Project brief
D U R A T I O N
9 months
Y E A R
52% 2024
Daycare centers turned educational hubs are small compact spaces that don’t offer enough space for young ones to learn comfortably. Add to this, overworked health workers playing the role of a teacher are undertrained in aiding children that young. Most parents skip out on sending kids to these centers regularly.
Designing at-home learning experiences aimed at catalyzing early childhood education.
Problem Space
To create a progressive web application that leverages AI to recommend lessons and engage with kids. It is designed to be a playful and usable interface specifically tailored for children aged 4-6. By Providing clear progress visualization for parents with low educational and digital literacy, we aim to build their confidence in supporting their children's learning journey at home.
R O L E
Product designer
Interaction designer
Illustrator
T O O L S
Figma
Adobe illustrator
T E A M
Product manager
Content experts
Developers
Animator
1.4 million engaged children, 60,000+ parent communities across 8 states in India.
When at home learning becomes crucial
Impact
3.5 million low-income children in India can't access quality early childhood education.
47% can't recognize a single letter of the alphabet when they enter first grade.
Increase in Daily Active Users (DUA)
Increase in parental adoption during pilot launch
35%
Limited Digital Literacy and Information Access
Parent communities have a fundamental desire for equal opportunities and school preparedness for their children. However, their lack of confidence in their ability to teach and access information dampens their efforts.
The final flow consists of the learning path, main home page, and parent hub. Gamification elements like badges and rewards enhance engagement, reflecting familiar game mechanics. The content library is structured into three core subjects—math, English, and cognition—for easy access and progression.
#1 The Learning path
Upon opening the app, parents get AI-driven daily activity recommendations tailored to their child's learning path. This helps parents guide their kids through new and remedial content without browsing the entire library.
#2 The AI Integrated couch
Meet Sher, an AI-powered coach who greets kids on the homepage, provides progress updates, and boosts engagement.
The centrally located window leads to the learning path, the green square opens the parent hub, and the purple rectangular door accesses the rewards page.
#3 The Reward Library
Sher delivers a personalized encouragement, addressing each child by name with every badge earned, inspiring them to keep learning.
These achievements are displayed in a panel, visually tracking their progress. Each badge is clickable, revealing details about the accomplishment.
Activity library
Displays content packets covering the full curriculum, guiding users toward mastery. Some content unlocks progressively, requiring completion of foundational material first.
#4 Parent resources
Includes subject progress trackers, valuable resources, and user settings. Parents can switch subjects and access the curriculum via the ‘view’ button to advance their child's learning.
Offers digital resources like expert videos, reading stories, and infographic cards with physical activities, providing support for tough topics and fostering engagement.
Design Solution
#4 Simple microInteractions
Every action includes prompt indicators, guiding the child through activities while fostering digital literacy over time.
A hand nudge appears during inactivity or random tapping to assist navigation. Testing revealed that adding audio instructions in the regional language is a key feature for better engagement.
Play builds agency
Research shows that digital play fosters individualism and confidence, which can influence different life areas. When children independently make decisions, even under adult supervision, they gain control and create personally meaningful outcomes.
The interviews were structured around several of these key questions-
What digital learning tools are already being used to aid learning?
How often do parents spend time with their child?
What activities do they frequently engage in?
What difficulties do they face when doing so?
When to kids feel happy, sad, laugh, be curious?
What media are children most influenced by and to what extent?
What forms of assistance is desired by parents and teachers?.
We also conducted,
3+
Foster relationships
Family participation in early education is key to creating a supportive learning environment for children, helping them tackle educational challenges positively.
rounds of Usability testing with
Support progress over completion
Boosting confidence and fostering a positive learning cycle requires consistent encouragement for both parents and children, valuing each small step towards significant milestones or mastery.
Interviews and A/B Testing
75+
kids aged 4-6 across
4
Design Principles
we tried to understand how a four year old thinks!
districts in India
But most importantly,
Our initial hypothesis was that parents could gain advantage from a child-centric solution that would address their frustrations. Through the identification of pain points, I was able to establish key areas around which features could be built to do so, while also aligning with our product vision.
User Research
Our journey was far from linear. We began by creating rapid mockups for user testing in the early stages, and the feedback we received informed our ideation phase. We explored various digital gestures and onboarding flows, through A/B tests before proceeding to the design phase. Gathering qualitative data played a crucial role in refining the interface design.
Collating data from the user testing of earlier mockups and working with pedagogy experts, helped define the sitemap and strengthen the overall framework.
I sketched out concepts for the design solution, keeping in mind the various project features we wanted to incorporate and aligning them with the project goals. We conducted co-designing sessions with pedagogy experts to get their perspective on the overall theme and flow of the learning content.
As the project was in its pilot phase, our team was quite small. I was also the sole designer at the time. My role involved not only creating interactive prototypes but also understanding the objectives of the leadership team and handling the necessary documentation for effective communication with the development team. Essentially, I assumed multiple responsibilities.
Ideation
Information Architecture
Concept Sketches
Wireframing
Visual Design exploration
Creating a colorful and engaging environment for children aiming to ensure a pleasurable experience during their interactions with digital media resulted in the development of five distinct characters, along with a vibrant and inviting palette.
F O N T
G L Y P H S
These characters were designed based on insights we got from user testing with kids. I conceptualized and illustrated the animals they most resonated with most bringing Sher and his friends to life.
Challenges
Since the current WhatsApp product is accessible and scalable, we hesitated to develop a new product from scratch due to insufficient data supporting a large scale adoption. However, it was absolutely necessary to address the limitations of our current model. I was part of three in- person prototype testing where I had the chance to personally have my designs evaluated by children ages 4-8. This was crucial and enlightening for me, but the urge to revise existing designs based on every small observation and insight was challenging, especially considering the varying digital literacy and foundational knowledge in the communities we worked with. For the pilot, my team and I made informed, time-sensitive decisions to ensure a timely launch.
What I would do differently
Across many user testing, the product requirements continued to change and so did the design of the interfaces themselves. Following short iterative processes is more beneficial than nailing the perfect solution across a long period of time. It became important to learn how to effectively manage design tradeoffs, especially when pushing for the development of certain finer features.
What I would do again
User testing throughout the product definition and design stages was crucial. Without it, we might have spent considerable time developing a product that appealed to us but failed to resonate with our audience. Each user testing session deepened my connection with the users, helping me to develop a unique lens for designing in this context.