Role: Lead User Researcher collaborated with UI Designer & EdTech Product Manager
Research Type: Exploratory and Evaluative UXR
Research Method: Exploratory Design Research + Prototyping + Future Research Plan
Goal: Create smart machines that foster compassion among children
Research Context
IDC 2023 Design Challenge
Children around the world shared their ideas about how to make the community more connected, compassionate, and better.
Goal
We would like to create smart machines that foster compassion among children.
Design thinking
Qualitative data analysis (ideas of target audience)
Research-based product design
Prototype Features
Value Proposition
Emotion Explorers is an AI system that assists 6-11-year-old children to understand emotions
It aims to have a long-lasting impact on children’s emotional behaviors, and creates a compassionate, connected, safe environment.
The goal of Emotion Explorers and Zen is to develop children’s emotional awareness, communication of emotions, and kind behaviors through a longitudinal and sustainable approach.
Product Interface
The system can be integrated into smart devices, such as bracelets and plushies for children, and mobile applications for parents and teachers.
Emotion Explorers interacts with children through a digital voice assistant named Zen, facilitating children’s emotional awareness and emotional behaviors through dialogues about emotions.
Product Feature
Emotion Explorers detects children's emotions and provide emotional feedback, emotional awareness, and solutions for the user through AI dialogues.
Emotion Explorers encourages compassion and kindness in the classroom by providing emotional awareness among peers
and provoking peer interactions.
Emotion Explorers will automatically detect surrounding noises and conversations and users’ heartbeats via smart bracelets
and report to authorities immediately when the child user is in danger.
Adults like teachers, parents, and safety
authorities can see the data and analytics reports of child users’ well-being and emotions according to their roles through their devices. For example, parents only have access to the data of their children. The system will provide guidelines for adult users to provide emotional support for children.
User testing & in-depth interviews in school settings
The outcomes will help us train the prototype to develop its focus knowledge of children’s emotions.
We aim to continue improving Emotion Explorers based on child users’ feedback and to understand its impacts on children’s well-
being by conducting a longitudinal study after completing the design.