UX DESIGN
BE THE CHANGE
ALTRUIS
Altruis is a teaching tool for the corporate environment to make people aware of as well as become allies of LGBTQ+ community. It uses mixed reality glasses to depict situations that shows how a person can become more inclusive and respectful towards the LGBTQ+ community and its members.
Is our world only limited to the males and females?
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Schools in India teaches only two genders currently
( Male and Females )
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There are over 64 gender labels currently (Agender, Aporagender, Bigender, Cisgender & more)
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Some of the parents, teachers & students are therefore unable to accept when someone close to them come out. They consider it mental illness.
This tool caters to the corporate environment where the users are adults and there is a learning curve to understand more about the communities around them.
It gives them a seamless view of how they can be more sensitive and respectful towards the LGBTQ+ community and their choices.
An inclusive training tool using Mixed Reality that trains the user to be more respectful and helpful to the LGBTQ+ members. It explains them importance of inclusivity & teaches them ways to be an ally.
It also helps the LGBTQ+ members to be more comfortable in the corporate environment.
Concept Storyboarding
User Flow
Product Design
Concept Video
Secondary Research
Primary Research
Speculative Design Assumption
Why Mixed Reality?
Comparative Analysis
Problem Areas
Scenarios
Personas
Brainstorming
Brief Explorations
Final Design Brief
Even though numbers of LGBTQ+ community is are growing day by day, the world is still reluctant about it. The rights given to them is not enough and not equal with respect to the rest of the citizens.
RELIGIOUSITY & VIEWS ON HOMO SEXUALITY
There is a strong relationship between a country’s religiosity and opinions about homosexuality. There is far less acceptance of homosexuality in countries where religion is central to people and their lives.
INDIA being religious, it has low acceptance levels.
LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY IN INDIA
Mixing between boys and girls is discouraged.
Sex and Sexuality are taboo topics outside of marriage.
LGBTQ+ children grow up with no terms to explain their identities.
Coming out of the closet is a daunting process
Freedom to openly express gender choices remain a constant struggle
Look upbeat for gay men but not for trans, lesbians or teenagers.
In some parts of rural India, secret honour killings are planned.
Gay men run away in the cover of the night.
Lesbian women are subjected to family-sanctioned corrective rapes.
GETTING AWARE OF THE TERMINOLOGY : SEXUAL ORIENTATION Vs GENDER IDENTITY
Gender identity is defined by the Human Rights Campaign as the “innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves.” It can mirror what a person was assigned at birth, or be entirely different. There are dozens of genders, outside of just man or woman, that people can identify with.
Sexual orientation, on the other hand is the “inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people.” Basically, it’s who you are interested in dating and being intimate with. Someone can be transgender, but also be gay, straight, bisexual, asexual, or a whole host of other sexual identities that exist.
“Sexuality is who you go to bed with, and gender identity is who you go to bed as."
- explained YouTuber Brendan Jordan
Primary research guarantees that the information collected is up-to-date and relevant, enabling accurate trends to be revealed. The process followed in primary research was qualitative research via semi structured interviews. The interviews that I conducted were of the members of the LGBTQ+ community.
No. of interviews : 7
DOMAINS OF QUESTIONS ASKED
USER STORIES :
The names of the interviewees have been changed for privacy and safety.
I have had a happy and easy childhood but not everyone I know in community has it as easy as mine.
- Rohit, Male, Bisexual
He / Him
I studied in all boys school and me being different was instigated by other boys. It was difficult for me.
- Salman, Male, Gay
He / Him
My parents made me quit my job when I came out as Gay. They made me visit doctors and therapies.
- Mukul, Male, Gay
He / Him
I haven’t been able to come out to my parents yet because I am financially dependent on them.
- Shruti, Female, Lesbian
She / Her
My co-worker tease me & say insensitive things even when they are good at heart because they don't know what to say.
- Sam, Trans Man, Straight
They / Their
People look at me strangely. It is tough for them to take me seriously as they are not able to relate with me.
- Sana, Trans Woman, Straight
She / Her
I couldn't come out at my new workplace even when I was out in general because I was scared of how they will respond.
- Dean, Male, Gay
He / Him
For this project we made some design assumptions.
We are assuming that VR has evolved where humans won’t need prescription glasses. Everyone will have pure 20/20 vision rendered. AR and VR converge, as new glasses can bring on darkness by canceling light waves, much like noise-canceling headphones.
EMPATHY
MR can potentially be an effective tool for encouraging empathy among users for people who are different from them.
ACCEPTANCE
MR can potentially be an effective tool for encouraging empathy among users for people who are different from them.
BUILDING CONFIDENCE
MR can be an effective for building and expressing confidence for the members of LGBTQ+ community.
EXPLORE
MR can be an effective for building and expressing confidence for the members of LGBTQ+ community.
KNOWLEDGE
It can also be used to share knowledge about the LGBTQ+ community and make others aware on the same.
PRIDE
It can also be used to share knowledge about the LGBTQ+ community and make others aware on the same.
The next step was to see the existing products that are in Augmented Reality as well as in Virtual Reality. The purpose of this was to understand the possibilities and limitations that exists around the same.
