EkStep Genie App (which means One Step) is a never-tried- before mega initiative to education 150 million students in India over the next 5 years through games and apps. Its wan android app which helps rural students get access to content based on their native language and grade. The content helps students get better at language, math and cognitive abilities, in a fun and engaging manner

GoodWorkLabs - EkStep Genie Learning from UX Design Awards on Vimeo.

Role & Team

My primary responsibilities included initial research, information architecture, wireframing, visual design and implementation of the mobile application by embedding games, puzzles and stories in the app seamlessly.

Access to free primary education is the key motivation of the Genie App. The mobile app focuses on bridging the gap of educational content by providing high quality content through the effort of NGOs Pratham, Akshara and Ekstep Foundations in India. This initiative yielded Android app called Genie which was designed and developed in Good Work Labs. The team included UX Designers, Researchers, Visual artists and Developers. My primary role included Field research, client management, and UI Design. The challenge was to make the app intuitive to learn for kids and support multiple learning content efficiently.

Problem & Goals

Bridging the learning gap among kids (5- 12 years) in rural areas to empower and provide them equal learning opportunities as their urban counterparts.

Goal 1:“intent driven, adult navigational behavior” to “curiosity driven child behavior”

Goal 2: UX should be engaging enough to hold the child’s attention for sustainable durations e.g. 10 or 20 minute long sessions.

Users

Primary: Kids (5-12 years)

Secondary: Volunteers, teachers, parent

Tertiary: Data assessment and analyst

Challenges

• Device availability
• Remote Locations
• Less mobile friendly content

Design process - Field Study & Contextual inquiry

I visited the rural schools to observe kids' pattern and behavior while using the app and incorporate the changes necessary for each development cycle. User study was conduted in batches of five with kids from age groups of 5 - 10 years and observed the kids in their native environment. This experience made me understand the importance of usability study to any design and how we can strike the right balance between what users want, usability of the app without compromising on foundational design principles. It also made me understand how user requirements vary across different age groups, their cultural and linguistic background while giving me insights about how design can be improved with a multiple-perspective view. I was able to successfully integrate these ideas into the final app.

Wireframe

After research and IA, here are the wireframes of content created to ideate the layout and actions in the app.

Visual Design

Considering kids as the primary target users of the app, colors are kept vibrant with bubbly shapes to engage the attention of kids towards the app

Outcome

• Duration of user sessions increased by 12%
• Usability testing (increase in time taken for kids (test groups) in discovering their content)
• Positive & elevated emotional response

Impact

The app is used as a tool to survey the educational capabilities of Children in India by various other NGOs like Patham and Akshara Foundations.The project was selected as one of the 50 nominated entries for UX design awards in Germany 2016 conducted by International Design Centre - Berlin.