Some very rough sketches for my digital concept.
Background
Frustrated with my young child’s inability to remember homework or forms we needed to read from school and the process with which I try to teach them, I wondered how might we make teaching our children responsibility fun?
Research methods used
• Interviews
• Competitive Analysis
• Competitive Analysis
ROLE
Sole Researcher
Timeline
6 weeks
My interview guide.
Process
I conducted exploratory research with 8 parents designing questions to learn their frustrations, techniques, what they found worked or didn’t work in getting them to do their chores or homework, and their hopes for their children.
At the same time I conducted Secondary Research looking at recommendations by online ‘experts’ and studies on the potential effects of parenting on our children's ability to succeed.
Key findings were:
• Most kids are easily distracted. It takes a great deal of maturity to stay on task. Besides, chores are dull!
• Speaking to them where they are rather than at them seems to yield more cooperation.
• A little bit of silliness goes a long way.
“. . . the problem is not a lack of discipline, but a lack of connection… We’ve become so wrapped up in “raising them right” that we’ve forgotten how to love them right.”
— ALFIE KOHN, AMERICAN AUTHOR AND LECTURER IN THE AREAS OF EDUCATION, PARENTING, AND HUMAN BEHAVIOUR.
My aha moment was when I realized that through fun we make connections and through connections we have fun. Through this connection, our responsibilities to each other deepen.
A few very rough ideas.
Outcome
Above all, I wanted to try to create something that was engaging, fun, and created positive memories around family bonding.
I created a very quick rough wireframe mockup that amped up the fun around getting something done based loosely on the 7 minute workout in combination with bells, slide whistles, train toots and anything else I could that could draw a smile and lighten the mood.
Reflection
Although my sketches and ideas are geared towards a mobile or tablet app, I thought of it more as a bit of a toolkit for getting stuff done with game pieces or charts to aid the tasks at hand.
Next steps
It would be interesting to interview children about how they get their chores or work done and what motivates them.