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SHE
VR Interactive film, changing gender.
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PIXEL RIPPED
Unconventional female protagonist.
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SOMA
VR Immersive experience, separating body
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VR CHAT
Build & play on virtual land, be who they want
KNOWLEDGE
Apart from blogs & websites, there is not much help, guidance or knowledge for LGBTQ+ community.
COMING OUT
Coming out of the closet is often a daunting process replete with many uncertainties.
MENTAL HEALTH
Often the members of LGBTQ+ community go through the many emotional turbulences.
ACCEPTANCE
Even if someone is an ally or in acceptance, there is no way a person can demonstrate it for the comfort of LGBTQ+ members.
SURROUNDINGS & ENVIRONMENT
The environment and surroundings are often toxic in nature as there is is a lack of behavioural skills for an inclusive environment.
BULLYING AND TEASING
There are a lot of struggles that comes with Bullying and Teasing which can be traumatic for the members of LGBTQ+ community.
WORKPLACE
Some people feel uncomfortable sharing their sexuality because of the harassment they face in their workplace.
RELIGIOSITY
Even if some schools want to educate the children on inclusive communities, a lot of parents revolt because of religious beliefs.
These are some of the personas I made based on the Problem areas and scenarios of the same.
NEEL
She / Her, Female, Lesbian
I couldn't come out at my new workplace even when I was out in general because I was scared of how they will respond.
BIO
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Works as a designer
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Is Independent
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Has not come out to parents yet
FRUSTRATIONS
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Unable to come out at new settings.
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Office harassment and inappropriate jokes.
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Scared of judgmental people
GOALS
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Comfort in workplace
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Acceptance and sensitivity from co-workers.
LARA
They / Their, Trans Man, Straight
People look at me strangely. It is tough for them to take me seriously as they are not able to relate with me.
BIO
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Is a college student
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Experiments with clothing
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Conflicts with parents and people around
FRUSTRATIONS
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Looks they get from people
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Unable to figure out the washrooms to use
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Being judged for clothing style
GOALS
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Acceptance by family and friends
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Comfort in self expressing
I then made some scenarios to visualize the problem areas and empathize with the User better.
A college behaviour
LARA shared they were trans man to one of their friends.
The friend shared with other classmates of LARA to humiliate them.
The classmates started teasing LARA and made their life miserable.
A workplace behaviour
NEEL was trying to present her ideas in an office meeting.
The colleagues make comments about her sexuality considering it a harmless joke
She got sad and disappointed on the insensitiveness and the treatment.
I looked at various sectors of the problem area that can be looked into, where there can be a solution to the problems.
I moved to exploring various design briefs on the domains that I brainstormed.
BRIEF ONE
A tool that puts the User in the avatar of an LGBTQ+ member to make them sympathize with them. It shows them their constant struggles and experiences. It also helps the LGBTQ+ members to come out of closet.
BRIEF TWO
An education tool that teaches the kids the various genders that exists and how to respect all of them. It will be an anti bullying education based software that promotes healthy conversations.
BRIEF THREE
To design an immersive & interactive for offices & workplaces MR that helps user understand various identities, use correct pronouns in a corporate environment. It lets the User show if they are an ally.
BRIEF FOUR
To design an interactive tool that helps them cope through their mental health, heal through their trauma. It takes the User in a happy place which they have created & can meditate in.
Discarding Parts of Design Briefs
EMPATHIZING
The members of the LGBTQ+ community feels a pride attached to their sexuality . They want to be accepted and celebrated but not sympathized.
COMING OUT
Coming Out to Parents is a personal thing depending on the exposure and acceptance levels of parents and individuals.
EDUCATING KIDS
Including the awareness in schools and wanting to educate the children is dependent on parents, who revolt because of their religious beliefs.
MENTAL HEALTH
Mental Health of these users have gone through a lot of turmoil. Every individual has unique experiences which therefore makes covering mental health as a brief quite broad.
To design an immersive & interactive for offices & workplaces MR that
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Helps user understand various identities
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Use correct pronouns in a corporate environment
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Lets the User show if they are an ally
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Make a happy place and meditate
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Trains other to make an inclusive and happy environment
I moved to exploring various design briefs on the domains that I brainstormed. I found a problem space on the same
PROBLEM STATEMENT
SOLUTION
They / Their
He / His
They / Their
He / His
A trans man shared their identity with a fellow employee at work.
The employee started treating them differently but never used correct pronouns.
A smart Mixed Reality glasses that tell the pronouns of the employees
The interactions post the MR glasses were very inclusive and respectful
PROBLEM STATEMENT
SOLUTION
VR BASED
INCLUSIVE TRAINING PROGRAM
An employee passing by an LGBTQ+ member and not knowing how to behave.
The employee was asked to enroll in VR based inclusive training program
It has situation based training for the employees so that they learn how to be respectful.
It teaches being ally & standing up for LGBTQ+ community if anyone is being disrespectful.
ALTRUIS
"derived from ALTRUISTIC which means showing a selfless concern for the well-being of others; unselfish."
This project is still in progress.
