top of page
TOOL: Figma
ROLE: UX designer, designing the app from conception to delivery
DURATION: November 2021
-January 2022
Product
Easy Polish News enables Polish language learners to improve their skills by reading real-life texts such as news articles. It aids the language learning process by offering easy in-app translations of unknown vocabulary.
Challenge
Create an application with a minimalistic UI and a cohesive interface that allows users to quickly and easily translate Polish news articles.
Kick-off
After asking myself some initial key questions such as:
"What is the product and who is it for?"
"Who do I see as our biggest competitors?"
"What do our primary users need the most?"
I conducted interviews to understand the users I am designing for and their needs. The primary user group identified through research was anyone who learns Polish language or is familiar with learning Polish.
User Research: Pain Points
1
Time
If Polish language learners learned through reading and translating news from original sources they found the process time consuming and tedious.
2
Availability
Polish news stories are not widely publicised on global news platforms.
3
Lack of cultural understanding
The true meaning of news from Poland presented in a language other than Polish can be occasionally distorted.
Meet the users
Persona: Jimin Lee
Problem statement:
Jimin is a busy student who wants to find and translate Polish news herself because she has noticed that the context of Polish news presented in Korean media can be distorted, which hinders her studies.
Persona: Marie Nowak
Problem statement:
Marie is a young adult who wants an article translation tool because she finds reading Polish news from original sources time consuming and tedious.
Wireflow
While sketching out paper wireframes and thinking through the preliminary flow, I created multiple versions of each screen until I found a combination of features and elements that I thought matched the users needs and would be as intuitive as possible.
I then moved on to digital wireframes and based on them I created the low-fidelity prototype. The main user flow I connected was selecting an article and translating it, so the prototype could be used in a usability study.
Usability Study
Following the development of the low-fidelity prototype, I conducted an unmoderated usability study. The participants were asked to complete the aforementioned main user flow, and provide feedback on how they felt about the app in general. The data was then analysed and organised into themes. Keeping these in mind, I created a high-fidelity version of the app that included the following changes:
%202.png){kind=small}
Navigation changes
While dropdowns were a familiar interaction for most users, I discovered that selecting an article required too many clicks. I wanted the process of selecting articles to be as quick and simple as possible so I changed the category dropdowns to tabs.
Before
After
Tutorial addition
I discovered that some users who wanted to translate a word in an article struggled or were unsure how to do so. I added a tutorial to make the translation process as clear and simple as possible.
Before
After
Accessibility changes
Before
I found that some users who read the article found the text to be too small to read. In order to make the app accessible to everyone, I added font size and letter spacing size options.
After
Following tests and iterations, my final product met all of the objectives I had set for it, which included three core features - displaying articles, a translating tool, and a notebook - required for users to learn Polish quickly and easily.
After the project was completed, it was handed over to a developer. You can now download the application below.
Style Guide
Takeways
-
Small UX changes have a big impact - Swapping dropdowns for tabs and adding a tutorial seemed like minor tweaks, but they significantly improved usability. This reinforced my thinking that refining micro-interactions and flows can drastically enhance the overall experience.
-
Accessibility shouldn't be an afterthought - Some users struggled with small text, which highlighted the need to bake accessibility into the design from the start. Simple features like adjustable font sizes and spacing can make a huge difference in usability.
Next steps:
​
-
Implement AI-driven context-aware translations to improve accuracy beyond word-for-word translation.
-
Curate more diverse news sources to offer a broader range of topics.
-
Add personalized content recommendations based on reading history and proficiency level.
-
Introduce interactive vocabulary practice like flashcards based on translated words.
-
Conduct another usability study with a broader audience to identify any remaining pain points.
Thank you for scrolling!
If you have any feedback, want to collaborate or just want to say hello, let’s get in touch!
bottom of page