NanoSprout — Jacqueline O'Connor

INTRODUCTION

  NanoSprout – Smart media use in the digital age
  
   Through first-hand observation, I have witnessed the profound impact that technology and media have over the wellbeing of young children. I've also learned that a large majority of guardians struggle when it comes time to assess and identify appropriate apps for their children.   
     
     In response to this problem, I created “NanoSprout,” a digital platform that offers both expert and community-based reviews on apps targeted towards young children. The purpose of NanoSprout is to help parents and caretakers make mindful and informed decisions about the selection of apps for children.

TEAM

Personal project
  
MY ROLE 

Digital Product Design, Research, Brand Identity
  
TOOLS

Google Forms (Surveys), Adobe Creative Suite (Visuals), Sketch (Wireframes & Prototypes), Pen & Paper (Storyboards)

THE PROBLEM  

Parents struggle to manage appropriate technology and media use for their children. Technology is practically embedded in our culture. The rapid speed of growth and the advancement in technology has left parents feeling overwhelmed and unable to keep up with their kids’ digital habits.
  
THE SOLUTION 
    
A website that equips parents with extensive reports on apps for kids. NanoSprout allows parents to search for and quickly access reports and expert reviews for apps targeted towards young children. NanoSprout’s main purpose is to create a safer digital world for young children to grow up in.

Design goals
  
The main purpose of this project is to help parents make more mindful and informed decisions about technology and media use for their children. Three goals were set to align with the main purpose. 

1.

  Equip parents with a tool that will make it easy for them to determine whether or not an app is appropriate for their child.

2.
Establish an online community where parents can chat with other parents to share app reviews, advice and stories.

3.

  Launch a mobile app that allows parents to monitor and track their child’s technology activity. This will be particularly useful for parents who travel often, but still want to be on top of their child’s technology activity.

Competitive analysis 
  
Before jumping into my research, I first checked to see if a solution had yet been developed for the problem that I was seeking to solve. Jugend Schutz – a German agency, is currently sponsoring two projects which aim to offer digital guidance to parents, but both are still underdeveloped and lack several important features.

Understanding the kids app market

  To understand why parents are struggling to find appropriate apps for their children, I needed to examine the market. 

  In doing so, I realized that kids apps are poorly categorized. The kids app market, which technically isn't even a segment of it's own, is still young and underdeveloped. Kids apps are mixed within four major industries – gaming, entertainment, education, and technology.

    Another discovery that I found is that there is little regulation over how app developers market their apps, which means that basically anyone can label their app as "educational."

      "The Kids App Market, Part 1: A Strategic Overview" by Björn Jeffery provided me with a technical understanding of the kids app market, which was essential when brainstorming potential solutions.

DISCOVERY

  Understanding the problem
  
   I gathered and organized data about media use by children ages zero to eight. The purpose was to get a better understanding of the attitudes and behaviors that children and parents have surrounding technology and media. Listed below are statistics that stood out early in the research phase.

boy-using-digital-tablet-while-sitting-on-bench-QU2FXRS.jpg

95% of families with kids age eight and under now have smartphones
and 42% of children age eight and under own their own tablet device.

Common Sense Media, 2017.

concentrated-little-girl-child-indoors-using-PRADPLJ.jpg

Kids age eight and under spend an average of two hours and nineteen minutes a day in front of screens. 35% of that time is spent on mobile devices.

Common Sense Media, 2017.

Parents are concerned about the amount of violence, sexual content, and advertising in media, but they are optimistic about the use of media for learning and supporting creativity.

Common Sense Media, 2017.

Opportunities with screen time

OPPORTUNITY #1

Access to knowledge
Technology and media allow children to easily access information and gain knowledge. Not only for educational purposes but also to feed their interests, imagination and creativity.

OPPORTUNITY #2

Creativity
Tablets offer children a new way to create, complete with such features that might include using a paintbrush, camera, microphone or an "undo" option that encourages experimentation.

OPPORTUNITY #3

Cognitive skills
According to Psychology Today, "Touchscreens offer an intuitive interface which enable toddlers to gain intense contingent sensory stimulation during a peak period of neural development and at an age when the relatively immature motor and linguistic systems have previously limited cognitive stimulation."

OPPORTUNITY #4

Personalized learning experience
Apps like Khan Academy Kids provide a digital library of books, activities and games that give children an adaptive learning path, allowing them to learn at their own pace. They can also read books on their own or follow along with recorded audio narration.

