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Connecting people to cultures in a personal and immersive way.

CultureConnect

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Design Brief

  • Users have limited access to meaningful and immersive cultural experiences

  • Existing platforms provide surface-level content with little personalization

  • Users struggle to connect emotionally with different cultures through digital platforms

Timeline

January 2025 — May 2025

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Role

End-to-end UX design (research → ideation → prototyping → testing)

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Tools

Figma, Miro

DESIGN APPROACH (01)

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I focused on making cultural exploration more engaging and meaningful by combining personalization, immersive experiences, and storytelling, allowing users to actively experience cultures rather than passively consume information.

CHALLENGE (02)

THE PROBLEM

  • Cultural learning is often passive and lacks engagement

  • Existing platforms provide disconnected experiences without personalization

  • Users struggle to emotionally connect with different cultures through digital content

WHO IS THIS FOR?

  • Young adults interested in exploring global cultures

  • Students, travelers, and culturally curious users

  • People seeking more engaging and interactive ways to learn about cultures

WHAT ARE THE USER NEEDS?

  • Users want a simple and emotionally intelligent way to discover content that aligns with how they feel in the moment

  • They need a low-effort way to express their mood without complex interactions

  • They want personally relevant recommendations, not repetitive or history-driven content

  • They seek relief from decision fatigue caused by excessive browsing

  • They value emotional alignment between their mood and the content suggested

  • They expect transparency and control over how their emotional data is used

WHAT ARE THE END GOALS?

  • Enable explicit mood input through structured and AI-supported interactions

  • Reduce cognitive load and time spent browsing large content libraries

  • Deliver emotionally relevant cross-media recommendations (music, films, podcasts)

  • Provide flexible mood journeys (match or shift mood)

  • Increase user trust, relevance, and engagement

UNDERSTANDING THE USER (03)

To understand how users explore and engage with cultural content, I conducted both secondary research and primary user research, focusing on emotional connection, discovery patterns, and interaction preferences.

Conducted

5 in-depth user interviews

Key Insight

  • Users rely on social media platforms to explore cultures, but these experiences are often surface-level and unstructured

  • Cultural learning becomes more meaningful when it is story-driven and human-centered, rather than static or informational

  • Users are highly engaged by visual and interactive content (food, music, videos, quizzes), which helps them connect emotionally

  • Curiosity and personal connection are key motivations, especially when users relate to real people and communities

  • Community interaction and shared experiences (events, stories) strengthen users’ emotional connection to cultures

  • Users expect personalized and relevant content, tailored to their interests and background

  • Overwhelming or disconnected platforms reduce users’ ability to deeply engage with cultural content

USER RESEARCH RESULTS & FINDINGS (04)

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Key Insights from Existing

  • Platforms like Tripadvisor and Google Arts & Culture focus on specific areas, so users need multiple platforms.

  • Some platforms provide strong visual or immersive content, but offer limited personalization

  • Apps like Allrecipes and Bumble for Friends include community features, but these are mostly basic interactions

  • Interactive features exist, but are not connected across a continuous user experience

  • Users often switch between different platforms to explore food, places, and people

AFFINITY DIAGRAM

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PERSONA

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USER JOURNEY MAP

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PROBLEM STATEMENT & HMW QUESTIONS

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ASSUMPTION RISKS MATRIX

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ASSUMPTION PRIORITIZATION MATRIX

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USER FLOW (05)​

​From discovering cultures → to personalized and structured exploration.

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MID-FIDELITY WIREFRAMES (08)

At this stage, mid-fidelity wireframes were developed to define the overall structure, layout, and organisation of key features, including food, events, landmarks, and social content, ensuring a clear and intuitive user flow.

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High-Fidelity Design (09)

The high-fidelity design presents a refined and consistent interface, focusing on clarity, usability, and a smooth user experience.

FEATURE (01) — Food & Recipe Sharing

Users can explore cultural dishes, view detailed recipes, and receive real-time cooking support through an AI assistant.

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FEATURE (02) — Events & Cultural Activities

Users can discover cultural events, view event details, and join activities based on their interests and location.

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FEATURE (03) — Music & Culture Content

Users can explore music from different cultures, understand its cultural context, and save content for later discovery.

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FEATURE (04) — Community & Posts

Users can share personal experiences, explore community stories, and interact with others through posts and comments.

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FEATURE (05) — Social Discovery

Users can find and connect with others who share similar cultural interests and experiences.

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FEATURE (06) — AR / Cultural Exploration

Users can experience cultural places and stories through immersive visual exploration.

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User Testing – High-Fidelity Evaluation (10)

PARTICIPANTS

  • 4 participants

METHODOLOGY

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  • Remote Usability Testing

  • Task-Based Scenarios

  • Observation & Feedback

Key Insights (High-Fidelity)

  • Users navigated the app easily and understood the overall structure

  • Personalisation worked well and made the experience feel relevant from the start

  • The AI cooking assistant was highly engaging and intuitive to use

  • VR landmarks were often overlooked due to low visibility

  • Social and event features showed potential but needed a clearer structure

FINAL REFLECTION (11)

Developing CultureConnect combined UX research, user-centred design, and emerging technologies to support accessible cultural exploration for a diverse audience.

User feedback highlighted a clear interest in community. Suggestions such as country- or interest-based group chats showed that users were not only interested in consuming content, but also in connecting with others around shared cultural interests.

Throughout the project, care was taken to avoid reducing cultures to simplified representations. Features such as customizable recipes, region-based music, and user-generated content were designed to support flexible, user-led exploration.

Future development would focus on improving feature visibility, strengthening community interaction, and refining personalization to support a more consistent and engaging long-term experience.

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