Tiny Tales
A tablet app for children’s books
Product
An iPad app where parents and kids can read books.
Role
UX/UI Designer, UX Researcher
Tools
Figma, Google Drive
Duration
April 2024
View Figma Prototype
Overview
TinyTales is an iPad app where parents and kids can read books. TinyTales presented the problem that finding a book to read for your children can be a long and complicated task.
This project was done as a part of my Springboard UX Design course in which we learned about and moved through a modified Google Venture design sprint. As students, we were required to pick a project that presented a problem and required us to help solve the problem through a redesign of key pages.
Project scope
TinyTales presented the problem that finding a book to read for your children can be a long and complicated task.
This project was done as a part of my Springboard UX Design course in which we learned about and moved through a modified Google Venture design sprint. As students, we were required to pick a project that presented a problem and required us to help solve the problem through a redesign of key pages. Playing as the solo designer with aid from my mentor, I identified the problem and worked through the design sprint process.
Target User
28 - 55 year old moms
Moms with kids under 14
Busy with a full time job
Day 1: Understand & Map
To better understand the problem and task at hand, I read through the brief and watched several interviews about how parents pick a book to read.
Tiny Tales presented with the overarching problem of:
Finding a book to read for your children can be a long and complicated task
Specific pain points
Users find it hard to find specific topics
Users struggle to find a book that is the right level or length.
Problem statement
This led me to hone in on the product statement:
Tiny Tales presents with the problem of users struggling to find the right book of the right level, length, and desired topic for their children.
End-to-end user experiences
Through these insights and with the problem in mind, I created a map of possible end-to-end user experiences. I had two users: mom and kid.
I believe the most important aspects of this end-to-end experience is that filtering by topic, time/length, and age group are key to solving the problem.
Project scope
TinyTales presented the problem that finding a book to read for your children can be a long and complicated task.
This project was done as a part of my Springboard UX Design course in which we learned about and moved through a modified Google Venture design sprint. As students, we were required to pick a project that presented a problem and required us to help solve the problem through a redesign of key pages. Playing as the solo designer with aid from my mentor, I identified the problem and worked through the design sprint process.
Target User
28 - 55 year old moms
Moms with kids under 14
Busy with a full time job
Day 2: Sketch Your Solution
For Day 2, I started with a modified lightning demo to look at what solutions competitors have produced to solve a problem similar to that of TinyTale’s. I studied 3 apps: Netflix (For Kids), Youtube Kids, and Epic!
Netflix Kids
When creating profile, able to select what kid is into
Dark UI
Favorites at top, popular after, then categories of movies
At top, able to filter between TV Shows, Movies, and Categories
Search: recommended TV shows and movies
Youtube Kids
When creating profile, asks for kids age group for better tailoring
Illustrative and colorful background
Able to filter between reading, movies, music, etc. at the top
Search function just like regular YouTube (no pictures)
Epic!
When creating profile, asks for birthday and topics kid might be into
Plain, white UI
Able to filter between favorites, read to me, videos, and audiobooks at top
Search: categories and topics with pictures
Rewards: Badges and “Reading Buddies”
Lightning Round Reflection
Upon reviewing these different apps, I learned the main 2 functions that help the user find what they might like:
Creating a profile: input age and interests
Filtering: top tabs help filter by content
Critical Screen
For my critical screen, I chose the “book profile” screen. Since the main action would be reading the book, I chose the screen that would happen right before. Keeping this in mind, I did a Crazy 8s exercise to quickly sketch possible layouts of my critical screen.
Solution Sketch
I then created a three panel board of critical screen and the ones that will come before and after it.
Home screen (users select the book) -> book profile (include making the length of the book, appropriate age group, and number of pages) -> book reading page
Day 3: Decide & Create a Storyboard
Next, I thought of other screens that connect with my three panel story board that would be essential to my solution. I chose to make “adding a profile” a part of my storyboard as it would allow my target user (mom) to input information that would help further tailor recommendations. By tailoring recommendations, the time it takes to search for the right book would be lessened.
(I also decided here to design in landscape orientation as I imagine my users to use the app in this mode more.)
Day 4: Prototype Your Solution
When creating my prototypes, I first created wireframes using my storyboard sketches as guides. I then made a simple style guide to figure out what colors and general style I wanted to implement.
The brief showed that TinyTale’s primary color is purple so I made sure to work around that. I knew I wanted a plain, white background to make the illustrative book covers be the main focus. Lastly, I created high fidelity screens for all six of my screens.
Day 5: Validate
What I did
I made a script and decided on the questions and tasks I wanted my participants to complete. I then conducted 5 interviews over zoom and collected my results making sure to gauge my participant’s reactions and actively listening to their feedback.
Who I interverviewed
When thinking of people to interview, I wanted all of my participants to be involved with children in some capacity. It was great to have both parents and those who work with children for their jobs to get different perspectives.
Questions
Do you and your kids read books together
How do you go about buying books?
How do you go about selecting a book?
How long does it take you to select a book on average?
What things do you consider when choosing a book to read?
Tasks
Create a new profile
Your kid likes space and pets. Select those.
Look for books about space.
Read Luna Muna
Any comments/questions?
Results
Overall, testing shed some light on what will definitely work and what needs some adjustments. My participants generally liked the “UI” and thought it was “cute” and “clean” but some screens need to be refined.
If I were to iterate:
work on organizing the “interests” screen
rearranging the content on the “home” screen
adjusting the text lines on the “book profile” page
Key Takeaways
1
Competitive research is key
I have not used a lot of kid’s reading apps so it was a little daunting knowing where to start. My competitive research gave me a great foundation and I was able to take the best parts of each app to create something impactful of my own.
2
When there are multiple user personas, focus on one first.
I envisioned two users for the project: mom and an older kid (10-14). However, when iterating, my mentor helped me realized it’s better to focus on just one at a time. I also had to think about who would be downloading and onboarding the app. I will keep this in mind for future products.
3
Organizing your information is crucial for streamlining experience.
A lot of my users made comments about my “choose interests” screen. They wanted it to be alphabetical or in categories for easy-scanning. Initially I thought it would be easy to navigate since there are big picture. After the project I realized that designers should always make it as easy as possible for users to navigate through the site.
Reflection
Overall, I think the problem of “finding a problem can be a long and complicated task” was solved. I had a great time working through the GV design sprint and can see how it is useful to quickly prototype and test a project. I loved designing with a different target audience in mind (mom and kids). It made me put myself in their shoes and think about how they might perceive and behave differently from each other and from others. Getting feedback and talking to my participants was super useful as I saw how they interact with these types of apps and learned how I might refine my designs. I complete this project with more confidence in my abilities and can’t wait to see what’s next.