Context and Inspiration
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many aspects of our modern day life. Not only has it affected adults, but also caused significant psychological impact to children. With limited understanding of what is happening, children are particularly vulnerable as they try to adjust to their new normal.
As we become more reliant on technology more than ever, I wanted to use this opportunity to create a safe space for children to express their emotions during this difficult time.
Goal
The goal is to create an interactive and engaging experience for children (6-11) to learn about emotional intelligence.
Duration
June 2020 - Present
Skills
User Research, Prototyping, Experience Design, Human Centered Design
Role
Design Lead | Co-Founder
Tools
Figma, Photoshop
"How do we create conversation and educate children on such a complex subject?"
Design Process and Planning
Research
We focused on studying how the quarantine has impacted children’s mental state and behaviors.
How has the Covid-19 Pandemic affected you?
In addition to online research, we conducted online surveys and interviews (15) with children and their parents to better understand their current frustrations and pain points.
lean persona
Based on our initial research, we created lean personas to have a clear vision of how we can address our target audience’s pain points and goals.
competitive analysis
We analyzed existing mental health apps on the market. I assigned each designer to identify features that might benefit our target audience. We discussed our findings together and created a comparison/matrix graph.
Based on research and user surveys, we identified 5 features that may benefit our target audience: Mindfulness techniques, Daily Check-in, Journaling, Chatbot, Activities.
We found that most mental health apps were not aimed towards a younger audience but rather teens and adults. We wanted to create a fun way to promote children's mental health awareness and also educate them on how to effectively express their emotions
Design Studio
We ran multiple design studios and involved members from different teams (animation, design, development) to participate in order to bring together different perspectives. We explored check in function, user customization, and character selection.
First Iterations
User testing
We created usability test scripts for both children and therapists. Based on the results, I facilitated an affinity diagramming session. We grouped specific quotes from children, therapists, and parents in order to summarize the quotes into actionable items.
Information Architecture
background
We created an immersive experience for users packed with storylines, quests, and activities they can work through with their new life coaches. We collaborated with our team of artists, animators, and a composer to create the opening animation that introduces the children to our three life coaches: Flynn, Sprite, and Aurora.
Design System Library
Choose Your life Coach
We meet our three coaches: Sprite, Flynn, and Aurora. Each character has their own personality and provides specialized activities (mind, body, spirit).
Daily Check in
A safe space for users to capture their current emotions. It helps children build self-awareness, allowing them to understand how they're feeling. + routine
Interactive Chatbot
The homepage features a chatbot between the user and your coach. Depending on what the user selected for their daily check-in, the coach will acknowledge their emotion and try to empathize with the user through structured storylines.
Activities
We collaborated with mental health professionals and worked on creating activities that would help with creating conversations and building social emotional skills.
Gamification
We want to educate children on emotional intelligence and by gamifying the experience, it encourages motivation and engagement.
Recognition and Impact
With this project, we were able to place second amongst 350+ participants in the UCSF Hackathon. Through this experience we received financial support and legal backing from Wilson Sonsini.
Calm On is being tested by children, parents, and mental health professionals on Expo. We are currently partnering with teachers in the public school system to implement our app in their classroom!
Testimonials
“Great learning experience for both children and parents.” -Darlene, parent
“I can see this being potentially used in hospitals for inpatient children.” -Urvi, Pediatric RN
“I think it could help some kids with their emotions like overcoming your fears and anger issues.” -Aiden, child
“Calm On!" combines the elements of narrative and play to teach children about their feelings. This is literally a game-changer! Caregivers, teachers, and clinicians alike will enjoy watching their littles learn about their emotions, how to manage them, and how to share them with others.” - Ariel Landrum, LMFT Therapist
