Culture Quilt
Cultural Intelligence Lab Project

Lab Project  ✦  1 Month   ✦   Designers + Researchers   ✦   Cultural Intelligence   ✦   Card Game   ✦   WebDesign
Lab Project  ✦  1 Month   ✦   Designers + Researchers   ✦   Cultural Intelligence   ✦   Card Game   ✦   WebDesign
Lab Project  ✦  1 Month   ✦   Designers + Researchers   ✦   Cultural Intelligence   ✦   Card Game   ✦   WebDesign
Lab Project  ✦  1 Month   ✦   Designers + Researchers   ✦   Cultural Intelligence   ✦   Card Game   ✦   WebDesign
Lab Project  ✦  1 Month   ✦   Designers + Researchers   ✦   Cultural Intelligence   ✦   Card Game   ✦   WebDesign

Our team created a board game concept and a landing page that helps teams strengthen their cultural intelligence. Having a high level of cultural intelligence can foster an environment of empathy and understanding, which will lead to a better way of working together. As an international team with various backgrounds, this topic was close to our hearts.

1
Introduction
The challenge

Diverse teams can be a blessing but can make things more difficult at the same time. As a multicultural company, this was something we had dealt with too. We decided to find ways to make diverse teams better at understanding each other and working well with clients from different backgrounds.

Goal of the project

We aimed to address the diversity within the team by enhancing cultural intelligence. We also aimed to improve the team's collaborative dynamics and the effectiveness of working together.

Triple Diamond Framework
2
Discovery Sprint
Understand and define

Our primary objective was to understand cultural intelligence in general and identify a problem. We employed Desk Research, interviews with experts and the target audience, and competitor analysis.

Expected Outcome

• Clear problem statements
• List of user needs
• Insights into the target audience’s behaviors and preferences

Techniques

• Desk Research
• Interviews with experts
• Interviews with the target audience
• Competitor analysis

Issue mapping in FigJam board
We mapped the issues found

As our research progressed, we identified various problem areas that impact the diverse cultures present at UX Studio today. We explored scenarios related to cultural biases:

• Individuals from different countries join the company
• Challenges when colleagues from foreign countries visit (in our case, Hungary)
• Complications in working with international clients.

After thorough analysis and prioritization, we found the core problem to solve.

We stated our “How Might We” Question
How might we develop and cultivate cultural intelligence competencies within the workspace to promote inclusivity, understanding, and effective communication across diverse teams?
3
Design Sprint
Ideate, decide, prototype and validate

After identifying the problem, a team of designers started ideating on completely different solutions. Our goal was clear: to create a product that could improve cultural intelligence within diverse teams.

The question was how. We came up with 3 different proposals, showing different directions:

3 proposals we came up with: Culture Connect, Connectwise, and CQ Draw.
Results

In the validation stage, we presented these ideas to a fictional stakeholder within our company. This step was crucial in making informed decisions based on the received feedback.

We needed to know if any of these directions were viable. In case they weren’t, how might we change directions to come up with something that actually worked?

4
Iteration
Re-ideate, decide, prototype and validate

We built on and shifted the virtual game concept, keeping the gamification element to engage people in exploring cultural intelligence. We ditched screens and cultural facts, opting for a card game instead.

Back to brainstorming, we focused on designing an office-friendly card game to improve understanding and teamwork. We came up with three ideas, quickly testing them with potential users for initial feedback.

We had 3 different physical card game ideas: MyMean, Luminae and Culture Quilt
5
Outcome
The winning idea: Culture Quilt

The game is designed for diverse teams who wish to enhance collaboration and establish common ground among teammates. In CultureQuilt, users can explore a variety of introspective questions that encourage cultural exchange among colleagues. With unique covers on each card, when answered and placed somewhere, they gradually form a vibrant quilt. And each time played, the participating team will create a new pattern.

The final product

We finalized the design of both physical and virtual cards, along with a website to promote the product. We created a colorful and fun aesthetic by turning simple shapes into compositions and using vibrant colors with a brutalist style. The website offers users a sneak peek of the game, while those interested can also register for early access to either the physical or virtual deck formats. The design direction was based on UX Studio's identity. 

You can find the end result below.

CultureQuilt is a physical card game that fosters empathy and understanding.Pictures from the culturequilt website which showcases the physical game and other aspects of it.Visual illustration of the unique card designs and how they make a quilt.