Interaction - Bachelor

Blah, blah? BLAH!

Blah blah blah is a lighthearted literacy practice website, aimed at taking the stress out of reading and writing practice for adults. The website features interactive stories that help learners pracitce engaging with different types of common written media to help improve their literacy.

Sasha Petrenko

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The problem

Words are all around us, yet we often take them for granted. Try to imagine how difficult grocery shopping would be if you couldn’t read the aisle signs or any of the packaging. What about trying to find the right train line in a sea of letters and unknown words? This is the reality for many Australians who struggle with poor literacy. Fortunately, there are programs to help, but after completing a literacy course, learners might still be anxious about their skill levels. I wanted to create something that would help people retain their knowledge and keep improving their reading and writing after classes end.

The design

This design was inspired by choose your own adventure games. I have always felt that I learn more when I’m having fun, so I created an experience that feels more like a game than a lesson. Each week, users get a scenario as part of a larger story. They must choose how they want to respond to the scenario based on what skills they want to practice.

“Comics are a gateway drug to literacy.”

Art Spiegelman
During the game, users come across various challenges. These challenges are based on real tasks that people with lower literacy often struggle with or feel anxious about doing, for example, filling in online forms. With Blah blah blah, users can take their time to familiarise themselves with words and phrases often found in these types of texts. They can also contact a tutor if they need additional support.

With this design, I wanted to show that learning can be fun. I chose a hand-painted aesthetic because I wanted the game to look approachable and not as serious as traditional online learning. I think of blah blah blah as a fun online game rather than learning material.

Sasha Petrenko

Sasha is an interaction designer passionate about designing for the education sector. She loves learning new things and wants to create designs that empower others to learn too. Having also studied computer science, creative coding is a key part of her design practice.

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