Ideation

I started by doing the User Research and Market Research to determine what we needed to do in order to create a successful product. The biggest barrier was that most people who download EdTech apps don't use it. This meant that not only do we want to draw in new users, but we want to create incentives to maintain user retention and engagement.

As part of the Design Team, we brainstormed several different ideas on how to structure the app. Ideally, we wanted to gamify the activities by taking inspiration from the most popular apps I researched at the time, which included Candy Crush and Pokemon Go. Unfortunately, we were unable to create the app that we wanted due to external constraints, but we were able to decide on the following framework:

Users will complete an activity in order to get a badge. Once users gain at least six badges, they will become a Champion, which gives them access to exclusive content. We want to rely on our partnership with the NFL to create incentives that would excite our users and encourage them to participate.

User Profiles

Here are the three types of users currently using this app that we need to accomodate:

Student

Goals:

• Complete activities in the app and win badges
• Learn new skills about healthy habits and how to integrate that into their day to day life
• Achieve Champion status after getting at least 6 badges, which grants users the ability to get exclusive content

Difficulties:

• Getting used to a new app that is completely different from the old one
• Figuring out how to get Parent Permission if they are under the age of 13

Teacher

Goals:

• See what curriculum is available in the app to see what they can integrate onto their classroom
• See what students can learn through the app and if they should implement this onto their classroom
• Bolster existing curriculum with what is available in the app

Difficulties:

• Unable to track student progress, as there is no educator dashboard
• Difficult to measure student progress based on activity completion alone

Parent

Goals:

• See what materials their children are learning from the app
• Navigate the app to understand how it works and how to help their children if needed
• Participate in bonding activities with their child to complete certain activities

Difficulties:

• Going through PRIVO’s Parent Approval process if their child is under 13
• Inability to check their child’s progress

Iterations

I created the low-fidelity and mid-fidelity mockups for the app, as well as some concept designs on some of the features we want to implement. Because I was involved in the curriculum building, I was able to easily build it into the app framework. During this process, I led brainstorming sessions with other educators and team members to ensure we included quality educational content.

Results

The app was published Apple Play and Google Play for students to download and enjoyed a sharp increase in new user sign-ups. Classrooms in New Jersey implemented this app to teach nutrition and other healthy habits to their students. Future design changes plan to use NFL player images and incorporate special events such as the Superbowl to give our users incentive to return to the app and continue to use it.