3132 research outputs found
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Navigating Financial Systems: Addressing Digital Banking Barriers for East Asian Immigrants in Canada
Full text linkThis research explores the mobile banking experiences of Mandarin-speaking newcomers in Toronto, with a focus on the role of in-app chatbots in supporting or hindering their financial interactions. Using an inclusive design research approach, the study combined semi-structured interviews and a participatory co-design session to identify usability challenges and explore design opportunities. Thematic analysis of five interviews revealed four major pain points: uncertainty about chatbot capacity, confusion caused by irrelevant information, cognitive overload from complex app interfaces, and a lack of support in understanding Canada’s credit system. These themes guided a co-design workshop involving seven participants who contributed reflective feedback and proposed improvements to current user experience designs. Findings suggest that the information architecture of the current banking app is overwhelming for newcomers, and the information is often overflowed. Also, while chatbots hold potential to streamline banking workflows, their current implementations often fall short due to generic responses, poor contextual understanding, and lack of multilingual support. The research highlights the need for more transparent, culturally responsive, and linguistically inclusive design strategies. The resulting prototype proposes a simplified information architecture and a context-aware chatbot flow that together aim to enhance user confidence and financial autonomy among Mandarin-speaking newcomers. These insights contribute to the broader discourse on inclusive fintech design and call for deeper engagement with marginalized users in the development of digital financial services
Humane Design for Homeless Populations (HDHP)
Full text link‘Humane Design for Homeless Populations’ or HDHP is a speculative public design project, engaging the homeless residents of Dufferin Grove Park to craft the graphic language used in two concept designs: a park bench doubling as an emergency sleeping pod and a wireless charging station. Their utilitarianisms engage practical problems like warmth/shelter and access to mobile charging, while employing speculative, participatory design techniques to encourage discussion and social reform surrounding stigma and misconceptions about urban homelessness
Co-designing Towards Community Health Outcomes: The role of social innovation labs and organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic
No full textIn this Major Research Project (MRP), I highlight community-driven innovations in response to COVID-19, focusing on case studies from social innovation labs and organizations (referred to as “Labs”) in Ontario, Canada. These Labs, which address the social determinants of health both within and outside the formal healthcare system, played a key role in supporting, supplementing, and scaling grassroots emergency response efforts aimed at reducing health inequities during the pandemic. Drawing on interviews with 10 social innovation practitioners and designers, this MRP argues that the role and value of Labs has evolved since 2020. Looking ahead, Labs can play a pivotal role in addressing ongoing gaps and crises in Canada’s health system through building ‘relational infrastructure.’ Specifically, Labs can (1) act as connective tissue in a siloed system, (2) engage community partners in dialogue and collaborative processes to build bridges between health system actors, and (3) centre community voices in developing strategies and solutions through equitable co-design
Rethinking Resources: Critical Minerals for the Energy Transition as Pathways to Social Equity and Local Growth
Full text linkThis research examines how social equity can be embedded in critical minerals extraction for the renewable energy transition. Our study reveals that the shift to renewable technologies has created a mineral-intensive dependency that risks perpetuating colonial extraction patterns in the Global South. Through systems mapping and strategic foresight, we identified five interconnected equity dimensions requiring intervention: indigenous rights, livelihood impacts, environmental justice, geopolitical power dynamics, and climate finance.
Our scenario development identified "Thriving within Limits" as the preferred future, where resource governance prioritizes need-based extraction and equitable benefit distribution. The key finding is that embedding social equity requires simultaneous interventions across multiple leverage points. We developed pathways in five categories: paradigm shifts, system goals, structural reorganization, rule changes, and feedback mechanisms.
