TINYTALES
Enhancing search functionality for a children’s reading app.
TinyTales is a startup where authors and illustrators can publish children's stories for parents to read to their children. As Tiny Tales' library has grown, parents have expressed that it has been difficult and time consuming to find the right stories to read to their children.
How might we streamline the search functionality for parents looking for the perfect bedtime story?
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES: Research, UX/UI
PROJECT CONTEXT: GV Design Sprint
DURATION: 5 Days (Summer 2023)
TOOLS USED: Figma, Mural, Zoom
PROBLEM
Finding the right bedtime story is difficult and time consuming.
As TinyTales have grown their library of stories, parents have expressed that it’s been difficult and time consuming to find the right stories to read to their children. TinyTales wants to make it easier for parents to find a great story to read to their children amidst their busy daily schedules.
SOLUTION
Streamline book filtering and implement personalized recommendations.
In the final prototype, a sort and filtering function helps narrow down selections when searching for books. Books are categorized by topics and labeled with tags to improve personalized recommendations based on the user’s read history and book ratings.
DAY 1: UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
Parents want a child-centric design.
Qualitative interviews were conducted to identify user patterns and needs. Eleven parents were asked to answer the question, “Tell us how you choose a book or story to read to your children.” The overall trend is that parents want to save time when selecting a books to read with their children, but it can never be at the expense of the children’s reading or learning experience. Keeping this in mind, I set out to create an app that would be delightful for both the parent and child to use together or independently.
COMPETITIVE RESEARCH
MAIN INSIGHTS
Based on user interviews, users are looking for…
CATEGORIZING BASED ON TOPICS
Parents need to easily access books connected to their children’s experiences to better support their development and categorizing books based on topics will take one step of the search process out of their busy schedules.
FILTERING FOR MULTIPLE KIDS
Some parents have multiple children they read to at the same time and they need a book filtering system that is able to accommodate for multiple children to easily find a happy medium between their comprehension levels.
CLEAR, DEFINITIVE BOOK DETAILS
Parents need access to clear, definitive details that will tell them whether a book is suitable for their child or not at a glance so they don’t waste time flipping through the book to find out the long way.
AUTO BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
Parents want trustworthy book recommendations to continuously engage their children when they finish a book and to save time searching for new books.
DAY 2+3: SOLUTION IDEATION & DECISION
Before I started on ideating, I considered the design constraints provided to me for TinyTales:
I mapped out the steps that a user would take to find a book for their kids and rapidly sketched potential iterations of the home screen using a Crazy 8’s exercise. Then, I created a storyboard to visualize this process.
DAY 4 + 5: PROTOTYPING & USABILITY TESTING
There were 2 improvements in my design after 1 round of usability testing with 5 participants to gather feedback and test for potential usability issues.
FINAL MOCKUPS & PROTOTYPE
THE STYLE GUIDE
CONCLUSION
Things I learned and what I would do next time…
Less can be more.
Due to the time constraint that was provided in this particular project, I really had to focus on what was the most important part of the product to implement into the final prototype to save time and ensure that it was completed within the time limit. This helped to push me to see the big picture and consider what was the most important and what was just extra fluff.
Aim for iteration, not perfection.
Planning ahead is good but thinking too far ahead can be a trap for creativity and productivity. Especially at the beginning of this project, I had to push myself to think with an iterative mindset and cast away all of my instinctual urges to aim for perfection. It is always best to iterate based on feedback and continue with an open mind because what is perfect for one person may not serve another the same way.
Thank you for reading! 📖
If you have any questions for me or about my work, feel free to reach out at lilyfn19@gmail.com.