Project vision



Our goal was to build children- and teen-appropriate eLearning tool comprising of two modules:

  • a leveled reading library for English as second language learners;
  • a platform promoting a love of reading, building reading comprehension, and free-form speaking abilities using leading ASR and assessment technologies


Challenges



1️⃣⠀Create an interface for learners to comfortably explore and navigate through diverse learning content


2️⃣⠀Allow users to seamlessly come back to the stories they've explored

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3️⃣⠀Create a reader that emphasizes the story, intuitively conveys the goal of each exercise, supports third-party dictionaries, and reports user result in an easy-to-understand fashion



The Kick Off



Step 1





Previously I experienced projects that went nowhere simply because the team did not have one sense of direction or product vision in the first place.

This time we started with a series of kick-off meetings to lay down all assumptions and objectives as seen by each of us. Having experts from different domains on board allowed us to cover a lot of ground. For example, the following questions have occurred:


User perspective: Why do I need this learning tool? In what way is it helpful?

Education perspective: How do we make progress noticeable to the user?

Business perspective: Does this tool complement other learning solutions we own? Is there an overlay?

Development perspective: How do we keep audio playback in sync with screen-scroll? Is there a third-party dictionary we want to use?



Competitor benchmarking



Step 2



For me, this technique is a huge time-savior. Simply by studying what other companies did, sharing my likes and dislikes, and asking the rest of the team to do the same, I was able to

  • bring whole team on the same page
  • study different implementations of the same learning activity to empirically define which solutions work better
  • avoid poor interaction design by seeing it functioning in another apps


Information architecture



Step 3



Personas



Step 4



PRIMARY



Goals

•⠀Be at the top of her class in school next year

•⠀Make lots of friends

•⠀Learn English and be able to impress bilingual friends


Pain points

•⠀Gets bored doing the same thing over and over again

•⠀Sometimes gets distracted

•⠀Worries about making mistakes in front of friends



SECONDARY



Goals

•⠀Prepare Meihui to work hard and do well in school

•⠀Excel at work while giving family what they need

•⠀Learn enough English to help Meihui with her grade


Pain points

•⠀Work-life balance

•⠀Afraid to push Meihui too hard

•⠀Does not want to waste time on inefficient learning



MVP prioritization plotting



Step 5





We all know the app that tried to do it all and failed. We don't want to be that app. How? Simply by putting a list of possible features in perspective narrows the list down to what is absolutely crucial, and what can be built upon further down the road.



Key user flows



Step 6



With challenges clear and priorities set, I was able to illustrate critical user flows and proceed with prototyping and user testing



TONE & FEEL





When creating lo-fi mockups, I felt the need to set the tone for younger audience to appreciate



TONE & FEEL



Cute little helper makes learning more personalized



TONE & FEEL



Simply addressing the user in a friendly manner creates comfortable learning environments in further interactions



PERSONALIZATION



Retrieving personal data allows us to give accurate story recommendations. Users who enjoy the stories they read are likely to have higher retention.



CHALLENGE 1



Section-based structure makes content exploration easier. Quick filters simplify content exploration.



CHALLENGE 2



Prominent bright panel at the top calls for user's attention and encourages most important interactions. With UI animations added, our call-to-action is strong



RETENTION BOOSTERS



Simple infographics aims to engage a parent by indication an underperforming child



Challenge 1





Swipe to explore, tap to choose - simple interactions make sense for younger audience



RETENTION



By clearly indicating the short-term objectives, we chunk slow story progress into smaller, easily measurable parts. In addition, constant visual & audio rewards are critical for younger audiences



EDUCATIONAL VALUE



Each exercise focuses on different reading abilities. Qooco Education team keeps the difficulty-to-challenge balance in check



LEARNING EFFICIENCY



Speaking exercises are evaluated with the help of ASR technology



CHALLENGE 3



We want the user to focus on content, controlling reading flow with simple gestures creates consistent user experience and minimizes the number of UI components



CHALLENGE 3



By using neutral background colors and keeping the number of controls at minimum, we direct user's attention to what really matters - the content



READING FLOW



By providing dictionary 'on the spot' we try to keep user engaged with the app without distractions



READING FLOW



With simple controls, user can customize the reading experience for comfortable learning



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