Senior Thesis

Slängo is a mobile application I designed after studying German dialects in my semester abroad in Würzburg, Bavaria.

The frustration I witnessed is similar to when you're an adult talking to high schoolers, and they are using new words for "cool", like "tight" and "sick". In germany, there are slang words like this for everything from potato soup, to sweater, to saying "I love you". The trouble comes when a native travels to a new region (for school, work, etc.) and is inevitably looking to understand the local dialect.

This is where Slängo comes in. Similar to the American search engine "Urban Dictionary", Slängo acts as a resource for understanding words and phrases popular in each region, or in each dialect. User-generated content is logged to create a visual for where and how certain words are used.

Design

For this project, I used Balsalmiq to create (test, and recreate) wireframes for my interface, and Adobe Illustrator to lay out individual frames.

Research included interviewing more than fifty German and international students, concerning dialects, mobile apps, specific language they use, learning preferences, and desire for help.