The design thinking behind KnowRoots' personality quiz — and why we believe “play” can be a gateway to culture.
When the idea of a personality quiz was first pitched internally, it was met with mixed reactions.
"Isn't this a bit... trivial?" one team member asked. "We're talking about real communities, real people — and we're going to turn them into artificial datasets?"
It was a fair challenge. And we took it seriously.
Instead of viewing the quiz as a simplified or diluted shortcut to culture, we saw it as an opportunity. This fun and familiar format could be our first step toward something much more significant. A gateway to experience the values, memories and way of life of the Karen and Hmong communities.
Cultural understanding goes beyond historical facts. Leafing through an archive can tell us what happened and who was involved, but culture is not something to be recited. It is something to be encountered.
Through play, we hope to create a small moment of encounter. As you embark on this journey through the forest of Chiang Mai with us, live it. The questions are not tests for you to score. They are an open space to feel, imagine and reflect. Embrace both the familiar and the unfamiliar, the comfort and even the discomfort.
These emotional responses are crucial. They are manifestations of your own cultural interpretation. They reveal how your encounter with culture is not passively received. More so, they come alive when you bring yourself in relation with it.
The quiz result is not a fixed label. It is neither the final answer nor a definitive map of who you are.
It is a beginning.
Every question was shaped by our very own experiences during our field trip to the forests of Chiang Mai. Every archetype emerged from the conversations, observations, and months of research that made up our lived encounter with the communities. These archetypes are not stereotypes. They are distillations of the communal values, practices and ways of being in the world. They were designed with love and respect in honour of the Karen and Hmong communities who have so generously hosted us and shared their stories.
So embark on this journey with us. Play it, reflect on it, live it. And let it bring you to somewhere new.
May a new connection await you at the end of the experience.