Empowering Children's positive habits through Gamification Design
Habitz is a mobile application incubated under UNS Innovation Hub designed to empower positive daily habits for children through gamification mechanics. By interviewing 140+ parents and collaborating closely with front-end engineers, we crafted an engaging, child-friendly journey that turns everyday routines into rewarding quests.
The Starting Point & Discovery
Understanding parental challenges in building childhood routines
To gain insight into parental challenges and expectations, I conducted a survey with 140 respondents, all of whom were parents. The survey highlighted the desire for a structured and enjoyable approach to building positive habits in children.
Parents expressed the need for a system that could hold children's interest while being flexible enough to adapt to different family routines. These insights shaped the direction of the design, focusing on interactive elements that make habit-building enjoyable.
Design Process & Prototyping
From user personas to interactive gamified workflows
The design process started with creating a UX research plan and conducting a competitor analysis to understand how similar apps approached habit-building for children. I developed user personas and affinity diagrams to represent our key user groups and prioritize the main challenges.
During ideation, I organized the information architecture and brainstormed solutions through 'How Might We' sessions. The design progressed through building a design system and creating an interactive prototype before conducting MVP usability testing.
Reflections & Learnings
- Leading a design team: Collaboration with developers is about bridging gaps between creativity and technical execution.
- Rapid adaptation: When prototypes miss the mark, it's better to fail fast, gather feedback, and iterate quickly.
Future Opportunities
- Build a scalable design system for upcoming feature modules.
- Deepen user feedback loops with child psychology advisors.