We conclude that successful transition requires transforming underlying power dynamics, not just technologies. The leverage points provide pathways to intervene in the current energy system to ensure that the renewable energy transition benefits are shared equitably, turning critical minerals extraction into opportunities for social equity and local growth rather than continued exploitation
Combatting Toxicity: Designing an Intelligent System to Diminish Verbal Harassment in Online Games
Full text linkThe world of online multiplayer gaming has reached a point where player communities have become plagued with verbal toxicity in the form of hate and harassment, a detrimental issue for both players and game development companies alike. This master's thesis involves the research, design and development of an intervention system that can be adapted and integrated into online games. The goals of the intervention system are to detect, moderate, and potentially prevent verbal toxicity. Design thinking was used as a methodology to promote player-centered interfaces and interventions. Deep learning-based natural language processing (NLP) techniques were used to develop the back-end toxicity detection. The NLP algorithms process speech to analyze two modalities of verbal toxicity: text transcription and audio features. Investigation of audio feature analysis was prioritized since it is less prevalent in the existing literature and intervention systems. Audio feature extraction was explored to identify an optimal set of features that are both measurable and indicative of toxicity. The intervention system responds to detected toxicity by overlaying interface elements during gameplay to moderate and prevent verbal toxicity while accommodating diverse scenarios and player needs. User experience heuristics in learning, feedback, visual appearance and interaction were applied alongside player testing with 10 participants to develop a refined prototype that prioritizes strong player experience, player-system cooperation, and operant conditioning to correct toxic behavior
Enhancing Web Accessibility for Blind and Low Vision Users: A Model for Text Descriptions on E-Commerce Product Pages
Full text linkTypically, blind and low-vision (BLV) individuals who browse e-commerce product pages use assistive technology to decode the information on these pages. In the absence of information indicating visual properties, such as the colour name, a BLV user is inadequately informed about and often exits the webpage unable to make a purchase decision. Alternatively, they might resort to asking a friend to decipher visual information by adding a product to their digital cart and reviewing it with them later. Both of these scenarios present a problem of the inaccessibility of decipherable sensory cues and specifications for product information pages on the web. From the initial semi-structured interviews, this study identified three main themes (missing visual properties and cues, the role of a friend in purchasing decisions, and accessibility for social inclusion) in the shopping experiences of BLV users. By conducting a series of case studies, co-design sessions, and product description evaluations informed by user testing and agile iterations, aspects of product descriptions were understood to a) provide useful descriptive information for understanding the details on the product webpage and b) ideate a model that could provide the participants with agency and confidence in their purchase decision
TCKConnect: A platform for Adult Third Culture Kids to find a sense of belonging
Full text linkAdult Third Culture Kids (ATCKs) represent a unique demographic who spent their formative years in a country (or countries) other than their parent’s passport culture, often leading to rootlessness and challenges in forming a stable sense of identity and belonging. ATCKs experience feelings of disconnection from non-ATCKs due to their unique backgrounds, emphasizing the ongoing challenge of finding meaningful connections and a sense of community. Recognizing the need for belonging through shared experiences, and drawing from my personal experience as an ATCK, this research addresses the gap in existing social platforms by proposing TCKConnect, a geolocation-based mobile app designed to foster in-person meetups and support the formation of local communities among ATCKs. Employing the Double Diamond Model, a structured design methodology, this thesis integrates user-centered design principles and user and usability testing. Beyond the app, the project includes an interactive online documentary that represents the collected data and research, showcasing the ATCK experience through a narrative format
Understanding the cognitive burden of digital interactions for users aged 60 and older
Full text linkFloraFun: Exploring Emotional Connections Between Humans and Plants Through Digital Games
Full text linkHuman interaction with plants is often silent, yet digital games provide an interactive storytelling medium to reestablish the connection between human and plants overtly. In most games, plants serve as passive elements, functioning as background aesthetics or resources rather than active emotional entities. This study explores how plants can be integrated as meaningful narrative and interactive components, fostering empathy, ecological awareness, and emotional engagement in digital spaces.
By redefining plants as dynamic, expressive beings, this research moves beyond their conventional static roles, transforming them into interactive elements that respond to player care and actions. Through FloraFun, a role-playing game featuring interactive plant mechanics, this study examines how plants may elicit human emotions, memory, and well-being.
Ultimately, this research seeks to further bridge the gap between humans and nature, deepening understanding and appreciation of plant life in both virtual and real-world environments
