Interaction - Bachelors

Bridgie

trophy Awarded

Jisoo Lee

Problem space

The widespread use of digital resources by young children has given rise to new roles and responsibilities for parents, collectively referred to as digital parenting. This concept encompasses parental efforts and practices aimed at understanding, supporting, and regulating children’s activities in digital environments (Fidan & Olur, 2023). Notably, in Australia, children between the ages of 2 and 6 spend an average of 25.9 hours per week on screen time at home (Fielding & Murcia, 2022). This digital landscape raised questions for me: How do early digital interactions impact the parent-child relationship, and how this digital could enhance parent-child bonding in the digital age?

white paper research

I was intrigued by the idea of digital parenting so, I decided to dive deeper and conduct a white paper research.

The research highlighted the importance of balancing children’s technology use with physical activities, as we all know. It emphasised the need for parents to provide enriching activities and engage in meaningful conversations with their kids. The research also stressed the significance of shared digital activities between parents and children. It pointed out that parents should pay attention to the quality and appropriateness of digital content and find opportunities for co-engagement.

How might we statement

How might we design a platform 1) to support digital parenting, which aims at understanding and supporting children’s activities in digital environments, and ultimately, 2) to enhance parent-child bonding?

User Interview

To get a firsthand understanding of my target audience’s experiences, I conducted user interviews with seven parents in Australia, each with children aged between 4 and 7.

Can you describe your typical interaction with your child when it comes to bonding activities? What are some activities or routines you engage in together? How do you envision technology playing a role in strengthening your relationship with your child and facilitating their learning? Are there specific ways you believe technology can enhance your interactions? Can you share any memorable experiences where technology positively impacted your parent-child bonding or learning activities? Can you describe some specific examples or scenarios where technology played a beneficial role? What concerns or reservations do you have about using technology to enhance your relationship with your child? Are there specific aspects of technology use in parenting that you find worrisome or challenging?

Affinity Diagramming

From these insights, I organised my data through affinity diagramming, grouping their quotes and identifying trends. This process led to the formation of 9 main insights and 3 main themes.
Theme 1. Parental Desire for Quality Time, Theme 2. Concerns About Passive Consumption, Theme 3. Technology as a Source of Family Bonding. 9 Insights are.. Parents engage in a diverse range of bonding activities with their children, such as reading, cooking, going to the park, and even simple acts like listening to music or sharing jokes. Most parents believed that meaningful, technology-free experiences lead to the best parent-child moments and strongest bonds. Parents aimed that children achieve a balanced and mindful approach to technology usage by avoiding excessive screen time and addictive apps or games. Parents worried not only that excessive screen time and its potential addiction have negative consequences for their children's well-being but also that passive consumption makes them miss out on opportunities for engaging in the real world. They were more comfortable with the children’s technology use that involves engaging and self-expressive activities.These moments encourage presence and conversation, enhancing the quality of interactions.The family found enjoyment and strengthened their bonds through technology, but only when it facilitated meaningful interactions in the real world between parents and children.For instance, technology was utilised to create playlists led to dancing and silliness, to share photos taken by the kids for making enjoyable moments, and playing video games together, as a tool for the real-world interactions. Parents also mentioned that they used technology to work together to research and find answers to questions, fostering a sense of shared exploration.

personas & empathy maps

Drawing from the initial white paper research and the affinity diagramming insights, I created two personas and empathy maps representing my target audience. This process helped me arrive at better solution as it gave an in-depth understanding of user goals and pain points.

Ideate & Design

user testing

Once the visual design was complete, I tested both prototypes with five users to identify areas of user confusion and errors. The user testing involved scenario-based task completion using the think-aloud method and post-test questions. Then I implemented the user feedback, resulting in the further design enhancements.

A heading to emphasise that the modal explains the interest dashboard, not the entire home feed, A visual hint to make it intuitively clear that users can scroll vertically, Bridgie's response time adjustments, Next arrow button for an intermediate feedback

Design response

Bridgie is a platform comprising two complementary applications, Bridgie for Kids and Bridgie for Parents, aiming to strengthen family bonds and enrich the parent-child connection by supporting digital parenting and bridging the digital gap. Bridgie for Kids is a conversational AI designed for children aged 4-7. The app encourages children to ask questions and explore their interests, offering intuitive, self-explanatory interfaces with clear instructions for an engaging and enjoyable user experience. While children explore their curiosity with Bridgie in a safe environment, the AI, Bridgie, collects their interest data with the parents’ app, Bridgie for Parents. This allows parents to actively participate in their child’s digital journey and gain a deep understanding of their child’s current passions. Bridgie for Parents provides valuable insights, such as conversation starters, at-home activities, and place recommendations tailored to a child’s interests and personal needs based on the kids’ app data. The key objective of Bridgie for Parents is to facilitate more conversations, meaningful interactions, and shared experiences between kids and parents in the real world.

Full process video

DEmo

Bridgie for kids

bridgie for parents

Jisoo Lee

Jisoo is an ambitious, adaptable, and self-motivated interaction design student with a passion for design. She is also a keen observer who loves to explore people's behaviours and emotions and how their environments impact them. She finds joy in actively listening to people's thoughts, using all of her senses to pay attention to every detail she can see and feel. As a designer, Jisoo's design philosophy is about creating real impacts on helping those around her to lead more fulfilling lives through her designs.