The topic of inclusion affects many areas and encounters many barriers. One of them is the barrier of language. But what does inclusion mean in this context and who is affected by it?

Using qualitative interviews, my project team and I explored what "language barrier" means to young international students and how it affects the lives of the interviewees. It was found that many exchange students do not feel confident during everyday tasks due to poor experiences interacting with interlocutors speaking other languages.

But why is it important to overcome this barrier? Language is part of a culture and without learned or technological means, language barriers cannot be overcome so easily and quickly that they no longer cause problems in everyday situations. It is much better to focus on overcoming cultural barriers in order to integrate the target group in the best possible way.

But how could international students be offered a more comfortable language environment so that they are more motivated to communicate and there is less fear of failure with the knowledge they have acquired so far? How do you make this target group feel less uncomfortable in this foreign environment?

I was able to explore this question in an interdisciplinary team together with students from the university's business department and, in my role as a design expert for information design, I was able to convey methods and principles of design, thus consulting on the feasibility of our conceived business model. While the business students' task was to plan a functioning business model and calculate its development and financing, I was able to concentrate fully on the creative part of problem solving.

On the one hand, this resulted in a delightful starter kit for exchange students, which is provided by the university and helps the incoming student to better prepare for the "culture shock" and the foreign environment.