Project duration: May - June 2022
Project overview...
The problem...
Studies show that around 2 years of age, children start to show genuine empathy, understanding how other people feel even when the don’t feel the same way themselves. The strategy team u_mano has identified a lack of general knowledge about empathy and limited understanding about personas feelings as crucial to build and have a kind species for days to came.
The goal
Design a platform that will improve education on the topic empathy and help kids manage their feelings.
Project overview
Empathy has no script. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. It’s simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of ‘You’re not alone.
My role:
Ux designer designing a cross-platform service to help kids learn about empathy from conception to delivery
Responsibilities:
Conducting interviews, find users’ pain points, paper and digital wireframing, low and high- fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies- testing, accounting for accessibility, and integrating on designs.
I conducted UX research to add context and insights to the design process, creating personas and empathy maps to understand the users' needs. The primary user group identified through research was parents—full-time life learners who don’t have the right platform to enjoy the content as they would like.
This group confirmed a positive path with u_mano, but research also revealed that time or knowledge wasn’t the only factor limiting users' ability to be more empathetic. Other user problems included the lack of international content, poor interactivity, accessibility issues, and the absence of workshops where they could engage and be part of the community.
Competitive audit
User research: summary
Problem statement:
Mia is a full life learner student who needs a platform where she can interact with other kids because she would like to know to open her way to see then world.
Problem statement:
Michael is a dad who needs a platform where his son can access to learn more about empathy and interact with other likes from around the wold in a save environment.
Personas
Ideation
I did a quick ideation exercise to come up with ideas for menus and easy accessibility. My focus was specifically on focus of the menus and have a clear structure to make easy navigation.
Digital wireframes
This one is the first digital wireframe after the first usability study. Some issues found it on the study, like confusing graphic on the home page.
Using the completed set of digital wireframes, I created a low-fidelity prototype. The primary user flow I connected was the homepage with some info, and buttons, so the prototype could be used in a usability study.
View the u_mano
Mockups
Based on the insights from the usability studies, I applied design changes like providing a clear section from the home screen to facilitate and join up themes.
Study type:
Unmoderated usability study
Location:
London, remote
Participants:
11 participants
Length:
30-45 minutes
Usability study: parameters
Usability study: findings
Parent want easy access to safe places where children can interact with other kids and improve empathy
Safety
People had difficulty to know what empathy means
Meaning
Users prefer clear indications and interactive ways to learn about empathy
Access
insights
High-fidelity prototype
The final high-fidelity prototype presented cleaner user flows where users can go trough pages without use a menu button
View the u_mano
Provided access to users who are vision impaired through adding text to images for screen readers.
Ensure sufficient contrast between text and its background according to the WCAG.
Clear labels for interactive elements that can be read by screen readers.
Accessibility considerations
Sitemap
With the app designs completed, I started work on designing the responsive website. I used the u_mano sitemap to guide the organisational structure of each screen’s design to ensure a cohesive and consistent experience across devices.
Responsive designs
The designs for screen size variation included mobile, tablet, and desktop. I optimised the designs to fit specific user needs of each device and screen size.
Impact:
The u_mano app/website, really thinks about how to meet their needs.
One quote from peer feedback:
The website made it so easy and fun to use and interact with other from around the wold! I would definitely use this app/website as a enjoy the content”