Dot Canvas
Design of Tactile Graphic Authoring Tool for Dot Pad
ORGANIZATION
Dot Inc.
YEAR
2023 (1y)
ROLE
UX 디자이너
기여
50%
RESPONSIBILITIES
Wireframe, GUI Design, UX Research
WITH
김승환 (서비스 기획자), 주백준 (GUI 디자이너)
KEYWORDS
accessibility, tactile graphic, design tool, GUI design
PROBLEM
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Visually impaired students rely on tactile graphics in braille textbooks or separate tactile teaching aids to access graphic information, as they cannot directly see visual content. However, the availability of these tactile materials is severely limited in the current educational landscape.
Producing and managing tactile graphics for braille textbooks is a complex task, and it is impossible to include all the visuals from original textbooks, leaving students with only partial access to the content. The situation for tactile teaching aids is even more challenging. Many teachers try to create their own aids to bridge the learning gap, but these efforts demand considerable time, financial resources, and often result in materials that lack durability, making long-term management difficult. Consequently, these limitations reduce learning opportunities for visually impaired students and place a heavy burden on educators.
To address these challenges, there is a pressing need for a more efficient solution that can provide tactile graphics in a sustainable and accessible way.
APPROACH
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To address the challenges faced by visually impaired individuals in creating and accessing tactile graphics, Dot developed Dot Canvas, a platform compatible with the *Dot Pad. Dot Canvas is available as both a web and mobile application, offering an easy-to-use tool for non-experts to create and share tactile graphics seamlessly.
The web platform allows users to intuitively design tactile graphics and share them through cloud storage, making resource sharing accessible to all. The mobile app, optimized for iPad, enhances the creation process with touch controls and Apple Pencil support, offering an intuitive, hands-on experience. Additionally, it integrates accessibility features like VoiceOver and Live Drawing, enabling visually impaired users to create tactile graphics independently.
By providing these features, Dot Canvas aims to lower the barriers to creating tactile educational materials, fostering a more sustainable and inclusive tactile learning environment.
*Dot Pad: A tactile display device designed for the visually impaired.
DOT CANVAS WEB
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Effortless and Versatile Tactile Graphic Creation : Dot Canvas Web is a web-based tool designed for users of all skill levels to easily create tactile graphics. It provides a range of editing features and advanced options, such as the ability to insert PDFs and images, allowing for more sophisticated and detailed content creation.
Cloud-Based Storage and Seamless Sharing : With Dot Cloud, you can securely store your tactile graphics and access them anytime, anywhere. The public drive feature also enables easy sharing of your creations and facilitates the management of long-term tactile graphic resources.
Collaborative Experience with Multiple Dot Pads : Dot Canvas Web supports connection with up to 10 Dot Pads, allowing for simultaneous output of the same content. This feature fosters real-time interaction, enabling multiple users to engage with and explore tactile graphics together.
DOT CANVAS APP
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Intuitive Creation with Touch and Apple Pencil : The Dot Canvas App is a touch-based tool optimized for iPad, providing an intuitive tactile graphic creation experience. You can easily design graphics using touch controls and the precision of the Apple Pencil for a more natural, hands-on approach.
Cloud Integration for Easy Content Management and Sharing : With Dot Cloud, you can store your tactile graphics and access them at any time. The app’s public drive functionality allows for collaborative sharing, making it easier to accumulate and distribute tactile materials across users.
Inclusive Experience for All Users : The Dot Canvas App supports Apple’s VoiceOver and Live Drawing features, ensuring that visually impaired individuals can directly participate in tactile graphic creation. This integration provides a unique, sensory experience for users to draw, feel, and enhance their tactile perception.
IMPLEMENTATION
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Screen Design and GUI Design Using Figma : Building on user research insights, I led the screen and GUI design process for Dot Canvas using Figma. The UI was optimized to enhance intuitiveness and user convenience, strategically arranging functions to improve the overall user experience. This design approach enabled both teachers and visually impaired students to easily create and manage tactile graphics through a streamlined, user-friendly interface.
User Study Through Diverse UX Research Methods : I actively engaged in various user research opportunities, collecting feedback and analyzing the real-world usage environments of users. In South Korea, where in-person observation was possible, we conducted field studies. For international users, we used surveys and diary studies to understand the challenges faced by special education teachers and visually impaired students in creating tactile graphics. The data gathered during this phase became critical for user-centered UI/UX design, offering valuable insights to address the initial canvas’s design issues.
Efficient Collaboration and Documentation with Developers : To ensure seamless communication with the development team, I meticulously documented the screen designs and managed project tasks using JIRA. This process enabled clear and effective collaboration, allowing the team to quickly address technical issues and make necessary adjustments. As a result, we successfully improved Dot Canvas’s functionality and maintained a smooth release schedule throughout the project.
IMPACT
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Enhancing Educational Opportunities for the Visually Impaired : The introduction of Dot Canvas has significantly improved the educational environment for visually impaired students. By integrating this technology into their learning, students gained better access to educational content, while teachers benefitted from more efficient material management and supportive tools. As a result, Dot Canvas has enhanced educational opportunities for visually impaired students, making a notable contribution to the overall improvement of education quality.
Revenue Growth and Attraction of Investment : Dot Canvas has played a pivotal role in driving revenue growth and attracting new investments. Since its launch, demand within the visually impaired education market has surged, contributing to the company’s achievement of over 10 billion KRW in annual revenue in both 2023 and 2024. Leveraging this growth, the company successfully attracted additional investments totaling approximately 15 billion KRW.
Global Market Expansion and Strategic Collaborations : Dot Canvas has been featured at several international exhibitions, demonstrating the potential of Dot Pad and its impact on the educational market. Notably, after winning an award at CES 2024, Dot Canvas gained worldwide recognition for its technological innovation, opening doors for collaboration opportunities at major international events such as CSUN 2024. These engagements have not only boosted revenue growth but also paved the way for the company’s entry into global markets, fostering new partnerships with educational institutions around the world.
REFLECTION
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Balancing Speed and Long-Term Quality
The Dot Canvas project was a demanding endeavor, with the ambitious goal of releasing demo versions of both the web and app within a short timeframe. At that point, our team lacked personnel with extensive experience, yet we were still tasked with delivering usable outcomes in just three months. To meet this challenge, we worked closely together to rapidly develop prototypes and adopted an execution-focused approach. During this period, I significantly strengthened my practical skills in UX design, cross-functional collaboration, and project management.
However, the limitations of fast-paced execution became evident. While we met our short-term goals, the design—lacking adequate scalability considerations—required extensive modifications during the maintenance phase. Additionally, due to the absence of a strong focus on product excellence, certain aspects of the user experience fell short of expectations. This experience highlighted the critical importance of balancing speed with quality in UX design.
Despite these challenges, it was rewarding to see users derive real value from Dot Canvas. User studies provided valuable, direct feedback, which informed improvements and reinforced the understanding that UX design is a constantly evolving process. Moving forward, I plan to approach UX design more thoughtfully, balancing the urgency of short-term goals with a focus on long-term scalability and maintainability.