Project
Mask Dilemma
A Delightful Way To Fight Mask Discrimination During The Covid-19 Outbreak
Personal project | Product design
INTRODUCTION
Design to bridge the gap between Europeans and Asian culture
At the beginning of February 2020, when Coronavirus just arrived in Europe, more and more Asian people who live in Europe are mistreated when hanging out with or without a face mask in public. We noticed that cultural differences led to various precaution measures taken by each country, and it might trigger misunderstanding among people with different cultural backgrounds.
Therefore, we designed a communication tool, a combo of interactive posters and mask stickers to help Asians speak out and help Europeans and Asians understand each other's “mask culture,” diminishing misunderstanding, discrimination, and social discomfort.
ABOUT
Duration | 5 months
My role | UX researcher, Video filming
Team | Team of 5
PROJECT BACKGROUND
In February, when Coronavirus just started, I and some of my Asian friends experienced impolite treatments in the Netherlands separately. According to social media, many similar things also happened in other European countries in the meantime. Therefore, the team decided to find out what had caused this conflict and how to solve it.
Real Case 1
In February, Europe is COVID-19 free; However, I was asked to put on a mask because I am Asia.
Real Case 2
My friend was ignored at the supermarket checkout because he wears a mask.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES
OBSERVATION &INTERVIEWS
As a part of the social experiment, we put on face masks and went to public places such as Delft and Den Haag to conduct interviews.
ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRES
According to the social experiments, the team found that the cultural difference of wearing a face mask is a significant factor of the conflict. To dive deeper, two different online questionnaires were conducted: one for Asian people and another for non-Asian people.
KEY TAKE AWAY
FINAL DESIGN
Mask Stickers & Interactive posters
MASK STICKERS
100 sales in Delft, Netherlands
Mask stickers
The mask stickers express the reasons for wearing masks visually attractive, friendly, and humorous. Face mask stickers became conversation starters and have effectively broken the ice between mask wearers and others.
Interactive Posters
Posters were designed to introduce the mask dilemma. The first poster introduced the cultural difference towards face masks. On the second poster, some common reasons for Asian people to wear masks are listed on the left side of the chart. On the right side, we listed a few situations where European people would wear a mask.
MEDIA EXPOSURE
The project was also cited by many media platforms:
