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Overview
Playbook is a digital playground and a safe environment for children to practice appropriate online behavior. It is a simulated social media app or a social media "toy" that creates an opportunity for parents and kids to have a conversation about how to conduct themselves online and to set ground rules. I wanted to create a platform that allows parents to see the online world from their kids’ perspective, teach their children how to be good digital citizens, and promotes self expression, all while monitoring and guiding their child.
Challenge
Kids as young as eight are starting to create their own social media accounts – well before the age of thirteen that most social media platforms require. There has been a 17% increase in screen use among kids and tweens in the last two years. Parents wonder “is my child safe online? Are they prepared? What are they sharing? Are they spending too much time online?”
Ordinary days and experiences at home and school prepare our kids for real life situations but not for the online situations they might encounter.
Solution
My solution is the creation of a social media app with "training wheels" that has the following features:
1. Time limit options for parents to choose from, each showing a countdown on the screen while the child is using the app.
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2. Email notifications that parents can set up for daily, weekly, or monthly reports on the child's behavior and interaction on the app.
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4. Options that allow the user to take pictures, videos, and write captions, exercising self expression and creativity.
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5. Personas (friends list) that users can interact with.
My Role: Ux Research, UI Design
Deliverables: Competitive Analysis, User Survey, User Interview, User Personas, User Journey, User Stories, User Flow, Wireframes, Mock Ups, Usability Test, Prototype
Tools: Figma, Google Forms, Procreate, Adobe Illustrator
Competitive Analysis
I started my research with a competitive analysis to evaluate apps already on the market and available to children. Overall I found the apps especially designed for children were confusing to use, not free, or for educational purposes only. Other social media apps that children use but that aren't specifically for children have no reliable age filter and offer explicit content that gives them access to inappropriate or invalid information.
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Pros
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Online diary
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Email notifications
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Keep pictures and memories
Cons
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This is more of a platform for parents to create a personalized website FOR the child, which doesn't really allow space for the child to explore their own creativity and individuality. All the sites I explored were written from the perspective of the child but clearly not written by the child.
Pros
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Upload pictures
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Self expression
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Access to things that interest them
Cons
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No real age filtering
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Dangerous trends
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Potential predators
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Inappropriate content
Pros
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Connect with other students and teachers
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Parents get notifications
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Access to learning materials
Cons
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Only for educational purposes
Pros
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Upload pictures
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Self expression
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Access to things that interest them
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Talk to other kids online
Cons
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VERY confusing layout and sign up process
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Not free
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No age filtering to know if you're actually talking to kids your age
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Corny characters (too kiddy)
User Survey
The perspectives and experiences of parents are essential to this survey. Twenty-five adults
with dependents ranging from age 4 – 18 answered the questions below:
What impact do you think social media websites are having on your children’s overall well-
being?
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59% said social media is impacting their child negatively.
Do your children communicate with strangers online?
Does your child talk to you about their experiences on social media?
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26.9% said they weren't sure whether their child talks to strangers online.
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88.9% said that their children don’t talk with them about their experiences online.
Do you limit your child’s time on social media?
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72% of parents said they don't limit their child's time on social media.
User Interview
In addition to the survey I spoke to several parents one on one to ask open ended questions. Their responses provided deeper insight into what children might experience in unsafe online environments and their thoughts on safeguards.
Has your child experienced bullying online?
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Yes, kids handing out the child’s social media account to strangers which opened the ground for predators to message the child. It would be great to have a way where a username/account info isn’t easily searchable or accessible outside of the app.
How does your child respond when asked to get off social media?
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They can get upset but as a family we try to explain that we try to spend time as a family off of social media so we can do fun family activities together because too much screen time can be unhealthy.
What concerns, if any, do you have about your children’s safety in relation to social media?
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My child's emotions and attachment to too much information and negative opinions
What features could social media incorporate to make children safer online?
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Monitor some of the things that kids are allowed to see on social media. Or make a social media just for their ages
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more parental visibility into what is being shared and consumed
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No active live location sharing, helps keeps predators/bullies from knowing child’s current location. A way to alert parents if children are having dark conversations based on suicide, self-harming, hurting others. (This could stop a lot of potential bad situations if parents are able to intervene instantly)
User Persona
I used the demographics from my survey to create two personas. Melissa and Alex represent only a small user group but embody the goals and frustrations of most parents and children I encountered in this research.
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Name: Melissa Hill
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Location: Orlando, FL
Goals and Needs:
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Be educated on the effects (good and bad) of social media
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Be aware of what her child is doing while online
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Encourage her daughter's self expression and communicate with her about online behavior
Frustrations:
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Social media sites that claim safety but have no real regulations and guidelines
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Being blind to her daughter's online world.
to see firsthand what her daughter might be exposed to. Melissa is a very protective mother who understands the inevitability of social media and wants her daughter to be prepared to use it appropriately.
Bio:
Melissa is a single working mom. She has a daughter named Alex, who is starting to show interest in social media. She spends her free time surfing the popular social media sites and
"I will protect my daughter online!"
Everyday Activities and Interests
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Working
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Jogging
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Animals
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Surfing the internet
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Name: Alexandria Hill
Age: Seven
Gender: Female
Location: Orlando, FL
Goals and Needs:
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Express herself
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Have her own social media
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Meet kids online interested in the same things
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See things online that she is interested in
Frustrations:
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Being watched over while using mom's social media
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Not being able to express herself on her own social media
Bio:
Alexandria is a young girl starting to find herself and what makes her unique. Like most kids she’s beginning to discover the vast internet and its potential. Curious but cautious, she wants to explore and be part of the internet world to show off her skateboarding skills and meet new friends.
Everyday Activities and Interests
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Skateboarding
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Music
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Animals
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School
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Surfing the internet
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Playing with friends
“I want to show off my skateboarding skills!”
App Personas
I created several personas that children can interact with on Playbook. Each persona is an example of a good digital citizen and represents positivity in a unique way.
Quidditch_Queen
Zachary_B123
Volcanoboy_2018
Dancing_Doll
Artsy_Princess
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Age: Seven
Gender: Female
Location: New York, NY
Interest: Cats, Harry Potter, Pizza
Characteristics: Playful,
Creative, Daring, Artistic
Age: Eight
Gender: Male
Location: Atlanta, GA
Interest: Soccer, Fashion, Video games
Characteristics: Kind, Charming, Entertaining
Age: Four
Gender: Male
Location: Richmond, VA
Interest: Science,
Roblox, Disney movies
Characteristics: Shy,
Inquisitive, Helpful
Age: Six
Gender: Female
Location: Orlando, FL
Interest: Dance, Family,
School
Characteristics: Positive
Confident, Smart
Age: Five
Gender: Female
Location: Detroit, MI
Interest: Make-up,
Fashion, Modeling
Characteristics: Fiery,
Fashionable, Fearless
User Journey
This journey map demonstrates Melissa’s initial discovery of Playbook and the process that led to her decision to download it.
AWARENESS
DISCOVERY
DECISION
SET UP
UPDATE
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Melissa starts researching the effects of social media on children.
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She becomes aware of both negative and positive impacts.
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She finds ways to help her child begin her online journey.
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Melissa finds an app online called Playbook.
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She reads over all the information about the app.
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She reads reviews and testimonials on how the app has helped other parents in her position.
“ Social media is an inevitable part of my child’s interaction online. How can I protect her?”
“ This looks like it might be what I’m looking for”
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Melissa thinks this could be a good option to solve her problem.
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She decides to download the app and give it a try.
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She sits down with her daughter and explains how the app works and the purpose.
“ It won’t hurt to check it out, lets see how Alex feels about it.”
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Melissa sets up an account with her daughter.
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She sets up time limitations on the app.
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She sets up email notifications on the app.
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She hands it off to her daughter and allows her the freedom to explore.
“This setup is really easy, and I like the options it gives me!!”
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Melissa receives her first email notification that evening.
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She reads over a summary of her daughter's behavior and interaction with website.
“WOW, these reports are really detailed!!”
User Stories
The user stories are the main goals of our users and the user flow are the steps our users will follow in the app to help complete the main goals. The first flow is how Melissa will complete her goals, and the second is how Alex will complete her goals.
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As a parent I want to limit my child’s time on the app so they aren’t spending too much time on it.
As a parent I want to sign up for emails so I can see summaries or reports on my child’s behavior while using the app.
As a child I want to chose things I’m interested in so I can see things I like on my timeline.
As a child I want to take my own photos so I can express my creativity.
As a child I want to communicate with other children on the app so I can be social and meet new friends.
As a parent I want to be able to turn notifications on or off, so I can control what I see and when I see it.
User Flow 1
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User Flow 2
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Wireframes
Now that I have a basic understanding of the UI structure, I quickly ideated/brainstormed some design ideas. I then took the sketches and utilized Figma to turn them into digital wireframes.
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Branding and Rebranding
Once the foundation was complete, I started creating a colorful yet minimal design aesthetic. The goal was for Playbook to mimic the aesthetic of popular social media apps but also maintain a childlike environment to promote imagination and creativity.
Original Color Palette
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New Color Palette
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Typography
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Icons
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Header
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Mockups
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Usability Testing
During the testing phase, I invited my two boys to step in and help me. They created their own profile pages. They were allowed to choose their own profile picture, write their own bios, and choose which pictures they wanted on their page. Allowing them this creative control and freedom gave me important insight into what their online personalities would be and also showed me how the typical child would use the app. I also invited their friends and the parents of their friends to participate in the testing. These are a few observations which include accessibility issues and basic suggestions on how to make the app better.
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Zachary loved writing about himself and choosing his profile picture. He changed it 3 times before making a final decision. He asked several times to look over his page and make sure it was perfect and what HE wanted.
"I think you should have labels on the pictures so kids know exactly what they are and make clear decisions if they are interested in that or not."
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"These colors are really hard to see"
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Simba aka The Math King! He asked more questions about the technical side of things and focused less on how his page looked. I learned how interested he was in coding and developing and he posed some pretty good questions.
"Parents should have the option to turn off the timer if they want"
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"Parents should be able to turn off notifications."
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Conclusion
Creating this project has taught me so much about the vast online world and the potential dangers that threaten our children. The scope of my original project was too large for my time frame or for one person to tackle on their own. I scaled back and focused on five main features. I plan to continue my research in order to create a platform that’s both safe and fun – a platform parents can trust and children can learn from.
Continuing on
Continuing on with the project, I will do more testing, conduct focus groups with kids, and develop a more advanced brand with a logo and icons. I will also add the following features.
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Positive comments under post
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Warning messages or signals if the child is exhibiting poor online behavior
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Educational content
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A top five friends list that allows the child too add up to 5 friends (real friends) to the app