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Summary
Overview
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Wrap Up
Tiny Tales Case Study
A solution that would improve the selection and navigation system for locating the best reading option
Problem Statement
How can we make it easier and less time consuming for parents to find appropriate, appealing stories to read to their children?
Target Audience
Both Parents and Children
Design For
Tablet
Client
Personal Project
Duration
5 Day Design Sprint
Role
I worked on this project as an independent UX Designer, and I was responsible for summarizing the interview data, sketched solutions, created prototypes and validated the solutions with usability testings.
OVERVIEW
Tiny Tales is a new startup that wants to help parents find great books and shorts stories to read to their children. With the expanding library it has become more difficult to determine the best option for parents to select for their children. This case study was performed as a design sprint lasting 5 days from discovery to iteration.
Sprint Schedule
Day 1: Map Current Success Needs
Day 2: Sketching/ Design Planning
Day 3: Design Determination
Day 4: Prototype
Day 5: Test and Validation
DAy # 1 - Mapping Core Needs
As a Design Sprint, the project was divided into 5 days to address mapping, sketching, essential requirements, prototyping, and validation. Prior to any modifications, the current customer experience was the following:
Testimonials
Find a Topic
"The main think we look for is a specific topic that my daughter will like. Her interests change will the time though, so sometimes it takes a while to find the right story to read."
- Lindsey; Children: Macy (age 7)
Book Length
"I usually let my kids pick a topic that they like (dinosaurs are big right now). Then I try to scan through the book to see how long it is. Sometimes we just want a quick book before bed..."
- Dan; Children: Dylan (age 7) & Nina (age 4)
Books with Substance
"I obviously want to read something that my daughter will enjoy, but I also try to make sure there's a little education or less involved that we can talk about. It doesn't have to be a textbook- just a little substance..."
- Ron; Children: Samantha (age 5)
Judge by Cover
"My son literally judges a book by it's cover- once he finds a character or something that piques his interest, I flip through it quickly to see if I think it's the right age level for him."
- Sara; Children: William (age 4)
Age Appropriate
"My kids like to browse for a story to read with me...once they find one they like, I read the first few pages to make sure it's the right age level for them. If it's too childish, or too hard to comprehend, they'll lose interest."
- Maria; Children: Jack (age 7) & Angela (age 5)
New Books
"I can tell when my girls get board with the same stories over and over again - but it takes so long to find a new one that they'll enjoy as much as the 'classics'."
- Anna; Children: Olivia (age 5) & Cara (age 3)
Preliminary Challenges
Finding Book by Topic: Determining a selection based on topic was cumbersome for parents. Careful organization of book options would need to be established.
Identifying Book Length: Book length currently could only be determined by scanning the book and estimating how long it would take to read it. Providing book length information for completion would be ideal.
Preliminary Book Context: Outside of topic, parents desired knowing it a book contained educational information. Book category would need to be provided.
Imagery: Addressing visual appeal for book would be key; parents noted children being more draw to interesting imagery to help with select.
Determining Age Appropriate Text: Background on the expected age range for a book was not feature in the current stage.
Discovering New Books Quickly: As the book selection was lengthly parents would continue to re-read books they previously had to cut down on selection time. Providing an option to see new books and books similar to the one already read would help increase selection options.
Suggested Solutions
1
Create selection quiz to reduce book selection time
The key goal was to reduce book selection time; therefore a book selection quiz that would narrow options for selection. The quiz focused on the noted concerns: book length, age group, genre, and book cover appearance.
2
Develop option selection to interpret suitability
Options were create to sort book selection by age suitability; allowing parents to quickly check options for their specific needs. Age options were broken into 3 year increments, i.e. an option for age 5-7, 8-10, etc. In cases were multiple children would utilize the app, parents could setup profiles that would combine the age section options into final results. There was also an option created notes as 'Books for Everyone', for parent that did not need an age limitation.
