Interactive DVD for the Illiterate
red dot: best of the best
red dot award: design concept 2007
This interactive learning DVD for people with literacy issues has been designed to build confidence and self esteem, as well as knowledge and skills.
Across the globe, 900 million people cannot read and write properly. At the same time sadly, there is no available medium making it possible for people with literacy issues to tackle their problem independently. Overcoming literacy issues still requires help from third parties, which brings with it fear and shame about being denounced publicly as illiterate. Understandably, people can be reluctant to publicly identify their illiteracy as a first step towards getting help. That is where Jana Hesselbarth’s design thinking came in.
Using several interactive DVDs, people with literacy issues now have the opportunity to start advancing their own acquisition of written language anonymously, in familiar surroundings, and with the satisfaction of teaching themselves. This lays the first foundations for breaking out of their social isolation and getting the help they need.
An empirical study was conducted across Germany to test this concept, and it additionally showed a high approval rating for this learning medium. Around 55% of those surveyed (with literacy issues) already own a DVD player and would be prepared to use it for learning purposes. Only 20% of those surveyed were internet users. DVDs are thus a more suitable medium than computers, which require a modicum of literacy as a precondition.
Three different sets of DVDs, for different levels of learning, offer a completely new learning situation. Since the DVDs do not require a PC and instead rely only on a simple DVD player, those who need to can simply start by using the DVD remote without having any prior literacy skills. The interactive DVDs start with a film introduction. Here, users are already made an active part of product navigation and taught in a light-hearted way how to make their way around the menu structure of the product.
The first DVD in the set has the following content structure: learning topic (basics), information section (with specially prepared details about aid organisations, etc) and an application section. Here it is possible to engage playfully in learning letters, syllables, and how to read or write simple words. The user can interact directly with the learning content. There are exercises, for instance, which prompt interactions between video tasks and printed cards and even encourage the user to copy words in writing onto the TV screen with a special pen.
Since the time of its development, there has been formative evaluation using a group of people with literacy issues as a reference, whose input has been constructively incorporated into the design process. Further, cooperation with education providers has enabled experiences from literacy courses to flow directly into the conceptual development of the product. All exercises developed for the interactive DVD can thus also be used in classroom practice.
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