Parable

Parable was designed to encourage and empower children of all reading levels to explore the parables, mythology, history, and fables of this world.

Explore The Prototype

Overview

Summary

Parable was created with the busy parent and the curious child in mind. Specifically, this app was inspired by my sister, Hope, and her three children (ages 10, 8, & 6). 😊

There are plenty of games and educational apps on the market, but there is an opportunity between those two options. Parable offers help to the parent on the go and a world of imagination, history, and adventure to children.

Business Requirements

Ensure that all readers have the ability to find, save, and read stories.
Ensure that all parents feel confident their children are safe using this app autonomously.
Provide positive and encouraging feedback to help build readers confidence.

Roles & Responsibilities

Working autonomously as the sole UX and UI designer on this project, I completed all tasks end to end, starting with user research and ending with design solutions. The research and discovery process included competitive analysis, user surveys, and interviews. From there, I developed personas, user journeys, and user flows, sketched out wireframes and their iterations, oversaw brand development, led usability testing, and produced a final prototype of Parable.

The Problem

One morning shortly after the new year I was having tea with my older sister, Hope. She has three children who had just gone back to school after winter break. The market is saturated with educational and gaming apps for children. Parents are looking for a happy medium to both entertain and educate their children without quizzing them.

The Solution

Parable was developed to empower children of all reading levels to explore the globe and learn about their world. Parable understands its users benefit from positive feedback to feel confident and provides engaging and encouraging experiences within the app. Parable makes use of historical events and public domain literature.

Process

Discovery & Research

Competitive Analysis

I conducted a full SWOT analysis of three leading children's apps in the marketplace currently. Below are highlights of what I discovered.

Epic!

Epic had a simple onboarding process and obvious CTA's, but their interface was overwhelming and the amount of information on each screen was distracting.

Duo ABC

Duo ABC had a simple and engaging interface with exciting animations, but the intro story acted as a road blocker and it wasn't clear to click on the cartoons instead of the labels.

Endless Reader

Endless Reader had the most inventive concept, however, the app can only be used on a horizontal screen which I discovered in my research is difficult for children due to their smaller hand size.

User Surveys

I conducted a survey with 15 respondents. The survey was completed by participants from varying socio-economic backgrounds, occupations, gender, and age. Here’s what I learned:

User Interviews

I conducted user interviews with participants from my survey that have multiple children and allow their children to use their phones regularly. This criteria for users was put into place because these users will provide perspective most in line with who would be using the Parable app. Here are the key takeaways:

Users want the app to clearly display and communicate their progress within a story so they can keep track of what stories they have started and which they are about to complete.
Users not only want the ability to save a story for later, they want to save their spot within a story. Adding a bookmarking feature allows users to step away from the app and pick up where they left off at another time.
Users want the ability to earn badges based on the stories they have read. Some badges refer to location, others refer to the types of stories. Either way, they are a fun way to gamify the app and encourage further exploration.

Personas

Based on Insights gleaned from my research, I developed two personas depicting potential parents who would download the Parable app for their children and one persona for an app user.

Information Architecture

High Priority User Stories

As a parent, I want an app to entertain my children that’s also educational.‍
As a parent, I want to create an account so my child can use the app.
As a child & new user, I want to know how to navigate the app so I can feel confident and have fun using the app.
As a child, I want to read stories and discover new ones.

User Flows

I developed this user flow to represent all possible features and flows within the app.

Site Map

The site map was laid out with simplicity so that a child can feel confident using it.

4-Step Sketch

Notes

This was a timed exercise at the beginning of my brainstorming process.

2. Ideas

Onboarding

Shown above are ideas for how a user would determine and select their reading level

Stories & Pages

Shown above are sketches for accessing saved stories and flipping pages throughout a story

3. Crazy 8's

Here I worked on several possibilities for how the home screen could be presented.

4. Solution Sketch

This was the direction I chose to go in for the home screen.

Lo-Fi Wireframes

My first draft sketches were then translated into the wireframes below.

explore lo-fi prototype

First Iteration Mockups

My wireframes were then translated into the mockups below.

explore 1st prototype

Second Iteration Mockups

After a first round of usability testing and constructive feedback, Parable grew in a few useful ways.

The onboarding process expanded to include a subscription screen for parents to select how they choose to pay and a series of welcome screens to quickly and clearly explain the apps functions.

Library Improvements

The Saved Stories screen evolved to include a "Read Now" button and a progress bar for readers to easily begin or resume their stories while also keeping track of how far into a story they are.

Accounting for Error

The back button was added to the story pages so that readers can flip a page back in case they need to re-read something or if they flipped the page by mistake.

Prototyping

Usability Testing Tasks

I completed several rounds of usability testing with four different people including two parents and two children. Here are the tasks they were asked to complete:

Create a new account
Find a story on the globe
Save a story on the globe then, find it in your saved stories

Accessibility Examined

Several rounds of usability testing provided valuable insights to accessibility concerns...

Adding List View

On the home screen, a list view button was added to the top left corner. This way users could explore the globe for new stories, or scroll through a list. On the list view screen there is a button to take users back to the globe.

Elementary Updates

Several edits were made on story pages and throughout headers.

First, the cursive font has been replaced as cursive is rarely taught in schools today and can be difficult for children to identify.
Second, the font size increased so it's easier for children to read.
Third, stories were updated to reflect a more appropriate vocabulary for the targeted demographic. Lastly, a bookmark icon was added to the top right corner for children to save their spot in lieu of tapping the page number at the bottom of the screen.

Levels Explained

Pop-up messages explaining how each level works and what assistance is offered was added so users can make an educated decision when onboarding.

Usability Testing Results

Additional insight from multiple rounds of usability testing with parents and children present...

Increased Learnability

Originally, the checkboxes were used to detail how the app's bottom nav works. Now, the bottom nav's icons are being used to show users a preview of what to look for.

Refined Feedback

The progress bar that was added to the Saved Stories screen in the second iteration was changed from a gradient to solid color so users can see it more clearly.

Final Prototype