Kidscriptz Case Study.pdf
- 1. Case Study: KidScriptz A Reader’s Theater App for Young Students (targeted for ages 6-8)
- 2. Vision Statement Our product will improve reading for young users by making reading fun, interactive and collaborative. Our product, KidScriptz, a reader’s theater app, will allow students to roleplay with other people whether it's a student, teacher, or friend using scripts created from grade level books and stories. This will improve fluency, reading expression, and comprehension. The target age range is 6-8 with basic reading skills. We know our product will work when we see an improvement in reading levels among young users. Problem According to an Edweek.org article, more than 30% of children who started school during the Pandemic needed “intensive” reading assistance. The article also included that “more than 1 in 2 children in kindergarten through grade 3 have little chance of reading on grade level by the end of the school year without major and systemic intervention”. For children to continue to grow as readers, reading needs to be inviting, fun, and achievable. Solution Create a reading app that makes reading enjoyable, interactive, and gives students the choice of working autonomously or collaboratively. My Role UX Research, UX/UI Design, Prototyping, Usability Testing Timeframe 6 weeks (Jun 2022- July 2022) Discover
- 3. Prototype
- 10. as Define
- 11. Research and Planning Strengths: ● large collection of digital books ● teachers and parents can assign books to read ● different types of media related to education available ● can search by grade level ● read aloud option for digital books Weaknesses: ● log in challenging for young users ● not text for audio books ● progress tracking can be stressful for struggling readers. Strengths: ● helps children read independently ● multi language ● large collection of books from around the world ● requires minimus parent instructions and supervision ● simple UI Weaknesses: ● only available in android ● only available for small screen devices ● not basic learning (Direct) Epic Books (Direct)Read Along by Google (Indirect) ABCmouse Strengths: ● parent section unlock code ● has learning paths ● large collection of books ● has extra features like games and virtual pets Weaknesses: ● difficult to cancel subscription ● according to reviews, very repetitive activities (kids getting bored quickly) Epic is the leading digital reading platform—built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world’s best publishers—that safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under. Read Along is a free reading app for Android that helps children have fun while they learn to read. Read Along has an in-app reading buddy that listens to your young learner read aloud, offers assistance when they struggle and rewards them with stars when they do well – guiding them along as they progress. It works best for children who already have some basic knowledge of the alphabet. ABCMouse is an online learning program for children ages 2 to 8 years old that’s available on iOS and Android devices. ABCMouse has thousands of activities that teach subjects such as math, reading, social studies and art.
- 12. Children vs. Adult Design “When using an app, adults are more interested in a task-oriented approach, meaning they know what they want to accomplish and they want to do it fast and easy. Children on the other hand, prefer an experience-oriented approach; they are in it for the journey, not much for the result.” Rubens Cantuni, Designing Digital Products for Kids Ideate
- 13. Age Level Considerations Debra Levin Gelman, Design for Kids Define Since designing for children is very different from designing for adults, I decided to focus more on the age considerations than an empathy map during the define stage.
- 14. Paper Wireframes Prototype Here I quickly drew out screens. I also considered an adult security code for changing settings or adding payment information. Also I included the ability of users to invite their friends to roleplay.
- 15. Low Fidelity Wireframes ● I tried to keep it consistent between screens and used large fonts and colors. ● Since children like to see what different buttons can do (explore) on apps, I made sure to add a home button and back button to easily navigate if they get off task. Define Prototype
- 16. High Fidelity Wireframes Define Prototype Created on Figma. I shared this high fidelity design with Women in Edtech Facebook Group. One Instructional Designer was very kind and offered some suggestions to make the design more accessible and organized. ● Increase color contrast on text and icons (check on Color Contrast Analyser) ● Add profile and password icons for struggling readers ● Improve text organization on the ‘Line Practice’ page and ‘Script Description’ page ● Match orientation of graphics on every page for continuity ● Widen navigation bar at the bottom
- 17. Design Changes Improvements for accessibility and organization Iterate
- 18. Design Changes Improvements for accessibility and organization Iderate
- 19. Usability Testing Chloe, my 7 year old niece Iterations based on testing results 1. On another iteration I would add a character (digital friend, whether it be an animal or person) to explain what reader’s theater was and how to use the app. 2. When comes to children, make sure you have a fully working prototype. 3. This would be probably be a favorite part for most kids. I would make more props available but I would limit them to 10. 4. I would have a ‘next’ button instead of buttons labeled with the process 5. Maybe they can earn stars when they invite a friend. Some observations made during user testing 1. To begin the testing process, my niece did not know what Reader’s Theater was, which I thought was common practice in first grade but I guess not. 2. She was able to navigate through it but wanted to tap everything to see what happened. 3. She did brighten up on the ‘Set the Stage’. She wanted to add more props but didn’t know she would be able move the props around 4. To determine where to go next on each screen, she had to explore by pressing random buttons. 5. She said that she wouldn’t invite a friend to participate but couldn't explain why. Audio Link Test
- 20. Outcomes This app was really fun to design. The features I believe that would stand out are the accessorizing of characters and setting the stage. When designing an app, it’s all about iteration.. iteration.. iteration. Some things to improve on is the consideration for accessibility, ensuring struggling readers could easily navigate the app with the use of icons, and ‘read aloud’ text. Although it’s not the final version, I feel if used consistently, it would improved reading fluency.