Handy Helpers
In collaboration with Singapore Ministry of Manpower
My Role: Design Research, Ideation, Visual design
‘Handy Helpers’ is an information card game concept created for Singapore Ministry of Manpower (MOM) that intends to bridge the gap between MOM and foreign workers.
It contains gamified contents of the top 10 FAQs foreign workers may encounter while working in Singapore. There are two kinds of cards in a Handy Helpers pack, mainly the ‘Question card’ and the ‘Solution card’. Each ‘Question card’ represents a possible problem that foreign workers might face. It is accompanied by a set of ‘Solution cards’ that will provide a step-by-step guide to solving the problem.
In order for these foreign workers to easily understand the information, the contents are reframed to ones that are needs based and are further supplemented with illustrations.
Foreign Worker's Difficulties
Through research, we realised that many foreign workers visit MOM for general enquires. Even though answers are available on existing platforms such as the website, many of them approach MOM service centre because they face difficulties in understanding and accessing these channels.
Once a worker encounter a workplace problem, he is in a frantic mode and hence, the barriers to access these self-help channels will seemingly increase. The next step will be seeking help from MOM service center, in high hopes that his problems can be directly resolved. Through this project, we aim to bridge this gap through pre-empting the needs of these foreign workers by bringing them bite-sized information, that are easily digestible, before they face any problem.
How Handy Helpers Works
Handy Helper intends to be a tangible information channel that foreign workers have by their side. They can always refer to it for help when a problem arises, before approaching the service center in a state of panic.
Handy Helper will be distributed during MOM’s roadshows. During the roadshows, foreign workers will be ushered into a play area to experience the game. During the play session, MOM officers can further educate the foreign workers about the usage of Handy Helpers. They will be given a information card game each which they can bring back to play with their friends and share the knowledge. Whenever the worker faces problem, he will remember that he has these information card which he can refer to. He can then follow the procedures to solve his problem. If the scale of the problem is not solvable by the card, he can then approach the service center for help.
User Testing at Accacia Lodge
Through interviews and prototype testing at Accacia Lodge, ‘Handy Helpers’ proved to be a potential solution. During the prototype testing, we noticed that foreign workers were excited to share the information on it with other foreign workers.
Such discussion within the community can lead to active information dissemination amongst foreign workers, resulting in the not only the increase in knowledge of the work rights of the individual worker, but also the multiplier effect in the reaching out process. In addition, foreign workers lack entertainment in their dormitories, which ‘Handy Helpers’ can also help in filling that void.
