Explocare is an app for children aged 3-6 y.o to learn english by discovering new vocabulary from scanning their surrounding and using dictation with the help of audio-visual to keep them engaged.
Type
Study Case
Role
User experience, User Interface, Research
Duration
July - August 2022
Problem
Recognizing the importance of English in a globalized world, many parents are eager to start their children on the path to learning the language as early as possible, ensuring they capitalize on this golden phase of development.
Manage to optimize the early english learning during the golden phase
Making the most of the golden phase for early english learning Parents aim to optimize their child's language learning during this crucial period, but they face the challenge of balancing their time with their child's energy and curiosity.
Not all parents are native english speakers
Most parents want the best for their children, especially in language learning. They hope their kids will speak english fluently, even if they aren’t fluent themselves. However, they face limitations in how they can guide their children's english learning.
Accessing online entertainment: Too much screen time for children
Parents allow their children to access entertainment (e.g youtube kids), though each family has different rules for screen time. While this helps introduce English and basic learning, they are concerned about too much time spent watching with little interaction, as it can lead to a lack of active engagement.
Research
Parents' Interview: Supporting What's Best for Their Child
Talked to parents and gathered informations from different perspectives with parents who has children aged 3-6 years old.
They are concerned about starting to support their children in learning English from a young age, as this helps build habits and prepares them for the future
Children are highly curious and engaged with visual materials, so parents introduce English vocabulary through familiar objects in their environment
Parents are cautious about giving their children access to gadgets and allow their use only under supervision
"Let them (the kid) get familiar with English words so they won't feel overwhelmed when learning English in school."
“Start introduce english by learning some simple vocabulary or just as simple as yes or no conversation”
Desk Research
Golden age: a period for children experience a rapid and growth development
Critical Phase
As gold as its phase, this stage is often considered critical for setting the groundwork for lifelong learning and development - a good time to develop language skills, physical, emotional, social, and all the abilities of child.
Parents role
Parents play a crucial role in their children's language development. A child's cognitive and language growth is influenced by their environment and culture, with parents guiding and supporting them along the way.
Childs curiosity
Since children around that age already have natural curiosity, it's best to make the learning process even more engaging through cognitive development skills, physical factors and emotional factors
Analyzing Opportunities
How might we make english language learning more engaging for children's growth and development?
From:
Learning english from online entertainment but lacks of active engagement
Issue to gadget attachment and eyes issue as too many watching
To:
Learning English through interactive and engaging activities to boost children's cognitive and sensory development
Trigger the kids with their real life surrounding
Proposed Flow
Simple flow: Optimized the starter screen to be easily access and understandable for child
As the platform built for children at early stage under parents supervision, the flow created to be short and simple
Design Decisions
Visual consideration: Engaged Characters
I aimed to optimize the use of visual elements like images and symbols to support children's learning, as young children have limited vocabulary. I introduced five geometric characters to guide and engage children, making them feel accompanied and less bored.
Design Decisions
Build familiarity: Get used with wording in real environments
In order to create fun way in learning English, let the kids to have a familiarity with their surroundings. Because kids and parents have many interactions at home, I concerned to start learning vocabulary by discovering home area (under parents view)
Design Decisions
Introduction: Let’s start to explore
To let the kids understand the assignment, I use visual illustrations of stuffs they need to find and additional voice in a way communicating to give the instructions to kids before they are starting to explore any stuffs.
Design Decisions
Activity: Exploring time!
At the time the children starts exploring the stuffs, parents are supervising the activity. When a stuff is completed, there will be a little celebration for completing tasks as kids tend to love visual and auditory feedback and word summary to let kids be familiar.
Design Decisions
End: End is not an ending
When the children completed the explorations, a mini celebration given to the kids as as reward by using visual and auditory feedback to make them engaged and emotionally developed. A mini review with cards are also given to gain the words be familiar with the children
Prototyping
Aligning with Technical Team
As the app is using machine learning with real time condition, prototyping sessions collaborate with the tech team.
Usability Testing
Aligning with Technical Team
I conducted usability testing to three families as first testing and due to limited time the I and the team had, test was done through unmoderated usability testing method. I came directly to meet the parents and kids,
“I want to play the game again”
The kid found the excitement on exploring things with her mother supervising and by asking name of stuff she found
“It’s a good options made for kids to learn english in more fun way. What I love is, the kids have activity by exploring stuffs. Not only sitting with gadgets all day”.
A mother, give positive feedbacks along the features offered.
“It is good to build familiarity of the name of an object or stuff. But maybe, can make improvement for colors to be more brighten for children”
A father sends positive feedbacks with slight improvement in color interface as he and his wife tought children more engaged with a character or illustration that has contrast and bright color
Collected Key Points
Children tend to engaged with visual illustrations only and still needed parents to guide
A combination between the using of gadget and activity is rare in children app as this brings parent concerned
Needed further improvement in technical and interface
3/3 parents from three different families has positive feedbacks to Explocare to help kids learn english word
Reflection
What I learned
Designing for kids to keep them engaged
Kids design interface and flow are strictly adjusting with kids behavior, which is a big challenge for me because children tend to easily get bored and at certain age they not developed certain sensory or they are in progress development. Designing to kids and adult has many differences, include using the psychological consideration. The prototype to test to explore and validate user feedback is important for next improvement.