SIGN-LENCE
Boardgame for learning Thai-Sign Language
Boardgame for learning Thai-Sign Language
Research & Development
Background
During my internship, I had an opportunity to work with numerous types of disabled, such as the blind, the wheelchair and the hearing impaired. After I had a chanced to talk with all of them, I was amazed by the deaf community because this group of people was hard to find in our Thai society which gave me a passion for doing my senior project topic toward the hearing impaired people.
Field Research
I went to field research in a special school for the hearing impaired community which had only two schools in Bangkok, Thailand. In order to perceive and understand the lifestyle of the deaf. As a result, I had found that this group of people was left behind in the society and did not receive enough supervision.
Interview Research - The Outsider
I interviewed ordinary people(the outsider) - approximately 100 people because I wanted to know the attitude and opinions towards the hearing impaired community. The results of the interview will be examinedin the following paragraphs.
If there is a chance to know or be friends with the hearing impaired, would you like to know them?
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What do you think is an obstacle that limit most people from reaching the deaf?
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Thai-Sign Language Experience
I did not want to have a language barrier to understand the deaf community, so I decided to take a course in Thai-sign language at the faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University for one semester.
Interview Research - Sign Lanuage Class
After I studied Thai-sign language for a while, I had some question about what made other classmates took this course and what did they think about this language?
So I decided to do some interview with the whole class to find out - around 40 people.
How was your feeling "Before"
learning Thai-sign language?
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learning Thai-sign language?
How was your feeling "After"
learning Thai-sign language?
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learning Thai-sign language?
After that, I chose to concentrate my project on Thai-sign language because sign language was the primary key for the outsiders to understand the hearing impaired as well as the communication was the main problem to reach this group of people.
Moreover, This could present a new perspective of the deaf to the outsiders who had never experienced this language.
Objective
Learn Thai-Sign Language
Having Fun with Thai-Sign Language
Encourage Thai-Sign Language
Relevant in Our Daily Life
Target Users
The outsider who does not understand sign language, especially the new generation, because I believe that cultivating young ages to learn and recognize the hearing impaired people since they were adolescents, could make a change in the future. When they grow up, they would understand and know that there are groups of people with hearing disabilities in our society.
Sign Language
Sign language is a language for the hearing
impaired people, which is communicated
through hands, facial expressions, gestures,
and emotions instead of "Speaking". As I mention before, Sign languages for each
country are different, as are oral languages
such as Japanese-sign language (JSL),
British-sign language (BSL), etc.
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Competitor Analysis - Positioning Map
According to the research, Thailand does not give much attention to Thai-Sign language as much as it should be. Furthermore, the current media is not attractive, unfriendly, and being as one-way communication. Consequently, there is a vast gap that needs to do for sign language, so I decided to present a new perspective of sign language, both easily accessible, engaged and two- way communication.
Why Games?
Playing games is active learning, in which players learn unintentionally, allowing the player to remember words without any effort.
Ideation - Gameplay
Designing the gameplay, I have tested with various gameplay styles step by step with target users — for instance, crosswords, card games and boardgames.
Solution - Boardgames
Here are the reasons for choosing board game as an execution.
- While playing board game people tend to have interacted with each other, which is two ways communication.
- Most people can recognise sign language as muscle memory, so sign language more suitable for playing directly.
- Sign language is like chatting with friends, so playing between buddies could encourage to use in the future
— for example, secret sign
- The design of gameplay rules are not complicated because I want players to concentrate on the sign language rather than gameplay.
Art Direction
Art Direction Keywords
This boardgame requires to feel comfortable to get along, according to my research, target users had a wrong perception of sign language
It needs to be attractive, friendly and fun to represent the gameplay
It essential be suitable for the target users that should not look too old or too young but fits perfectly
Learning Process
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Ideation - Art Direction
Experiment the visual design with many different types of styles and techniques in order to communicate as accurately as possible.
Collage Techniques
Illustration
Style 1
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Style 2
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Style 3
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After finalizing the illustration style, I had explored every detail of a character to see what suited the design criteria.
Color Schemes
split-complementary colors
playful / clear / positive
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playful / clear / positive
Playing Cards
Compare the illustration before and after the design
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After