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GV Design Sprint | Tiny Tales app | quickly pick the right book :)

The brilliant solution for parents who want to educate children easily and efficiently.

MAR 2023 | PRODUCT, UX/UI DESIGNER

This is a story about the project that was created in the process of a modified GV design sprint. I wanted to try to create a solution for parents who want to read books to their kids before bed.

General Information

The key problem was to create a solution for parents who want to read books to their kids before bed. Finally, I developed an app that allows parents / older relatives to quickly find appropriate books using the most popular filters.

 

In the process of developing and creating this product, implemented the next types of projects:

problem research, persona research, user flow, sketches, low-fidelity wireframes, high-fidelity wireframes, clickable prototypes, user testing, and the final product. 

 

As tools, I used pens and paper as well as Figma in the prototyping stage of product development within the current GV design sprint.

Introduction

Today, parents who read bedtime stories to their children don't want to spend a lot of time choosing the right story. They would like to quickly find stories that are interesting to children of different ages, and also that the stories have an educational context. 
 

I decided to find a solution to this problem because I myself have three nephews who love to listen to new stories and look at pictures. However, I can't always find something interesting quickly.  

 

So, I set out to design an app idea that could ensure an efficient system of searching for a nice story for parents and older siblings :)

 

You’ll see how I arrived at these questions later, but the questions I was trying to have answered were:

 

  1. HMW let parents to spend less time finding a great story to read their children?
     

  2. HMW let parents to find stories that both of their children will understand and enjoy?
     

  3. HMW let parents to find stories about certain topics that their children are interested in?
     

  4. HMW let parents to find stories that also have educational or moral value?

Day 1: Understanding

I started developing the idea by reviewing the information about the project constraints and then moved on to studying the persona and their goals. 
 

After, I identified the common parameters needed to successfully find the right story:

 

  • Age-appropriate story (age segment indicator)
     

  • Stories that are suitable for children of both ages
     

  • Choose a topic of interest 
     

  • Find similar stories (type, genre, some other parameters)
     

  • Stories with educational and moral values, so parents can then discuss some ideas with the kid
     

  • Specify the duration of reading by the time
     

  • Availability of recommendations/reviews/ratings from other parents to stories

 

Then I tried to draw a possible end-to-end solution that a user could have using my user flow:

Fisrt idea.jpg

First sketch of the solution

Day 2: Sketching

To get some inspiration, I decided to look at the ideas of apps for finding children's books. 

 

Observing the article "5 best book apps for kids" I chose the most interesting solutions in my opinion: Kids Books, Epic!, BOOKR Class.


I liked the Kids Books app for its energetic color palette, as well as the idea of filling in the basic information about the kid from the first app launch:

Kids Book app.png

Kids Book app

In Epic!, I paid attention to how well the filters are located when searching for books, and I also noted a good UI of the filter in a separate window!

Epic! app

In BOOKR Class, I explored the solution, and how the search system is organized, including UI. 

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Also, I really liked that on the information book page, the main characteristics are represented by icons, separately, so that the parent can immediately see them. 

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Another feature is that similar books are selected right here:

BOOKR Class app

The experience of going through these apps allowed me to track down the most important solutions needed for apps with a similar problem.

 

After, reviewing information about the person's goals and the features of kids' books apps, I determined that the most critical screen in my solution is the appliance of filters. Because it is on it that the user marks all the necessary indicators to display the right books.

 

So, I sketched possible solutions of this screen, using the Crazy 8s method:

Crazy 8s.jpg

Crazy 8s: Possible solutions

Choosing the best screen, first of all, I thought about simplicity and ease of use, since at the stage of choosing parameters, the user will have to face a lot of information.

 

Using the selected screen, I sketched a three-panel board to show how my solution would work in real life:

3-panel board.jpg

Three-panel board

Day 3: Decision

Now I have drawn a complete storyboard consisting of 10 screens. For layout I used the Tablet orientation.

I changed the critical screen a bit, but the main idea remains the same:

Storyboard Sketches.png

Storyboard sketches

Once I had enough information about the story selection user flow in an app, I was able to sketch out a complete storyboard pretty quickly!

Day 4: Prototyping

After I created the storyboard, I determined the main filters that the parent can use when choosing a story. 
 

Then, when I was creating low-fidelity wireframes, I defined a panel for filters and decided to add a More Filters button if the parent has more time to search or if their parameters are more specific:

Low-fi.png

Low-fi wireframes

Then I immediately set to work on the high-fidelity wireframes.

 

The background color for the splash screens I chose in gentle gradient shades. For the main color palette I chose energetic cozy colors that contribute to a desire to learn and try new things :)

High-fi.png
High-fi.png

High-fidelity wireframes

This prototype allows user to perform the following functions:

 

  1. At the first launch, the app prompts you to select the age of the kid and the most interesting topics. It then prompts you to start reading one of the stories right away or go to the Homepage.
     

  2. On the Homepage, the parent immediately sees filters in the search panel. Here they can select a topic, age, reading level, and reading duration. Also, they can use the More Filters button.
     

  3. The book information page contains the book's cover and title, description, basic specifics, and links to similar stories.
     

  4. Reading mode contains a progress bar and a panel with the ability to exit reading mode.

Day 5: Testing

Prep-Work
 

For the user testing sessions I interviewed five people. Four interviews were conducted remotely and one is in person. Each interview lasted about 30 minutes.

 

I wanted to get answers to the questions:

 

1. How clear is the organization of the story search system? 
 

2. How convenient that when they launch the app, they need to enter the age of the child and choose interesting topics?
 

3. Will the user experience be fun and will users want to repeat it?

 

 

User Feedback
 

The main strengths of the app were named: 

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  • High intuitiveness, clarity, and ease of use 

  • A very comfortable search system

  • The opportunity to select a story in 2-3 clicks 

  • An exciting, friendly color palette 

  • A good contrasting call-to-action button to start reading 

  • A highly usable reading mode 

  • Clear navigation

  • High level of design aesthetics
     

 

Also, users made many very valuable suggestions for improving the app: 
 

  • It would be good to narrow the search - make some books’ pictures of different sizes to make the user's attention more focused. 

  • Age and Level filters to be equal - it needs to add clear differences between them

Conclusion

It was the first time I was involved in solving a problem in a very short period of time. However, it made me realize that this mode is fantastic for saving time in order to determine if an idea works or not.

 

The sprint mode helped me focus on the idea rather than the details. This contributed to more effective user testing:
 

  1. I could get a closer look at the context of using the application. For that I tried to ask users introductory questions that set them up in the context of using the app.

  2. I could lead users to the context of interest to me. I asked some additional questions to seamlessly move in the appropriate direction.

  3. I was able to focus on how users interact with the main functions of the app, and where there might be roughness in their experience.

 

I was pleased with the results of the testing sessions. In general, the app was found to be very convenient and fun to use by parents or older relatives/siblings to read to children.

To see the final prototype click here

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