ECODIAN

Final UX/UI Certificate Project - Acámica

Ecodian is an interactive app designed to teach children about sustainability through fun and engaging activities.

The Problem

Educators and parents are increasingly seeking effective ways to teach children about environmental issues in a manner that is both engaging and educational. The challenge lies in designing a digital solution that fosters the acquisition of new, sustainable habits within the framework of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (RRR) among children under 12 years old.

Given the undeniable impact of overpopulation and overexploitation of natural resources on our planet, it is crucial to promote habits that reduce this impact from an early age. However, traditional methods often fail to capture the interest of young learners, especially considering the varied needs of different age groups within this demographic

Research Tools

The investigation began with thorough desk research on sustainability and environmental education for children. This was followed by a series of targeted research activities, including:

Interviews: With children aged 8 to 12 to understand their perceptions and learning preferences.
Surveys: Conducted with teachers of 3rd to 6th grades to gather insights on effective teaching strategies for environmental topics.
Benchmarking: Of competitor apps to identify best practices and areas for innovation.

Interview Insights

To effectively address the challenge of teaching children about sustainability, I conducted in-depth interviews with children aged 8 to 12. These conversations provided valuable insights into their learning habits, interests, and the obstacles they face when engaging with environmental topics. The main insights gathered were:

Creative Reuse Focus

Some children are highly interested in reuse for creative projects but are unaware of other concrete actions they can take. Encouraging learning about different ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle (RRR) would be beneficial.

Peer Awareness

Environmentally conscious children feel frustrated by their peers' wasteful habits, such as wasting water or littering. Helping them raise awareness among their peers could curb these behaviors.

Impact of Small Actions

Some children feel powerless due to their age. It's important to show them how their daily actions can significantly impact the planet.

“I find it hard because I’m small, and it feels like I can’t do much.”

Fun in Learning

Children understand the importance of RRR but associate it with boring school subjects. Making it fun and engaging would motivate them to participate more actively.

"The hardest part of recycling is not getting bored."

Benchmarking

This benchmark focuses on existing digital solutions aimed at teaching sustainable habits, either targeting children or a broader audience. Additionally, as an indirect competitor, an app designed to teach healthy habits to children will be analyzed for its approach and relevance in promoting behavioral changes through digital platforms.

User Personas

Using the data gathered in the interviews, I developed two different User Personas that represented the different types of children who could benefit from the solution, one that mostly focuses on learning and another one who mostly focuses on playing. These profiles were very useful in guiding the design process, ensuring that the final product was tailored to their specific needs and motivations.

Problem Redefinition and Summary (How Might We)

"How might we teach children creative actions associated with RRR that they can perform, which have an impact, while ensuring the experience remains entertaining?"

The Proposed Solution

Ecodian was designed to address these challenges by creating a playful, interactive app specifically aimed at children aged 8 to 12. The app makes learning about the environment fun and accessible, encouraging the adoption of sustainable habits that children can carry with them throughout their lives.

By combining educational content with engaging activities, the goal of Ecodian is, not only to have an effective environmental education but also to create a sense of ownership in children to care for the planet they will inherit, in a way that resonates with their natural curiosity and love for play.

What

An interactive app designed to teach children about sustainability through fun and engaging activities.

Who

Children between 8 and 12.

When/Where

Mobile App.

Information Architecture

Based on the research insights, app sections were organized into cards and continuously refined through a process of sorting and rearranging. From this iterative approach the app's sitemap was defined.

Some key ideated features for Ecodian:

EcoAmigos: Children choose and customize a sea animal avatar, reflecting their progress in learning sustainable habits. The EcoAmigo (or EcoFriend) displays emotions based on user engagement, reinforcing environmental responsibility.
EcoChallenges: Divided into Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, these daily missions guide children in performing eco-friendly actions, rewarding them with points and badges.
Social Section: A platform where kids can share achievements, compete with friends, and track each other's progress.
Sustainability Guide: A Q&A resource to answer common questions about recycling, composting, and other sustainable actions.
Gamified Rewards System: Points and badges motivate users to complete tasks, helping them adopt sustainable habits while competing with friends.

The Prototype Process

Based on the obtained insights and user personas, I designed wireflows that mapped out key interactions, particularly in the Challenges and Social sections. Using these wireflows, the first low-fidelity prototype was created, focusing on a natural user experience, especially in the process of creating a new account.

The prototype underwent two rounds of user testing. After the first iteration, adjustments were made to better align with user's natural usage of the app. In the second round 100% of users correctly followed the steps to create a new account. The feedback from these tests led to critical iterations, refining the design and interactions to better meet the needs of our young audience.

The Design Process

Once the Low-Fi prototype was tested with users and adjusted, work began on the app's aesthetics. A palette based on primary colors was used to appeal to a young audience, with an added contrasting dark color. The typefaces Rubik and Open Sans were chosen for the curved character of the former and the legibility of the latter. After making all aesthetic decisions, a design system was developed to encompass these elements.

Once the design system was established, we moved on to styling the wireframes to create high-fidelity prototypes. This phase involved applying consistent visual styles, such as typography, color schemes, and interactive elements, ensuring a cohesive look across the entire platform. After the prototypes were completed, we conducted user testing to gather feedback on both the visual design and functionality.

Based on the insights from these tests, we made necessary adjustments to improve the user experience, refining details and interactions to ensure the final design met both user needs and project goals.

The Final Product

ECODIAN is a fun, interactive app that motivates children to complete sustainable missions and learn about their environmental impact. Through these missions, users earn points and medals, driving them to continue making eco-friendly choices. They can also connect with friends to share progress and explore educational resources about the RRR concepts.

The app’s unique feature is the ECOAMIGO, a virtual pet that users keep happy by completing tasks or directly interacting with it, reinforcing sustainable habits in a playful way.

Conclusion

Working on Ecodian has been a fulfilling. It allowed me to explore how technology can help children develop sustainable habits in a way that's both playful and impactful. Engaging with a younger audience revealed just how powerful gamification can be in shaping learning experiences.

The entire process was eye-opening, teaching me the value of user testing and interviews even when working with young children. If I were to revisit this project, I would deepen my research and refine the prototype for a more complete experience.