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For the purpose of the online portfolio, confidential information had been obfuscated. The full case study for individual project will not be disclosed due to confidentiality.
How might we strategically design for optimal learning and engagement among children?
Between Dec 2015 - Dec 2017, I have been the solo UX designer in startup who have led the conceptualisation of Gebiz design proposals to clinch contractual awards from reputable educations institutions.
As mentioned due to the nature of contractual project constraints, primary user research was not made possible. Following the requirements gathering from stakeholder interviews with primary school teachers, I went to deep dive into the plethora of educational apps targeted at children to elicit key attributes which defines an optimal usage experience for our target group. I began with the following question:
From the literature review of children educational apps across the market, these were some of the key identified attributes which we will consequentially incorporate into our final designs. There's limitations of children's dexterity control thus, interfaces need to take into considerations multi-touch and collaborative interactions which are fundamentally less complex to ease the interactions on a digital device.
As our predominant target user group involves the younger audience, we draw on the study of visual library and character engagement. Below were the first series of the characters that were developed and drawn on illustrator to capture some of the characters' energy to engage with our target users (children aged 7-10 years old).
The first series of characters explored. However, it lacks a personal touch :(
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Besides the visual library, I curated a reference library of possible engagements to explore different mundane checkpoints that could be translated into interaction opportunities with users.
These creative exercises were intended to stretch our creativity and not specific to app
Leveraging on the curation of creative resources, I pieced the puzzle pieces together and de-fragment the learning experience with storyboarding and persona analysis.
I began to question myself what's some of the definitive factors which represents the identify of this app and streamlined these aspects as captured in the diagram below. Besides, to facilitate in the learning experience, activities and questions are intertwined in a role play format to effectively engage with the students.
The learning goals were streamlined in discussions with Greenwood Primary School teachers to ensure compliance to curriculum
One of the key aspect of this history learning app includes conversational dialogues alongside the characters to bring students through a comic-style learning journey. Below are snippets of the conversations crafted for the app.
The content was curated alongside teachers in Greenwood Primary School
Character illustrations were carefully examined and detailed to capture intricate emotions and expressions to communicate beyond just words.
Customisation to the character's uniforms and branding evokes a sense of familiarity
Final UI screens were tested directly on Xcode auto layout to manage adaptation of UI elements on different mobile screen sizes and resolutions. UI elements changes were adapted on the fly based on the trial and error on Xcode.
Below are some sample snapshots of the learning app for Greenwood Primary School students. Main considerations include children's dexterity and motor limitations. Therefore, simple gestures like tap and swipe were integrated to allow students to navigate easily between pages. Moreover, I had also increased the target size to ensure students had optimal bandwidth to touch and activate specific call to action buttons etc.
The freedom of experimentation in a start-up has been both a tremendous challenge and rewarding learning experience. Honestly as a new UX designer in the industry during my stint with DWS, it had been an unwinding path of trial and errors as well as road bumps along the way. Besides, there isn't a straightforward path to successful design of a 0>1 product. However, we can continue to increase the depth of engagement while considering the broader ecosystem of usage within the education system where apps can be intertwined with the course of a student's holistic learning journey.
