Project Overview
Project Title: Make the campus more friendly for visiting students from the aquatic kingdom of Atlantis
Course: COMP 4461 - Human-Computer Interaction
Objective: Design solutions to help Atlantean students (aquatic beings) integrate comfortably into HKUST campus life, addressing their unique physiological and cultural needs.
Methodology: Design Thinking Process (Empathy → Define → Ideate → Prototype → Test)
Learning & Execution Process
Mind Mapping & User Empathy
To better understand the needs of Atlantean students, our group started with a mind map exercise and empathy mapping. This helped us visualize what their daily lives might look like on campus and identify where the biggest gaps would be.
User Characteristics We Considered:
- Mermaid-like beings: with a human upper body but fish-like lower body, making land mobility more difficult.
- Amphibious creatures: able to live in both water and land, but requiring careful balance between the two environments.
- Fully aquatic beings: fish-like students with gills, who must remain in water most of the time.
- Moisture dependency: regardless of type, all Atlantean students need constant hydration to stay healthy.
Key Challenges We Identified:
- Communication: sonar-based language doesn't translate easily to air-based human speech, making class discussions and group work difficult.
- Dietary differences: Atlantean students may need seaweed, plankton, or other aquatic food not offered in HKUST canteens.
- Environmental comfort: classrooms and dorms are too dry for aquatic beings, leading to discomfort or even health issues.
- Mobility: stairs, buses, and other land-oriented infrastructure aren't suited for fins or non-leg-based movement.
- Social integration: language and cultural barriers could leave them feeling isolated during academic and social activities.
This process made us think not just about physical barriers, but also the emotional and cultural aspects of inclusion.
Our Mind Map Visualization
Below is our comprehensive mind map that explores all aspects of Atlantean student integration:
Point of View (POV) Development
This POV statement emerged from our empathy research, focusing on the most critical barrier preventing successful integration - communication.
Problem Prioritization
From our mind mapping exercise, we identified and prioritized the following key problems:
- Communication barriers - Sonar vs. human language incompatibility
- Environmental adaptation - Need for aquatic spaces and moisture
- Dietary accommodation - Aquatic food requirements
- Mobility accessibility - Campus infrastructure limitations
- Social integration - Cultural differences and isolation
Solution Development
Through collaborative ideation, we developed comprehensive solutions addressing each identified challenge:
🗣️ Communication Solutions
- Wearable Translation Necklace: Converts sonar signals to human speech and vice versa
- Mobile App Translator: Real-time sonar-to-text translation for smartphones
- Classroom Bubble Subtitles: Floating translation displays for lectures
- Language Exchange Program: Paired learning sessions between humans and Atlanteans
🍽️ Dietary Accommodation
- Aquatic Menu Options: Seaweed, plankton, and fish-based meals in dining halls
- Underwater Dining Areas: Submerged sections in restaurants
- Hydroponic Gardens: Fresh kelp and sea vegetable cultivation on campus
- Nutritional Supplements: Essential minerals and vitamins for land-based diet adaptation
💧 Environmental & Rest Solutions
- Water Lounges: Relaxation pools in academic buildings
- Hydration Pods: Enclosed water chambers for quick moisture replenishment
- Saltwater Stations: Different salinity levels throughout campus
- Climate-Controlled Study Rooms: High humidity environments for comfort
🏠 Housing Solutions
- Aquatic Dormitories: Partially or fully submerged living spaces
- Amphibious Rooms: Dual-environment accommodations
- Communal Water Spaces: Shared aquatic areas for socializing
- Emergency Dry Rooms: Temporary land-based accommodation when needed
🚶♂️ Transportation & Accessibility
- Amphibious Ramps: Water-accessible pathways between buildings
- Aquatic Lifts: Vertical transportation through water columns
- Mobility Assistance Devices: Fin-friendly movement aids for land navigation
- Campus Water Channels: Connected waterways for easy travel
🤝 Social Integration
- Mixed-Environment Events: Activities accommodating both aquatic and terrestrial participants
- Cultural Exchange Programs: Education about Atlantean customs and traditions
- Buddy System: Pairing Atlantean students with human mentors
- Inclusive Sports Programs: Water-based and hybrid athletic activities
AI Usage Documentation
ChatGPT Utilization:
- Mind Map Organization: Used ChatGPT to help structure and categorize our brainstorming results into coherent themes
- POV Statement Refinement: Assisted in crafting clear, actionable Point of View statements following design thinking methodology
- Solution Ideation: Generated additional creative solutions and helped expand on initial ideas
- Portfolio Framework Creation: Organized our group work into the structured P1.3 portfolio format
- Content Translation: Helped convert Chinese discussion notes into English presentation materials
AI was used as a supportive tool to enhance our creative process, not replace human insight and collaboration.
Personal Contributions & Achievements
In this project, I took the lead in analyzing the different types of Atlantean students, such as mermaids, amphibious beings, and fully aquatic creatures, to better understand their unique needs. I also proposed environmental solutions, including the idea of creating campus-wide water lounges and hydration stations to ensure comfort for aquatic students. During the mind map development, I helped organize the sections on communication and mobility challenges, which later became key focus areas for our group. In the class presentation, I supported the team by explaining communication solutions, while also contributing to the documentation process by turning our brainstorming discussions into more structured project deliverables. Additionally, I provided cross-cultural insights on how communication barriers between species could be addressed, which enriched our overall design perspective.
Personal Reflection
Through this project, I got hands-on experience with the full design thinking process, starting from empathizing with users, moving through ideation, and finally exploring possible solutions. It helped me realize that user experience challenges can be tackled more effectively when broken down step by step, instead of trying to solve everything at once.
The hardest part for me was shifting away from a purely human-centered mindset. Designing for Atlantean students meant imagining needs that are completely different from our own, and at times I caught myself making human-first assumptions without noticing. This exercise pushed me to think outside those limits.
One key takeaway was that unusual constraints like designing for aquatic beings can actually spark creativity and inspire ideas that might improve accessibility for everyone, not just a niche group. It showed me how important it is to do deep user research and to question everyday design norms.
If I had another chance, I would like to go further by creating quick prototypes and testing them with potential users or at least with peers acting as stand-ins. I also think our solutions could benefit from more detailed implementation plans to see how they might realistically fit into HKUST's campus environment.
Overall, I strengthened my teamwork and brainstorming skills, learned how to structure complex design problems more systematically, and gained more confidence in presenting unconventional ideas in a clear way.