Welcome to KTH: designing a tool for sustainable integration of international students : Case Study

Sammanfattning: This study aims to present a design for a tool for sustainable integration of international students at KTH in Stockholm, Sweden. Integration has 3 main parts, social integration which is interaction with natives, structural which is concerned with a civic number, a job, and last but not least cultural integration which deals with customs, traditions, and religion. The tool has two main features, both of which are aiming to create favourable conditions for all three subsets of integration. The tool was developed by conducting 18 interviews, two rounds of prototyping and two rounds of user testing. It is made out of two main parts, namely informational and social. The information provided is both structural about institutions and getting around, whereas also information about cultural events, attendance at these by international students has the potential to strengthen social integration as well. The social part is designed as a 1-on-1 randomised chat that aims to encourage forming new friendships between international students and natives. This part allows new students to ask questions about anything, the process will get them randomly assigned to any native who shall answer which will create favourable conditions for forming new friendships between newcomers and natives.