- Jan 28, 2019
- 2 min read

Bitae Tech: Digital Backpack

LAST WEEK:

A young girl, immersed in the world of high school, has been looking forward to graduation ceremony and all that comes after. She dedicated herself to her studies but also loves spending time with friends. In fact, when she is not with them, she maintains a constant online chatter through WhatsApp. They share future hopes, wishes and everything else that teen girls gossip about. She is counting on attending university and plans to become a civil engineer, just like her father. She has done the work and is ready for the what comes next.

A normal girl's teenage hopes. The ordinary dreams of a bright future.

THIS WEEK:

It is the afternoon, and instead of walking home after school, she is standing in a line with her family. They are forming a human queue, next in line to be registered as the newest members of a refugee camp. The high school she walked through last week is rubble. The home she spent her childhood growing in, abandoned. Her hopes have turned to smoke clouds among the destruction. Her family was forced to flee for safety, leaving behind everything. No cherished photos, no little mementos, and no important documents. That means, no identification, no education accomplishments and no way to prove skills. They wait in line to be assigned a new identity, to a new country.

It has become incredibly difficult for this young girl to keep her future dreams alive, while living in this extraordinary circumstance.

DESIGNING FOR HUMAN NEED

UX Design, (explicitly - good UX Design) is human-centered, empathetic, intuitive and enjoyable. But when the subject of your design is humanity, hopes and dreams, it becomes so much more than designing a product. With that in mind, I would like to walk you through designing an interface for a forcibly displaced person. Something that could happen to anyone. Someone who may have lost a home, country and physical possessions but with the right tools, can still find opportunities.

This is not a platform for refugees. This is a platform for future graduates, employees, teachers, engineers, programmers and world citizens.

PROJECT GOALS: "Digital Backpack" App

"Digital Backpack" A platform for a forcibly displaced individual to rebuild capital, collect and share achievements, and gain new skills.
Demonstrate how Blockchain technology can be used to decentralize "Digital Backpack" credential badges. Creating immutable records for the users that they can carry with them anywhere the journey takes them.
Create a platform that is easy to use and understand. With language barriers in mind, lean more on the visual journey.
Empower the users. Create a well balanced mix of professionalism and personality that can showcase the users' talents and achievements, instead of unfortunate circumstances.