Client project | team of 3 | 3 weeks
My Role: Children’s platform lead, Brand facilitator, UX Researcher
Design Process:
A ‘Double Diamond’ approach
​User interviews, affinity mapping, competitive/comparative research, user journey, user flows, user personas, ‘How Might We’ statements, design studio, usability testing, wireframing, prototyping
Conducting a comprehensive site audit and Designing a child-centric digital platform
Tools used:
Figma
Slack
Zoom
Calendly
Trello
Brief
The Happy Marlo platform provides a comprehensive range of mindfulness content designed for children between the ages of 3 and 11. This includes 'Marlo Moments' as well as valuable guidance and resources for parents and caregivers.
But what is 'Marlo Moments'? Marlo Moments are a set of mindfulness techniques and activities designed for children, focusing on four core modalities: breathing, listening, tapping, and nature. These activities are intended to promote mindfulness and well-being in children.
Problem
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High bounce rate from the homepage on the current site.
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2. Current site is geared for parents rather than children to engage directly.
Solution
The project was divided into two phases of UX design:
Phase 1: Current Site Audit: To assess the current website and make recommendations
for improvement.
Phase 2: New child’s Platform: To build upon the current site with a digital platform, focusing on 6-9 age bracket.
Process
1
Site audit
4
Competitors
17
User interviews
(12 Adults, 5 Children)
17
Usability tests
(12 Adults, 5 Children)
3
Viewports
Gaining a clear understanding of the deliverables
Following our meeting with clients and gaining a clear understanding of the deliverables we needed to accomplish within three weeks, we divided tasks for the research phase. The project was divided into two phases of UX design:
Phase 1: Current Site Audit
Phase 2: Designing new child’s Platform
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Let's begin with Phase 1 to uncover the reasons behind the 74% user bounce rate on the current site's homepage.
Discover
Our research goals were valid for both 2 phases and were as follows:
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To explore the competitor trends in the child mindfulness industry.
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To discover users understanding of the mindfulness techniques that Happy Marlo offer.
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To identify pain points when users navigate the current Happy Marlo sites.
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Our client shared the analytics results, indicating that the current site has a homepage bounce rate of 74%. We had some assumptions:
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To validate our assumptions, we conducted 17 interviews, consisting of 12 with adults and 5 with children. These findings will be applied in both phases where they are most relevant. We combined user interviews with usability testing on the current website, targeting children aged 6-9 and parents or caregivers of children in the same age group. Additionally, my teammate performed a comprehensive site audit, further confirming our assumptions. The integration of these findings with the contextual inquiry of the current site enabled us to provide comprehensive recommendations to the clients.
1. Users are unsure about the website's purpose because the service is poorly explained.
2. Users are unsure about what Marlo Moments exactly include.
3. Navigation is a bit quirky with where the clickable part actually is.
4. The homepage doesn't effectively guide users through the intended process.
User Journey
Based on our findings from site audit and our assumptions we created a user journey which serves as a visual representation of the user's interactions with the current website. The user journey helps us understand the user's experience from start to finish, identifying pain points and opportunities for improvement in their interaction.
Usability test on current site
We combined user interviews with usability testing on the current website, targeting children aged 6-9 and parents or caregivers of children in the same age group. This was used to validate our assumptions.
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Primary: Navigate through the site to the ‘Listen’, ‘Tap’ and ‘Breathe’ sections
Secondary: Observe the EC BID site as a quick comparison
Tasks
12 Users
(Adults)
Scenario
A grown up looking for different resources online to aid their child’s wellbeing
Let's go through some of their insights:
"You'd want to have a bit more about it, how it's gonna help."
“I’m not sure what Marlo Moments relates to from my initial view.”
"The brand design is really nice, it’s a nice looking website."
"You know what the target audience is and what they’re into but not obvious what it is they offer."
Our usability testing results confirmed the validity of our assumptions. We discovered that the main reason for the high bounce rate
on the homepage was the lack of explanation regarding what Happy Marlo offered, especially regarding users' unfamiliarity with
'MarloMoments'.
Deliver
In the delivery stage, after analyzing our site audit findings and synthesizing the results of usability testing, we met with our client to present our suggestions and recommendations. These findings highlighted both the strengths and areas for improvement on the current website, aimed at reducing the high bounce rate.
Keep as it is
Suggestions
The font is easy to read and the overall look of the branding is really appealing!
The majority thought that the activities would be under the likes of resources etc.
Users liked seeing testimonials of other people that have used Happy Marlo before.
Not many knew what Marlo Moments was referring to.
The general level of content that was there felt really digestible.
Some users felt parts of the site were clickable when they were not.
Users liked having some audio and video embedded into the actual site.
Consistency between activity pages to keep it straightforward to navigate.
The feedback section for kids is a great idea!
Adding back buttons and a clear home button to stop the navigating quirks.
We completed phase 1 and were prepared to transition to phase 2.
Discover
After successfully completing phase 1, we seamlessly transitioned into phase 2, where our focus shifted to enhancing the current site by developing a digital platform tailored for children with the 6-9 age bracket.
Competitive and Comparative Research
We started our discovery stage with competitive and comparative analysis to explore the competitor trends in the child mindfulness industry. This analysis revealed both positive and negative aspects to consider.
The Good
The Bad
All very visually appealing, especially from a child’s perspective.
They are mix between online and native applications.
Have clear pathways for both children and grown-ups.
Activities/Games are goal driven or have an overall purpose.
Some have activities for both child and grown-up to do together.
