Gamification in Jellow App
Many children with learning disabilities face significant challenges within the traditional education system, primarily attributed to their short attention spans. This difficulty impedes their learning process. In response to this pressing issue, I decided to design a fun and engaging learning experiences for these kids as a part of my studio project. I conducted user research with kids and parents to delve deeper into the problem. I leveraged those insights and encoding (memorizing) techniques like self-referencing and semantic encoding to design visually appealing storyline to help them in learning & memorizing new sentences.
DURATION
12 months
MY ROLE
Product Designer at Postman
METHODS
Semi-structured User Interviews, Wireframing, Rapid Prototyping, High-Fidelity Prototyping, Usability Testing
Problem Statement
The Jellow app is designed to support children with speech and language difficulties by enabling them to communicate through icons. For instance, when a child selects the icon for "mango" along with a happy emoji, the app verbalizes the sentence, "I like mango."
Using insights from primary and secondary research, I identified the following challenges in the current app:
Low Self-Initiation
Children often need parental encouragement to use the app, as it lacks the ability to naturally motivate them to engage independently
Lack of Engagement
The app’s repetitive tasks fail to maintain long-term interest, offering little challenge, which is critical considering their shorter attention spans.
Goal
Solution
After several round of iterations and testing, we finalized the design for MVP of new authorization experience. Following is the before and after comparison:
Impact
We received positive feedback from the producers on how these summary emails are beneficial for them to understand and measure their consumer’s interaction with their APIs.
Research
I focused on understanding children's mental learning models, observing interactions that spark joy and excitement, and discussing challenges with parents. These insights provided crucial context and shaped the foundation for our design.
Understanding the learning process of kids
I analyzed all the data collected during my research. This data not only helped me comprehend the key goals of producers but also enabled me to identify the key parameters necessary to achieve these goals.
Symbols and Images Enhance Learning
Symbolic thinking, using words and pictures to represent objects and concepts, fosters deeper understanding and manipulation of ideas.
Multisensory Learning Boosts Attention
Combining visual, auditory, and kinesthetic elements improves focus, particularly for children with learning and speech challenges.
Semantic Encoding Improves Retention
Associating meaning with information or relating it to personal experiences strengthens memory, making it more effective.
Talking to parents in online sessions
I analyzed all the data collected during my research. This data not only helped me comprehend the key goals of producers but also enabled me to identify the key parameters necessary to achieve these goals.
The problem is that it requires the parents to continuously identify the situations in which they can plug in Jellow App. This is not possible all the time.
Design Opportunities
After gathering a lot of data, we analyzed each of them and synthesized them to articulate our insights. These insights would further act as a source of opportunity areas for me.
Symbols and Images Enhance Learning
To establish a way of learning style that provides a gradual increase in attention and sensory perceptions.
Multisensory Learning Boosts Attention
A system that helps them in storing more information easily.
Semantic Encoding Improves Retention
Providing fun and engaging way of learning by incorporating various media.
Symbols and Images Enhance Learning
Developing a story in the game such that they could relate to themselves while learning.
Multisensory Learning Boosts Attention
Empower their learning process and allow them to express and mold the things on their own.
Semantic Encoding Improves Retention
Providing fun and engaging way of learning by incorporating various media.
Explorations
To get higher-level design ideas out quickly without worrying much about the implementation, I created several sketches of the game, keeping the research insights in my mind, and filtered the best three. Following are some of the ideas:
Painting with the help of food materials
Since kids enjoy creative activities, we can turn food into a fun art project. For example, we can sketch a smiley face with features like eyes, a nose, and a mouth made of rice. Kids can "color" the sketch using food items like onion slices for the eyes, vegetables, or cooked dishes. When they place the correct item in the right spot, the app will verbalize its name, reinforcing learning through play.
Jumping on the letters
Kids can select any sentence or write any sentence as input to the game. The letters of those sentences would be arranged on the ground. Now, each letter would act like a block on which the mascot will jump, and after jumping off the last letter of a particular word, it will pronounce the whole word. The task of the game would be to reach the end of the sentence by crossing various hurdles.
Jumping and eating
This game is inspired by a kid's daily meals—breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Similar to Mario, the game mascot collects favorite foods while avoiding disliked ones. Players use left, right, and jump controls to grab the correct foods hanging from the ceiling. After each bite, the game gives fun feedback like, "Yumm! I need more apples." If the mascot eats disliked food, the game ends.
Choosing the right one
I evaluated the brainstorming ideas with my professor's help to reach the best possible solution that aligns with our research and the goal we were trying to accomplish.
Visual Design System
After conducting usability testing, I analyzed all the data and did the affinity mapping to highlight the following issues in the key flows:
Designing the mascot
To make a simplistic and playful game, I tried to filter down the actions(state) and focus on three states. Three rest positions are rest, walking, and jumping. Following are the skeletons of all the actions and their corresponding illustrations.
Designing the background
The game's background is designed to resemble an Indian kitchen, creating a familiar and relatable setting for kids to enhance their learning. Subtle colors were used to keep the focus on the main elements: the mascot and the food. Below are the rough sketches and final illustrations of the kitchen.
Final Design
After conducting usability testing, I analyzed all the data and did the affinity mapping to highlight the following issues in the key flows:
Description of game
The mascot begins by saying what it wants to eat, such as: "I want to eat 4 oranges." After eating one, it says, "I want to eat 3 more oranges," and so on until it eats the last orange. If the mascot eats a disliked food, the game ends with a message like: "Eww! I don't want to eat eggs." Once the mascot eats all its favorite foods, the game progresses to the next level, such as moving from "Breakfast" to "Lunch."
Verbally stating the goal
After selecting the liked and disliked food above, the above screen appears, the goal of this level appears at the bottom, and the game verbalizes the goal.
Controls of the game
The game features three actions: Move Right, Move Left, and Jump. Kids can combine these actions to choose and eat food. Buttons use images of real actions instead of arrows, making them easier to understand and relatable for kids.
Reflections
As my undergraduate capstone project, this experience taught me the importance of understanding the behavior of children, especially those with learning disabilities, while setting aside assumptions. For instance, while adults can intuitively grasp the functionality of arrow keys for controls, this might not be as clear or intuitive for kids.
The project also helped me hone my ability to generate diverse creative ideas and evaluate them critically. It was a valuable exercise in identifying the best solutions by staying focused on the goals we aimed to achieve.
OTHER PROJECTS
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2024 Ravi Jangir. All Rights Reserved.
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