering-textkit

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Are you a любитель чая? Do you love ice cream? If yes, then Чайная High is the place for you. This cozy лофт and кафе is hidden along a quiet, unassuming side-street в Москве. You can sample a wide assortment чая — 333 to be exact — and an equally diverse range of мороженное ﬂavors, the most popular being pomegranate, green чай, & pistachio. Their collection comes в all over the world — Италии, Китае, Японии — and as such, attracts internationals & international minded locals. Tea High Адрес: ул. Покровка, д. 27, стр. 1, Москва 105062, Россия Телефон: +7 495 225 59 96 Часы работы: 11:00 AM — 12:00 AM

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Are you a любитель чая? Do you love ice-cream? If yes, then Чайная High is the place for you. This cozy лофт and кафе is hidden along a quiet, unassuming side-street в Москве. You can sample a wide assortment чая — 333 to be exact — and an equally diverse range of мороженное ﬂavors, the most popular being pomegranate, green чай, & pistachio. Their collection comes в all over the world — Италии, Китае, Японии — and as such, attracts internationals & international- minded locals. Tea High Адрес: ул. Покровка, д. 27, стр. 1, Москва 105062, Россия Телефон: +7 495 225 59 96 Часы работы: 11:00 AM — 12:00 AM

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TYPOGRAPHY

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IMAGINE

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SHUO WHAT FOOD & DRINK TRAVEL MEET & GREET HOME WORK & BUSINESS

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SHUO WHAT FOOD & DRINK READ A MENU DISCUSS WHAT TO ORDER ORDER CRITIQUE MEALS LIKE A LOCAL PAY GO TO A KTV GO GROCERY SHOPPING

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焍 miàn wheat ﬂour

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䬈 tiáo long, narrow piece

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焍䬈 miàntiáo “long wheat ﬂour” = noodle(s)

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Write the character for “wheat ﬂour.” 焍

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How do you say “noodles”? 焍䬈

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۱ bāo bag, package, bundle

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焍۱ miànbāo “wheat ﬂour bundle” = bread

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Make this say “bread”. 焍䬈

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CorrectѺ 焍۱

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Write the missing character. ̶̶̶۱ ̶̶̶䬈

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CorrectѺ 焍۱ 焍䬈

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ᇍ niú cow

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ᙂ ròu meat

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ᇍᙂ niúròu “cow meat” = beef

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Write the missing character. ᇍᙂ

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ᇍᙂ焍 niúròumiàn beef noodle(s)

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A COMMON PROBLEM ▸ You’ve put 150 hours into learning and mastered 2000 characters prior to arrival to Taipei. ▸ But you can barely read anything when you get there. ▸ Why?

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POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS 1. Allow the user to choose different fonts in the settings. 2. After ﬁve correct answers, switch the font. Make sure the difference is barely noticeable.

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ᇍᙂ焍 ڇ೑ṵ ⽜⾁麵䔼卪芋牛肉麵 ڇ೑ṵ

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WHAT ABOUT OTHER LANGUAGES?

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Здравствуйте

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Здравствуйте

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Здравствуйте Здравствуйте

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Тт Тт Д д Дд

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POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS 1. Create two practice modes: one for print, the other for cursive. Let the user decide which to use. 2. Introduce print version; introduce cursive; alternate between print & cursive.

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VARIED TYPOGRAPHY = BETTER RETENTION

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KERNING & WORD SPACING

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౯ உ ࡅ䴽 ᙲ༜沂̶ I REALLY LIKE BLACK PEPPER CAKES. BASED ON VOCABULARY

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春㮆 ۱۱ অ᯿ ̶ THIS BAG҆BAGҁIS҂VERY-HEAVY. MEASURE WORD DOUBLE NOUN অ ҄ ADJECTIVE BASED ON GRAMMAR POINT (#1)

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౯ ྯॠ ࣁᥜ槹 ݰ ෱汬̶ I EVERY DAY IN XIMEN EAT BREAKFAST. SUBJECT TIME LOCATION ACTION OBJECT BASED ON GRAMMAR POINT (#2)

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ίϷφ ΅ ᷣΏ΀͡͹̶ JAPANESE EXAMPLE ALICE TOPIC PART. DID NOT EAT.

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Я в Москве. RUSSIAN EXAMPLE из Москвы. Я I (AM) IN MOSCOW. I (AM) FROM MOSCOW.

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THIS WON’T HELP ME. WHAT USERS SAY THEY WANT VERSUS WHAT THEY NEED

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STRATEGIC SPACING DECISIONS = BETTER READING COMPREHENSION

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HELPFUL LINKS ▸ NSSCREENCAST ▸ http://nsscreencast.com/episodes/205-tableview- customization ▸ http://nsscreencast.com/episodes/206-more-tableview- customization

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YOUR UI SHOULD REFLECT THE CULTURE OF THE LANGUAGE YOU’RE TEACHING.

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BECAUSE STEREOTYPES.

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JAPAN

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The majority of testers weren’t interested in Japan or the Japanese language, until they saw the app.

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RUSSIA

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What if we treated everything the way we treat soccer and Tetris — as valuable and virtuous for being exactly what they are, rather than for what would be convenient, or for what we wish they were instead, or for what we fear that they are not? … Our lives would be better, bigger, more meaningful, and less selﬁsh. Ian Bogost, Play Anything

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SUMMARY ‣ TEXT ▸ Varied typography can speed up learning & aid memory ▸ Spacing can improve reading comprehension, teach sentence structure, and drive home grammar points. ‣ CUSTOM UI ▸ Simple tweaks to basic UI elements — Table Views, Collection Views, Page Views — can put users into a different cultural headspace, and even undermine subconscious stereotypes