Some, while visual, are very busy with over stimulating information.
Lack of origin and stories behind a few competitors.
Some navigation quirks or unfinished models when it comes to mobile.
Branding and colour seems gender biased in some cases.
The research points out that 'Gamification' plays a significant role across the competition and is an essential feature for engaging children. However, when some parts of the child platform become too visually busy and overstimulating, it can make it hard for kids to enjoy or navigate, leading to potential frustration.
User Interview
As mentioned in the previous phase we interviewed 12 adults and 5 children (Aged 5-9yrs) in total. when it comes to our research goals for the new children's platform, we wanted:
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To learn about child preferences in relation to:Characters, Games, Devices
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To establish the child’s awareness of the Marlo Moment modalities (Listen, Tap, Breath)
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To understand how parents feel about their child's engagement with digital resources
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Let’s see what we came up with:
Grown Up Insights
Child Insights
Define
Persona
In the define phase, we translated our research findings into user personas. Based on our research, we developed three personas, including Jackie, a mother and the primary persona for the current website. However, our main focus in Phase 2 will shift to our child personas. Initially, our target audience was children aged 6 to 9. Yet, after reviewing our interviews, we identified significant differences in their needs, prompting us to create two child personas: Olivia, a 6-year-old, and George, a 9-year-old.
User interviews revealed that 6-year-olds were still developing their literacy skills, relying more on visual navigation than older children in our initial target age range. Consequently, after obtaining client's confirmation we decided to prioritise meeting Olivia's needs, recognizing that by doing so, we would make the site more accessible to a broader audience range.
Problem Statement
Reflecting on our persona and her needs, goals and frustrations we came up with our problem statement:
‘Olivia needs a way to easily discover new and visually engaging activities to help with her emotional wellbeing.’
User Flow
Before starting the design, we created a user flow to outline the user's journey. This helped us to find the most problematic areas and spots where we can make improvements.
As you can see the red circles represent two stages where the user is at risk of leaving the site, so we need to ensure that the prompts are visually engaging enough to keep her interested. This will be our primary focus for the next phase...
How Might We Statement?
Reflecting on our user flow and problem statement, we created our "how might we" statement.
How might we help Olivia to easily find new and calming stories that aid her mindfulness for better sleep at night?
Develop
Design Studio
We centered our design studio session around the 'How Might We' statement we developed. Each participant completed 3 rounds of sketching within a 10-minute time limit. Afterward, we shared our sketches and collaboratively selected the features we believed would have the most significant impact in meeting our users' needs.
Mid-fidelity Wireframes
Following our brainstorming and sketching phase, we transitioned to Figma to create our mid-fidelity wireframes for all three viewports—mobile, tablet, and desktop—following a mobile-first approach to ensure responsive design. These wireframes were developed and used for our usability testing, with the tablet version focused on, since it was identified as the preferred device during user interviews.
Mid-fi User Testing
We conducted 4 remote usability testing via Zoom. ​
Tasks
User Testing Results
Our testing revealed these key insights​:
Usability testing feedback
Here's the feedback from our testing that led to some changes in our hi-fi wireframes. We tested them again before handing them off to our client.
Deliver
Let's put all of those research and user testing to work.The final product is a hi-fi prototype for three viewports (mobile, tablet, and desktop), focusing on our target user’s preferred device: Tablet.
Final Design & Prototype
Mobile
Tablet
Desktop
Here, you have access to the tablet version of our hi-fi prototype:
Solutions
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To address the high bounce rate, we introduced 'Marlo Moments', which was the root cause of the problem.
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To address the second problem we created a visual, simpler, and clearer flow for children by implementing character expressions.
Next Steps
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Create the flow and pages for all activities
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Explore character animations especially in relation to activity video content
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Review copy of key blurb pieces and headings, particularly the activity types
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Build on other user journeys for other personas:
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Parent user journey with the recommendations made from Phase 1
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Children aged 3-5yrs or 10-11yrs
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Teachers
Key Learnings
I had an exceptional experience working on a client project with a fantastic team. We were all passionate and dedicated to the project, supporting each other openly. My key takeaways from this project include:
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Communication is the key to success: I was nervous before doing it as there was a lot of hype around the client projects, but being in touch with the client at the end of each phase to get their feedback helped me to realise that communication is the key to success. It not only eased my initial nervousness but also fostered a strong sense of collaboration and trust within the team. This experience taught me that embracing challenges and actively seeking feedback can lead to outstanding results. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with such an amazing team and client, and I look forward to applying these lessons in future projects.
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Working with children: It was an exceptional experience that filled my heart with joy and valuable insights. Their enthusiasm and honesty during user testing sessions were refreshing and often led to unexpected design improvements. It reinforced the idea that user-centered design is not just a principle but a genuine way to create meaningful and engaging experiences for all age groups.This experience solidified my commitment to creating products that are not only functional but also delightful. It was a privilege to work alongside these young minds and be reminded that, in the world of UX design, every voice, no matter how small, can have a big impact on the final outcome.
Rebekah Clark, Happy Marlo CEO
The team worked collaboratively throughout, and I was impressed by their open, client-focused approach at each stage of the design process. We gained valuable insights from their user research and the final prototype addressed our core objective of crafting an engaging platform which supports children in their wellbeing journey. In all, their work has supported us in the evolution of our business development, elevated our brand experience for children and grown-ups alike, whilst providing us with much to consider for the longer-term. It was an absolute pleasure working with the team, and we’re delighted with the results. Highly recommend!
