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Chiang Po Yi, a graduate student from the Department of Design, received the 2017 Red Dot Design with a sign language learning app MGISL. This is his second award related to sign language and the first one was from the International Design Award in 2013. He became a designer by coincidence. According to Chiang, designing is not only for the product but to see the problem and solves it. The reason for him to design the app is that hearing impaired people are misunderstood because of lack of communication. By learning sign language with MGISL, the gap can be shortened. 

 

MGISL is an app which helps users to learn the international sign language Gestuno by use of animated graphics. Contrary to films, this graphic memory method facilitates learning, since unnecessary interference by image noise is avoided. The user can totally concentrate on the signs shown and thus memorize them better. Now the app is available for free at App store. When entering a word, a flash is showed to demonstrate how to say in in sign language.

Chiang has worked as a designer for 10 years. He was interested in music and arts when he was young, but he studied design in high school. It was his hard work that made him an award winning designer today. 

Chiang has learned sign language because he wanted to design an app for it. He make friends with hearing impaired people and ask for their ideas when designing. It took him two years to develop this app. His friends think that it’s really a cool idea to learn sign language with an app and it’s available to the public. Chiang said that those who want to learn sign language mostly learn from sign language teachers, but with an app, more and more people can have access to sign language learning.