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BigBlobFeels Case Study
This case study is based on a prompt to develop a cross-platform service for kids to dentify and understand their emotinos as part of the Google UX Design certificate.
The Product
BigBlobFeels is an interactive app aimed towards children to help them learn and identify their emotions and how to cope with them.
Project Duration
1 week
The problem
Children of school age engage in technology more than they did the past decades, and so social and emotional intelligence are on the decline. The aim of this project is to use technology to help children learn more about their emotions, and about their selves as well.
The goal
The goal is to help children identify their emotions, address their emotions properly and take steps how to cope with the emotions they experience.
My role
UX Designer, Researcher and Visual Designer
Responsibilities
User research, competitive audit, wireframing, UI & material designing, prototyping and usability testing
Understanding the user
User research: summary
Children rely on technology more than they have ever been during the past few decades. Children do not go out to play and socialize as much, but instead use technology as the source of entertainment and learning.
There are a lot of educational games online, but there are not a lot that teaches about emotions, how to properly express them and process their emotional experiences.
Personas
Zach
Zach is an 8-year old boy who loves swimming and playing with his friends who needs a game to teach him recognize emotional needs because he wants to be a good friend, brother and person to people around him.
Yasmin
Yasmin is a 9-year old girl living with her mom who needs a tool to help process her trauma and address her feelings properly because she deserves a life free from fear, emotional and childhood trauma.
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User journey map
Users more than likely have to spend time to indicate specific needs when ordering food. Markus, for example, find it time-consuming to mention allergens and changing ingredients for their dinner.
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Users more than likely have to spend time to indicate specific needs when ordering food. Markus, for example, find it time-consuming to mention allergens and changing ingredients for their dinner.
Wireframes
Competitive Audit
Paper Wireframes
Initial wireframe ideas for different pages of the site.
We want to introduce one character to represent the product, and will serve as a virtual pet/friend for the user to help the user accomplish their daily core tasks of reflecting on their emotion, journaling to properly express their feelings and meditating.
Study type
Unmoderated usability study
Location
remote
Participants
5 participants
Length
45-60 minutes
Usability Study: findings
A usability study was done for the low-fidelity prototype of the website. To summarize, here are the findings:
1
Tone & Language
There needs to be a more encouraging and friendlier tone to address the user since the app is dealing with children.
2
Proper wording
Use simple words and a straightforward process to accomplish the main tasks.
3
Reward Feedback Loop
Emphasis on incentivizing accomplishments to make the experience more game-like and make users feel like they accomplished something.
Usability Studies
Mockups & Prototype
The main screen looks more appealing with the colors, typography and iconography now applied. This is the view for the active state of the FAB. We aim to have the character animated, and in the future look into an AI-based chatbot feature for the character.
The pop-up notification is a good idea to have, since it prevents them from doing anything in-app until they read the pop-up and notifies the user of the prize they got for fulfilling core tasks.
The website has a “fuller” experience as it includes functionalities and links accessible for the parents. The app focuses on the “gameplay” itself as it is more focused on the child user. The tablet version is halfway between the app and the mobile view.
We opted to remove the FAB button in tablet and web view since there is more space on screen to have the activity menu on display.
Accessibility considerations
1
We consider to add an audio for the character to read out what BigBlob says for people who have visual impairment and
to add to the experience of having a virtual pet/friend chatbot.
2
Colors and typography comply with WCAG guidelines.
3
We’re also looking into having language setting options for non-native English speakers to be able to use the app
without any language barriers.
1
Consider exploring the reward and game aspects of the app as shown in the crazy eights ideation.
2
Check for accessibility if there are any issues with the design and modify the design if any issue comes up.
3
Iterate on the character design to be more appealing, or maybe consider modification options for the user to have a more
personalized virtual pet/friend to chat with.
Takeaways
Impact
I think a virtual friend/pet app like this helps ease the growing feeling of loneliness and isolation of children. It helps them
be more expressive and understanding of their and other people’s feelings while helping improve technological
literacy through daily device usage.
What I learned
I learned that making a responsive website for different devices take a lot of work. There’s a lot to consider with the architecture
and functionalities when scaling up for different devices. I also learned that designing for games is more challenging
than a generic app as it has multiple core task loops that need to seamlessly work.
