For the research phase of project three we met together as a group and discussed different underserved demographics and groups of people that we could possible help with graphic design.
At first we had ideas such as garbage men, girls, children with disabilities, homeless people, and more. Our brainstorming eventually led to illegal immigrants, then immigrants (like me and my group member, Patricks’ parents), and then eventually was narrowed down to international students who have difficulty understanding languages in the country they are studying in.
They are an underserved demographic because many people do not realize that international students, or students who recently immigrated to a new country have a lot of difficulties in their studies because they do not understand the language well. At the time I was researching international students, some of my friends near me (who are not international students, but moved to America a few years ago) was having a lot of troubles with her studies because she did not understand English well. Seeing her and other friends having difficulty with English and studying in America made me more passionate about finding a way to help the demographic.
After much thinking, we as a group, and with guidance from our professor, finally decided on making a mobile application that could connect international students with others while helping them learn and practice their languages. This application could have the potential of helping international students reach out, practice writing, speaking, and communicating in their languages, and provide them with a circle of friends/colleagues that they could approach for help.