3
Categorize books for specific needs
Book options would be divided into specific categories; allowing parents to see all the options in one screen. When viewing the full library parents could filter by age, new books, staff picks, etc.
4
Minimze reappearing books for selection
To organize book options, a section that captured books already read would be featured. Parent would have the option to go direct to this area and re-read previous options and avoid repeat options when performing the selection quiz.
5
Incorporate recommendations from other readers
This was seen as more of a secondary concern, however addressing it during the project could help to address other areas of the solution. Parent noted having user feedback on the book would be helpful in the final selection process. Also, parents could rate books they completed for future reference.
Persona
I created overall personas that would engage the Tiny Tales app. As the main users would be parents and children I developed a concept for both.
DAy #2 - Sketch and Planning
A full competitor review could not be completed in the timeframe, therefore I reviewed book reading sources similar to Tiny Tales to determine what users may expect in user flow and formatting. I narrowed downs their key competitors to be Epic and Storyline Online. I aimed to create sketches that fit more of the Epic layout; the navigation was user-friendly and provided the top requirements for the solution. The Epic design was also tidy and accessible. I produced a round of crazy 8 sketches, to consider the best design for the Tiny Tales app.
Sketch
Updated Sketch
A refined version of the images were created in Adobe XD to provide a clear indicated of what to expect within the solution.
Wireframes
I created wireframes of the noted sketches that captured the elements noted by the parents to help streamline their process. The elements were relatively simple; what seemed to be the main issue was organizing information to minimize their time finding options.
DAy #3 - Final Designs
High- Fidelity Designs
I developed high-fidelity designs to fine-tune the expected look and functions. for the design mood, I kept with child-friendly animal images and illustrations. I also used a pastel color palette and standard font.
Color Palette
Wireframes
DAy #4 - Prototyping
For the development of the prototype, I transferred the Sketch files to Figma, as the prototype capabilities are a little more advanced. I was able to develop 13 key pages for a standard tablet.
I performed 5 interviews with parents considered frequent readers to help determine some of the key aspects of the application functionality and variability. The key question asked, will parents be willing to use the application, received a positive response. All participants saw value in the application. There were some features that participants felt could be modified and in some cases removed. Navigation through the application was simple, and the participants with children found the interaction fun. Some of the highlights of the interviews are noted below.
How could the design be improved?
1
Minimize the categories
Parent's thought the quiz was fun, but wanted the option to be minimized at an early stage. To resolve this situation I developed category on/of options in the library preference profile section. Parent could then switch off categories their child would never be interested in.
2
Less images
Although the images were seen as fun, some said it could be distracting. I updated the prototype to have more white background to indicate an open space, and removed a few of the images.
3
Less personal profiles
So parents did not like the idea of the kids profile having their child's name, age and picture just for security reasons. I removed these options on the design and allowed for profile image and favorite book.
WireFrames
This is some text inside of a div block.
Final Designs
After modifications identified during the usability test phase were considered, design changes were implemented.
Wrap Up
The sprint was designed to address a solution that would improve the selection and navigation system for locating the best reading option. From the interview results, the application can be handled by a child with the parent feeling comfortable; this stood to be a great bonus result. I learned that design sprints are far more valuable than the credit they are given. To complete a user experience process in 5 days gives designers, such as myself, the knowledge of knowing what is essential and what is simply unnecessary.
Next Steps
Narrow search scope: Narrowing out specific needs was an area that was not explored fully. Parents did enjoy the library preference option that would limit some factors from the search list; but more options could be included to narrow down the search.
Functions for authors and illustrators: Building out functionality to capture an author or illustrator of the week in the main library would be a simple modification to address; and will help users pick options based on favorite authors or illustrator's work.
Address missing components: The application made it easier to identify options; however, even in the prototype too many options caused some slowdown. This factor may have other options that were not addressed during the sprint.
My key takeaway from this design sprint is very simple, focus on the goal and the rest will fall into place.
