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Gentle Sprouts
An app to help highly sensitive children thrive 🌱
Project Overview
The Problem
There are a number of socio-emotional learning apps available for children, but none geared specifically towards “highly sensitive’ (a little-known, often discounted biological trait) children.
The Goal
To create an emotional learning app that addresses specific needs of the minority group of children considered to be “highly sensitive”.
My Role
This is an individual project that allowed me to plan and direct each step of the design thinking process as a UX design student with mobile and web UI design experience.
Responsibilities
Conduct user research
Define the problem and provide insights to inform the ideation phase
Define personas, user journeys, empathy maps and user flows
Visual design of lofi and hifi wireframes, prototypes, and user testing
The Product
Gentle Sprouts is an emotional learning app geared directly to highly sensitive children.
Project Duration
April 2024 to May 2024
Understanding the User
Emotional Overwhelm
Most participants interviewed find themselves dealing with emotional overwhelm on a regular basis; in the moment, they often find themselves unable to remember how to cope.
Lack of Support
Multiple users interviewed mentioned a lack of support in school; classmates not understanding their deep emotions, instead making fun of their sensitive disposition.
Lack of Education
The majority interviewed stated they felt there was little to no emotional education specific to their needs in school, instead whatever was taught in class glossed over basic emotions.
Uncontrollable Tendencies
Some users mentioned that when they became overwhelmed with emotion they would lash out at others, often physically, unable to control themselves because they didn’t know how else to let out their anger.
User Research: Summary
To get an understanding of target users’ needs and frustrations, I conducted secondary research on the target demographic, as well as user interviews. I then gathered all data to create empathy maps in order to gain insights on users and better understand their pain points and wants.
User Research: Pain Points
Meet the Personas
Problem Statement
Cassie is a highly sensitive 6-year-old girl who needs a kid-friendly, easily accessible emotional learning app because she has trouble controlling her emotional outbursts.
Problem Statement
Michael is a sensitive, 8-year-old introvert who needs a tool to guide him through reflecting on his emotions because he has trouble adapting to new environments and daily routines.
Problem Statement
Hana is an anxious 10-year-old girl who needs an app that lets her connect with like-minded children because she feels isolated.
Focus on Cassie: User Journey
Goal: A fun, stimulating way to learn about her emotions and how to cope when they become overwhelming.
Notes: I created a user journey map of Cassie’s experience with emotional overwhelm and how our app could help her, noting opportunities to consider as well as how she may be feeling throughout her story.
Goal: Express and process his emotions through art and creativity.
Notes: Michael’s user journey is one of emotional processing, and being able to express himself in a creatively fulfilling way. Opportunities included optimizing personalized use, as well as encouragement through affirmations, trackers, etc.
Focus on Michael: User Journey
Focus on Hana: User Journey
Goal: Connect with other highly sensitive individuals who share her values.
Notes: Hana’s user journey is about finding a community of like-minded individuals, where privacy and security are priorities.
Starting the Design
Paper Wireframes
With insights gained from both primary and secondary research, I designed paper wireframes. Keeping in mind that the target users are young children, I focused on simple, yet fun, visuals.
Digital Wireframes
With a mobile first strategy, I moved on to creating digital wireframes.
Because this app is kid-centric, I made sure to use large buttons, simple navigation and a focus on visuals as opposed to text (as shown in the Dashboard wireframe pictured).
Character/mascot to appeal to children’s imagination
Large buttons with the inclusion of visuals to represent information
One pain point to be addressed was the need to be able to calm down quickly, so I included the ability to add shortcuts to the homescreen.
I also tried to use fun, yet simple, language as much as possible. An example would be in the welcome screen here; “Let’s Go!” in large caps inspires excitement.
The wireframe depicted also has a large, intuitively navigable profile section.
Low Fidelity Prototype
I chose to create multiple user flows to get to the same activities, including the option for shortcuts on the homescreen for quick access when the user is in the midst of an emotionally overwhelming experience.
Usability Study: Intro
After creating the lo-fi prototype, I conducted a moderated usability study with 5 school-aged children. I chose moderated as due to the minimal visual cues of the prototype, I thought it would be appropriate to support the young participants as they explored the prototype.
Usability Study: Findings
1. All users mainly used visual cues as opposed to reading when navigating the app. They were attracted to the more detailed placeholder images.
2. To get to the intended activity “Puffball Breathing”, the majority of participants used the homescreen shortcut. This is possibly another indicator that they are more attracted to “visuals” as a opposed to text as the shortcut was a large button.
3. Most users used the bottom navigation bar to switch to different sections; had to be told that the top navigation bar had a clickable element.
4. Several participants mentioned wanting to know more about the placeholder “characters”, and one repeatedly asked for more information about the mood-related graphics; suggesting to further develop these aspects as target users appreciate being able to delve into details and relate to “living” elements in apps.
Refining the Design
Mockups
After it was confirmed that young children navigate mostly through visual cues, I made sure my mockups had a focus on attractive visuals. I also made sure to convey information through images.
Before usability study
After usability study
I pushed the mascot characters further, giving them names, personality and using them throughout the app to help users relate to the different aspects of the app.
Before usability study
After usability study
Mockups
High Fidelity Prototype
As I designed my high fidelity prototype, I made sure to keep everything I learned in mind. I focused on making the app kid friendly and appealing to younger audiences, focusing on cute graphics and presenting info through images.
Because the target demographic is highly sensitive, I opted to use soft, calming colours in order to avoid overstimulation.
Accessibility Considerations
1.
I made sure my chosen colour palette conformed to WCAG AA colour contrast ratio and colour blind accessibility standards.
2.
I kept all main interactive elements large and easily clickable for users who may have lower motor ability. Overall I aimed for a button size of 72px minimum, spaced far enough apart to limit misclicks.
I researched typography appropriate for children who are early readers; I chose two main typefaces “Sniglet” and “Quicksand”, both easy-to-read sans serif fonts with one-story letters.
3.
Going Forward
1.
Obtain UX/UI feedback from more experienced designers and peers in order to improve the design further.
2.
Further the design; in this first iteration, I focused mostly on coping and processing activities. The next step would be to incorporate a community section to address the need for “support” noted by some interviewees.
Organize and conduct a more diverse usability study; the first one I did was with kids I was able to meet with personally. I would try to open it up to those of different cultures and locations.
3.
Impact
Next Steps
The main pain points surrounding our target demographic related to lack of education and support as well as minimal knowledge of coping mechanisms. Through calming activities and reflective exercises, our app aims to help highly sensitive children improve their emotional intelligence and coping skills in a fun and engaging way.
What I Learned
Takeaways
This was my first time crafting an app specifically tailored for school-aged kids, and so I learned a lot about the elements to consider when designing for this age group, such as colour palettes, button sizes, and typography styles. Furthermore, I discovered just how important privacy and security are when it comes to designing with children in mind.
Let's Connect!
Thank you for reviewing my work on Gentle Sprouts, the emotional learning app for highly sensitive superstars!
If you’d like to get in touch, please reach out!