Bringing First Nations culture into the forefront.

Project: Research and design an immersive digital experience storytelling Gadigal culture and artifacts.

Client: Lendlease

Overview:  Going through each step in the double diamonds and five step user-centred design thinking approach, this project for the globally integrated real estate and investment group had me bringing the stories of artifacts and Gadigal culture to the general public through an immersive digital experience.

The brief

Lendlease is a globally integrated real estate and investment group with core expertise in shaping cities and creating strong and connected communities. Lendlease is developing a site known as Sydney Place and during the excavation of the development site, historical Indigenous and European artifacts were uncovered. Lendlease has a strong commitment to First Nations people and ensuring their work respects and amplifies the history and culture that exists on these lands. 

​The brief focuses on bringing the stories of these artifacts or stories of the Gadigal culture, language, or history to the public through an immersive digital experience that will be accessible on completion of the development.

The approach

Client stakeholder interview

A brain-dump of questions to potentially ask the stakeholders, Emily, Michaela and Sophie was first conducted on Miro sticky notes. They were then grouped together and affinity mapping was conducted to sort out any duplicate questions, topics that needed to be covered, as well as the loose order in which the questions should be asked. Overarching questions were placed on the top of the topic categories to ensure they were covered.

A one hour client stakeholder interview was then conducted with Emily Hargreaves (Previous: Social Sustainability Manager), Michaela Russell (Marketing Manager, Urban Regeneration) and Sophie Buchanan (Development Manager) in order to gain more understanding about Lendlease and their needs for our solution. We were also lucky enough to talk to the archaeologist, Jillian, along with two First Nations employees that worked under her, Rivers and Khati.

​The information gathered from them during the recorded interview was then transcribed using Otter, before the key takeaways were categorised on Miro via affinity mapping once again.

From this point, the business objectives could clearly be seen, and was confirmed by the stakeholders:

User interviews

User interviews were conducted to not only empathize with the users, but to find out their needs, preferences and opinions regarding immersive digital platforms as well as the learning of First Nations culture. This greatly informed the defining and ideation phase until usability testing was conducted to iterate on the solution developed. 

​Different flexible interview scripts were formed for both Sydney workers and visitors as well as a member of the of Gadi community that informed me of restrictions and their culture. The information recorded were then taken to Miro before affinity mapping was conducted to categorize the informaiton into background information, areas of enjoyment (positives), frustrations and concerns, as well as digital behaviours. 

Lean UX canvas

An initial lean UX canvas was created based off of what was currently known. However, the solution ideas were developed as the design journey progressed.

Landscape analysis and desktop research

Both direct and indirect competitors were analysed in order to better inform my design solutions. Desktop research regarding the Gadi community and history as well as the power and use of storytelling mediums, gamification and AR/VR was also conducted to apprise the design direction. 

Personas, As-is Customer Journey Maps, HMW Statements & UX Opportunities

For the sake of space, please find the persona summaries as attached instead. The full personas were used for the duration of the design journey in order to consistently empathize with their various needs as the solution slowly formed.​

As-is customer journey maps based on the current setting pre-solution was then created based off of the information from the personas generated from the user interviews. These allowed me to look at individual phases of their respective journeys and view the UX opportunities that I could leverage in my solution.

How Might We? Statements:

​Storytelling/Education of Culture

​How might we captivate and retain the attention of our target audiences?
How might we persuade the target audiences that we are telling the truth?
How can we make information about the Aboriginal history of the precinct more accessible?
How might we make it novel and engaging for different users as well as users beyond our scope to be inclusive?

Fostering A Community

​How might we help the target audiences to save time and improve convenience?
How can we help the target audiences to better navigate and be updated on the area’s offerings?
How can we make it engaging to improve their experience?

Digital Platform

How might we digitally engage with the target audiences in a short amount of time?
How might we create a digital experience that would be both educative about Aboriginal history and be community-building?
How might we allow for those who have limited data/WIFI?

Ideation and sketches

A brainstorm of ideas was first put on Miro in attempts to answer the HMW statements formed. Using these as prompts, initial sketches were done to begin visualizing possible solutions. 

User flow information architecture

In order to ensure all elements were in place and understand how they interacted and navigated to each other, a user flow information architecture was created and edited as the wireframe iterations progressed. Navigation best practice was observed, ensuring there aren't over 7 items in any section of the tree.

Iterations, usability testing and final prototype

The initial wireframes were of low fidelity and there were a lot of options explored so that the usability testing sessions would allow me to pick out elements that worked and elements that didn't. Here's a few samples of the lo-fi wireframes.

For the next few mock-ups, the designs would be what you'd consider mid-fi with some transitions and UI added. This formed the initial foundation for the final prototype, and was iterated upon after usability testing.

The final prototype combines elements that Lendlease were hoping to achieve, the user's needs and preferences, as well as the beliefs of the archaeologists who excavated the artifacts at the development site (whom I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to, allowing me to better inform my design). 

The final product features an app that workers, visitors and tourists can download at their leisure with a simpler version available on their Sydney Place website for those who observed app fatigue. The colours are consistent with their current marketing ads and brand identity.

The app engages users to observe their current surroundings in a 360 degree manner and find excavation sites that would lead them to uncovering artifacts, much like Pokemon Go that was analysed in the landscape analysis.

Other indirect competitors that showcased digital signage informed the design of videos to be played at the entrance of the developing building which holds interactive digital boards. However, in the case of crowds, which I observed users to not enjoy, as well as the user need of having portable, flexible and convenient learning, users can scan the board and watch the video at their leisure.

As Lendlease was smitten with another app that provided users the ability to create their own communities but was troubled by data privacy, the option for users to use avatars and usernames rather than input their actual details was adopted. Although the clients were concerned about the depth of relations that users can create under a false name, the idea is proven through the gaming industry where chilren and adults alike foster real friendships behind characters, avatars and usernames that help conceal their privacy. 

​While I could talk in length about how each component of the final design came about here, I would much rather talk to you about this in person, so leave a message and I can show you the prototype live through Zoom!

Interested in working together? Get in touch!

Aska Lai
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UX/UI Product designer
aska.j.lai@hotmail.com

Proficiencies
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Figma
Figjam
Miro
Jira
Confluence
Photoshop
[Currently learning] Blender