The Ask
The client sought a solution that could bridge the communication gap between Kinyarwanda and English speakers across various sectors in Rwanda. Specifically, they requested:
- Application of Human-Centered Design (HCD) Principles:
To educate stakeholders on HCD methodologies and ensure that future machine translation solutions are designed with users’ needs in mind. - In-depth User Understanding:
To conduct thorough research to understand the specific communication challenges faced by users in key sectors such as government, education, health, and humanitarian aid. - Clear Stakeholder Needs Identification:
To identify and articulate the primary pain points experienced by stakeholders and align these needs with machine translation solutions. - Refinement of Ideas for Machine Translation Use Cases:
To explore and refine innovative ideas that could be prototyped, ensuring the solutions address real-world communication gaps and are feasible for implementation.
The Observation
There is a significant need for machine translation solutions across key sectors in Rwanda, particularly in education, healthcare, and tourism. In education, the language barrier poses a challenge for students who are not proficient in English, limiting access to learning materials. In healthcare, communication issues between providers and patients who speak different languages affect the quality of care. The tourism industry also faces hurdles as service providers struggle to communicate effectively with international visitors. Addressing these challenges requires targeted machine translation solutions, developed through an understanding of user needs and sector-specific communication issues.The Process
Methodology
- Empathy Workshops:
The workshop began with empathy exercises to understand the daily challenges and needs of users across different sectors. This helped in building solutions that are closely aligned with user pain points.
- Defining Problems:
Participants worked to define specific communication challenges within their sectors, focusing on how machine translation could address these issues effectively.
- Ideation Sessions:
Following problem definition, a series of ideation sessions were conducted to brainstorm potential solutions. Participants developed a wide range of ideas, which were then mapped against user needs and resources to identify the most viable options.
Results
The workshop successfully identified several actionable use cases for machine translation, including:
- Education Sector: Translation tools for educational materials to help students who are not proficient in English.
- Healthcare Communication: Tools to facilitate better communication between healthcare providers and patients who do not speak the same language.
- Tourism Enhancements: Applications to assist tourists and service providers in overcoming language barriers.
The Outcome
Key outcomes of the GIZ Rwanda Machine Translation project included:
- Articulated Challenges: The workshop provided clear documentation of the specific communication challenges within each sector, paving the way for targeted solutions.
- Use Case Development: Several tangible use cases were developed, each capable of utilizing machine translation technology for prototyping.
- Stakeholder Engagement: The involvement of diverse stakeholders ensured that the solutions proposed were comprehensive and inclusive, addressing the needs of various user groups across Rwanda.
The GIZ Rwanda Machine Translation workshop showcased the power of Human-Centered Design in developing technological solutions that are both impactful and user-focused. By thoroughly understanding the user context and involving stakeholders from the outset, the project laid a solid foundation for future development and implementation of machine translation tools in Rwanda. This case study not only highlights the specific outcomes of the workshop but also demonstrates a scalable approach for integrating technology to solve communication barriers in multilingual societies.