Challenges with screen time

CHALLENGE #1

Not all screens are equal
Tablets offer children a far more interactive experience than sitting in front of a television. Similarly, not all apps are equally beneficial to children across age, ability levels, socioeconomic level, and learning styles.

CHALLENGE #2

Confused parents
Currently, the term “educational” is a free-for-all label used by kids app developers, making it extremely difficult for parents to distinguish which apps are appropriate for their children. Parents are left confused and often have to assess these apps for themselves.

CHALLENGE #3

Inappropriate content
A recent study led by researchers at the University of Michigan found that apps for preschoolers are flooded with manipulative ads, luring young children to unknowingly make purchases and watch potentially inappropriate ads. In-app advertisements can be extremely disruptive and overwhelm the child’s playing experience, which is unfair to children and deceptive to parents who think they’re downloading games that are educational.

CHALLENGE #4

Childhood obesity
Many studies have found relationships between screen time and increased risks of obesity. This is likely because of poor eating and sleeping habits associated with excessive screen exposure. Additionally, the more time a child spends sitting in front of a screen amounts to less physical play-time.

Student surveys
  
 A survey with 44 elementary students was conducted to better understand their attitudes and behaviors towards technology.

Findings from survey data:

1.
98% of respondents own some form of technology. 40% of these respondents also own a cell phone.

2.
70% of respondents feel that their technology time should not be limited.

3.
80% of respondents reported spending less than five hours on technology per day. The remaining 20% reported spending five to ten hours on technology per day.

Generally, elementary children feel positive about technology but feel that their parents should be more flexible with their screen time.

Interviews
  
Using data from the surveys and knowledge from my research, I prepared a series of questions to ask selected participants. Below are participant characteristics and takeaways.

Interview 1.
Jade (Parent, 35), who has frequent arguments over the technology and media habits with her two sons who are in elementary school. She questions the credibility of the apps her children download on their tablets.  

Interview 2.
Brice (Child, 7), who thinks technology is great and wishes he could have more freedom when it comes to his technology time, which is limited to 90 minutes per day.

Interview 3. 
Melissa (Teacher, 29), who teaches first grade and incorporates digital technology into her lesson plans. She feels that media and technology have the potential to peak her student's interest in learning. Although, she admits that children can easily get distracted by their screens.  

Interview 4.

Elena (Expert in Child Psychology, 39), who works at local elementary school and has experience working with parents struggling to manage screen time for their children. She believes that parents need to take an active role in their children's digital activities and that they should make an effort to research whatever apps their children are downloading.

Building empathy 
  
 Using the quantitative and qualitative data from surveys and interviews, I defined the two target group profiles: Jade (Parent, 35) and Brice (Child, 7) to better empathize with my main user groups and prioritize goals according to their needs.

IDEATION

      Brainstorming solutions
  
   Once I determined Jade and Brice’s priorities and motivations, I began brainstorming solutions that would have the most impact on both users. Ideally, the solution would consist of two separate interfaces that align with the goals of both target audiences.

1.

Website that allows parents to search for specific apps and access a report with expert and community-based reviews. 
   Parents would use this platform either because they want specific details on a particular app, or they’re seeking to browse through, and discover apps with a personalized experience.  

2.
App integrated with iMessage that allows parents to track their child’s technology activity and communicate with them.

Due to time constraints, I have chosen to focus on the first interface – the website.

Storyboarding 
  
 I created a storyboard to visualize the basic steps in Jade’s journey at quick glance. The goal of this exercise was to illustrate the existing problem and to establish a clear understanding of how the website might solve those problems.

BRAND IDENTITY

      Creating a name and logo
  
 "Nano" is a tech term, often referenced in the context of digital technology. It's also a number symbolizing something that's very small, such as young children. "Sprout" means to grow, such as from a plant to a seed or a child to young adult.

The name NanoSprout represents the brand's mission to help young children grow up in the digital age.

STRUCTURE AND FLOW

Website wireframes

FINAL DELIVERABLES
Polished website design

REFLECTIONS
What I learned

1. Research is an essential part of the product development process. I learned that research involves far more than a simple Google search. The majority of my findings came from observations and the conversations that I had with the children, parents and professionals that I interviewed.

2. Seek feedback early and often. While I sought feedback on my product vision and on the high-fidelity wireframes, I should have shared my rough ideas and sketches earlier, as I would have saved myself time and effort.

3. Less is more. When I shared the website designs with parents, I learned that they were most receptive towards the simple and straightforward layouts. I didn't need to worry about adding a ton of features, but rather to focus on something that will prove to be useful in the users daily lives.

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