abc Andy | Design

Companion Doll and app

September 2020 - May 2021

Student Project

The current market for companion dolls lacks an educational option for the preschool market and does not take advantage of current popular technologies. Additionally due to the pandemic and school shifting to online, many children have been socially isolated.

Andy incorporates aspects of Leapfrog, Webkinz, Teddy Ruxpin, and Chatty Cathy to create a modern design solution for children in the early stages of literacy acquisition.

Market Research

User Personas

Josephine

3 years old. Preschool student. Literacy level: learning ABCs. Enjoys playing with dolls

Ava

5 years old. Kindergarten student. Literacy level: can read books with large text, a few words on each page, and with large line spacing.

Emma

7 years old. First grade student. Literacy level: below average for her age as she suffers from dyslexia

Research

Findings

parents are interested in educational apps and that many children already play on tablet and smart phones

abc Andy must feature incentives such as awards

the less educational the app looks the better include parent access to child’s progress

Journey Maps

Mood Board

Form Exploration

Fashion Exploration

Andy and friends

Andy

Amy

Angie

Annie

After finalizing Andy's 2D design, I created a 3D model of her using ZBrush for the head and SOLIDWORKS for the body.

App Icon

After sketching a few concepts for an app icon I created quick mockups in Adobe Illustrator and used peer feedback to eventually create the one pictured at right.

Heuristic Reports

I enjoyed the color palette and layout of the Homer app. I felt that it was simple enough for a child to navigate all on their own and the graphics within the games were not distracting, perfect for a young age group.

I found this app to be far too visually busy for its purpose. If it was a game app for older children it would be fine but as an educational app for young children there were far too many buttons. Additionally the app did not adhere to a color scheme which made navigation even more difficult.

On the home page the graphic design failed to use basic design principles such as consistency across categories to create an attractive layout. Within games the graphic design is fairly straightforward and utilizes many bright colors which should engage young children.

FRANCIS STRIETMANN