Ayllu
An online portal for learning Quechua
Project Details
The problem
Quechua is an endangered language and culture that has suffered from erasure under colonial discourse. Even though it has seen a rise of students due to online learning during the pandemic, there is a high drop off rate due to an unsupported, disjointed, and fragmented online learning experience.
The solution
Ayllu challenges the colonial discourse and offers an alternative narrative that is fundamental to the survival of a culture through the preservation of its language. Ayllu offers a Quechua learning portal that elevates the experience of learning Quechua through an immersive, unified, resourceful and culturally resonant experience that caters to the unmet needs of students.
Role & Team
User Researcher & UX Designer, mentored by Anna Brenner
Why care?
The restoration of a culture through language preservation
Quechua is the endangered Indigenous language of South America with its heart in Cusco, Peru. Without efforts to preserve this language, it will continue to be endangered and at risk to disappear. Because there is ancestral knowledge and culture encoded in this language, it is important to preserve and restore it.
Part of the problem stems from the internalized colonial discourse that regarded indigenous languages as inferior. This kind of colonial narrative has had a nefarious effect of shame and disconnect in Quechua indigenous identity, to this day.
The Indigenous Language Problem Space
Market Research
Resistance to Colonization
Digital Indigenous language Learning is a form of resistance and push against colonial narratives.
Covid 19 significantly contributed to the rise in popularity of online language learning in general to drive higher levels of language proficiency at scale according to HolonIQ.
According to the International Journal of Indigenous Peoples:
ILR (Indigenous Language Learning) could be seen as being in competition other social movements but is better viewed as another form of resistance to colonization.
The COVID-19 pandemic pressed language learners and advocates to turn toward technology as a means to continue in their language revitalization efforts. This led to many community language programs restructuring resources to support remote learning.
We view Indigenous communities as demonstrating resilience defined as “the strength and power of the collective cultural knowledge” (Thomas et al., 2016, p. 1) carried through language.
Defining the Problem
defining the problem
Devalorization of Quechua
Quechua is an endangered language and culture that has suffered from erasure under colonial discourse. Even though it has seen a rise of students due to online learning during the pandemic, there is a high drop off rate due to an unsupported, disjointed, and fragmented online learning experience.
hypothesis
Providing Online Quechua learning in community.
Ayllu challenges the colonial discourse and offers an immersive, cohesive, resourceful, culturally resonant, community experience that caters to the unmet needs of Quechua students.
Ayllu offers an alternative narrative fundamental to the survival of a culture through the preservation of its language. User research and usability testing will validate or invalidate hypothesis assumptions that inform the resources, content, and design of Ayllu.
The Solution
alignment
Design Principles
These are the principles that emerged to guide design decisions to help unlearn colonial narratives and instead elevate the Quechua learning experience to a new level of dignity and relevance.
branding + visual language
A brand about harmony with nature
Graceful. Earthy. Decolonial
The brand is achieved through a restrained color palette that nods to nature and Andean art as well as through the use of typographic pairing that speaks of revolutionary design with the power to elevate Indigenous voices.
desktop Homepage
Decolonial: Design as Dissent
I gave voice to and elevated the experience of learning Quechua.
Created an experience that could immerse the visitor in the Quechua landscape, culture, and decolonial stories.
experience #1
Finding the right class
I created a cohesive and unified experience to optimize finding the right class.
experience #2
Student Dashboard
I designed the dashboard to have a clear structure and visual hierarchy.
The dashboard carried over some of the elements from the homepage design such as color palette, typography, and UI elements to bring a sense of continuity and cohesion that makes finding the right content easy.
mobile Homepage
Ayllu on mobile
Making the design responsive
Usability Testing
usability testing
Usability Testing validated the Ayllu hypothesis
I conducted individual moderated remote study sessions with 4 participants who shared their screen via zoom.
I conducted individual moderated remote study sessions with 4 participants who shared their screen via zoom.
100% of participants would like to use Ayllu and completed tasks with 100% success rate. What stood out as positive feedback:
immersive experience
The photos are able to transport participants to the Andes where Quechua comes from.
visual identity
Participants responded well to Ayllu’s identity and felt an emotional connection.
organization of resources
Participants love the way the site and dashboard are organized for ease of functionality and searchability.
priority
Revision Insights
Next Steps for Phase 2
While these insights and recommendations will make Ayllu more successful.
HERO TAGLINE
Some participants would like to see in the hero area, the tagline that is in the footer: Learn Quechua in community, to immediately get a sense of what Ayllu is about.
MORE ORGANIC REVOLUTION
Some participants felt that some sections of text don’t feel caring and could use a warmer font type and in a way, reinvent the way we make revolution to be organic, warm, and embracing–sort of reflecting the curves of the Ayllu logo.
WHO IS BEHIND the ORGANIZATION?
Who created Ayllu? Participants want to learn who is behind the organization with text and pictures of the team.