Exploring Sky Country
with StarLore
Solo UX Design Project - 2024
UX/UI personal project over 6 months
Role
Design a personal project following Double Diamond principles from end to end to produce a prototype
What is StarLore's purpose?
StarLore's purpose was to be a stargazing app that centres on Australian Indigenous Knowledge of astronomy and how it links to Sky, Land and Sea. The app would highlight Indigenous stars, constellations and their intricate stories rather than focussing on western astronomy which all current apps rely on.
Why NOW?
With a growing interest in Indigenous knowledge worldwide, there is a desire more to share the First Astronomers perspective and knowledge base and how it ties into and differs from modern western astronomy.
There is also a growing desire to preserve the rich and complex oral history of First Nations Elders. To celebrate how these stories link Sky to Land and Sea, how they celebrate the seasons, provide navigation and more.
Is this a viable concept?
The concept for this app needed to be researched looking at both direct and indirect competitors to see if something already exists in this space or if there is the potential for a bigger player to enter.
The only app with 'Sky Cultures' was Stellarium. They feature cultures from all over the world, but with only a very brief synopsis accompanying each one. The in-depth history and connection to stories is missing.
I also needed to speak with experts in Cultural Astronomy, specifically from an Australian Indigenous view.
I was lucky to connect with an Associate Professor in Melbourne specialising in this area, who referred me
to two other experts in this space, an Indigenous arts specialist and a PhD student finalising his thesis on the Wiradjuri culture and adding artist Scott 'Sauce' Towney's artistic representations to Stellarium an open-source planetarium software.
Through this in-depth research, my theory that this space was underrepresented was correct. But even more exciting is the real desire for an app to be developed in-conjunction with other Cultural Astronomy projects.
Who would use StarLore?
My research led me to realise there are potentially multiple users that would use an Indigenous stargazing app, in different scenarios and settings. In further conversations with the users I interviewed, it was clear that this app should be designed with an Astronomy Enthusiast/Student as the primary user, but with the possibility of future iterations to expand it as a reference tool for researchers, astronomers, educators and elders.
Designing for interactive play
It was time to figure out how the user might interact with the app initially and what would keep them coming back. This was achieved through ideation sessions - generating How Might Wes, having fun with Crazy 8s, and drawing quick storyboards.
The next step was working through several iterations of how a user might navigate through the StarLore app.
The user flow helped me work out simple wireframes to begin interpreting how it would work on screens.
Creating an exploratory-game like app with multiple layers of learning built in
Researching other stargazing apps, it was clear that stargazing apps need to have dark colour palettes with
night mode function, so as not to interfere with a users experience of viewing the night sky while using the app as a companion and reference. The colour palette also should reflect Indigenous 'Night Sky' artworks.
In further discussion with my industry contacts, we discussed the scope of my personal project and what could initially be included in the prototype in the timeframe allocated, as well as potential further development.
As this was as personal student project, I was allowed to use artwork by Indigenous artist, Scott 'Sauce' Towney.
I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to showcase his work in the prototype.
The Emu in the Sky
Have you heard the story about the Celestial Emu? No? Well, sit back and relax.
Learn about the Emu and other stories in the NEW StarLore app! Use it while out enjoying the night sky,
and learn about the stars and constellations through the lens of Australian Indigenous astronomy.
Welcome to the StarLore app
• View the Night Sky through an Indigenous Astronomy lens
• Read, Listen or View stories linking Sky Country to Land & Sea
• What's Visible Tonight, Calendar of Events & Mood Boards
Goals for the future
Initial testing with StarLore had promising results. It scored 90% in usability and over 70% task success.
As I did not have access to the software for real-time or planetarium views of constellations, I created visuals by overlaying the constellation artworks over night sky images, to give the user an idea of what is possible.
As this was a personal project, it could stop here. But my end goal would be to see StarLore developed into a standalone educational stargazing app - with layers of interactivity that unlock the Australian Cultural Astronomy knowledge passed down for generations through Indigenous Elders.
It would be a project developed with the involvement of Indigenous Elders, communities, artists and students.
I would love to see it become a digital companion to a new book in development 'Welcome to Sky Country' -
to tap into its stories, photography and art with links to museums, galleries, planetariums, night sky events and more to create an immersive journey of discovery. It is certainly worth exploring.
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