Curious Conversations
My master's project that enables children to explore their science interests by having discussions with a virtual buddy named Trazo by leveraging the Amazon Alexa device in households.
Background
It is critical to provide opportunities for young children to engage in meaningful conversations about science to foster long-term interest and curiosity in science-related topics. However, due to the various topics elementary students learn in classrooms, they spend limited time learning about their favorite science topics. Although many platforms aim to provide informal learning experiences for children at home, they fail to promote a two-way conversation.
Timeline
Prior Studies Show
Elementary students spend about 20 minutes daily on science instruction as compared to 60 minutes for math and 90 minutes for reading and language arts. (Sparks, 2021)
When they come back home, parents do not know how to answer their child's questions about complex scientific ideas in a way that their child can understand. (Silander et al., 2018)
Discovery
Research Goal
To better understand and inform the design of the new product that would help users learn about their favourite science topics from the comfort of their homes.
Questions
What platforms do users currently use to learn?
What topics do the users like learning about within science?
What are the concerns parents have as their children are learning?
To find the answers to these questions, we decided to conduct a survey
US | 154 Parents | 3 Weeks Project
My Role
Process & Challenges
Survey Design
Basic Survey Structure
Piloted Drafts
Small sample size consisting of Stanford Affiliated members
Launched Final Survey over Prolific
Exporting the data collected from Qualtrics into a Google Sheet spreadsheet for further analysis
Filtering Noise from Data
Some data collected would have had negative effect on the results. Some areas of concerns that I saw in the survey were:
Example of data that I filtered out from the sheet
Due to the sample size, having these categories of data would have caused inconsistencies among the result and so letting go of 22 responses was a good idea. After getting rid of these anomolies, I relaunched the survey to complete my sample size.
Collecting all responses and coding them by hand!
Before using descriptive statistics
Since this process was time consuming, I decided to improve the process for future use
Following my data collection, I embedded a formula within the google sheet so the process could be automated for us later when we send out the surveys. Doing this helped make the process more scalable and the technique was used later on when we used the survey and saved a lot of time.
Example of a chart that resulted from our study
Descriptive Statistics
After re-scaling all responses, I needed to calculate:
This was done for:
Usage of devices (iPad, Kindle, Tablet, Laptop etc)
Platforms they use (Audio-based, games and shows)
Concerns of parents
Impact & Results
The Graphs were then presented to the other team members with design recommendations for the product which were implemented next...
As we visualized the data, we uncovered some key insights into the problem that we wanted to address:
86%
Parents are concerned about the time their child spends on the screen everyday.
57%
Children are excited about astronomy and like learning more adventure stories.
43%
Parents see their child using smart speakers whereas some of them use Tablets.
32%
Children use Alexa particularly the Kids version whereas some use Google Homes.
Next, the prototype was designed based on these insights
Based on the feedback that was collected, the team members designed the experience of the product and that prototype was tested in our next phase!
Prototype
Developed on the Alexa device to help children learn more space and astronomy. It starts with an icebreaker question that helps children learn about their future in space to develop their interest. This is followed by a story called "Theres a hole in my galaxy" which revolves around a girl who undertakes a space adventure with her friends. Towards the end of the story, there is a drawing activity and a question that rates the child's learning experience with a personalised response.
Testing of the Prototype
Research Goal
Understand the First Time User Experience (FTUE) when users are interacting with Curious Conversations to identify the factors that could be improved while learning more about science topics.
Questions
How easy or difficult is it for users to interact with the prototype?
What are the goals and expectations of the users?
What elements were missing in the first design iteration?
What do the users think about the story content & questions?
My Role
Process & Challenges
Recruiting Participants
Due to the limited resources and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, we had to reduce the number of participants for the study. As part of the recruitment process, I made an email that described the incentive for participating, the time required, and a link to the screener questions and mailed it out online forums such as NextDoor, Stanford Parents community and Facebook groups. From there, I compiled a shortlist of participants based on the age, gender, background and technology usage of our participants. In the end, we got a good mix of participants gender and backgrounds.
Participant Demographics
Children between the ages of 8-12 as our targeted audience
Had mixed experience with technological devices
Prior experience using conversational agents at home
Procedure and Methodology
Moderated Usability Testing Study
The study was conducted in the Stanford backyard with 15 children where they were first introduced to the Alexa device and the conversation was recorded after getting a consent form signed by the parent. The session was an hour long and children were given tasks and asked to "think aloud" while they are completing the tasks. At the end of the tasks, they were also asked a set of questions to get their overall impressions of the product.
Why Usability Testing?
Wanted to explore our prototype with a younger age group to get feedback on the content and duration.
Observe their reactions & engagement levels when they first used the prototype.
Witness the pain-points & suggestions without any adults intervening.
Impact & Results
Analyzing Data
Participants did not know when to start speaking when immersed in the storyline
Participants felt that the length & flow of the story was very engaging
Participants wanted more activities and questions towards the end of the story
Design Recommendations provided to the team
Based on the feedback that was collected, the team members designed the experience of the product and that prototype was tested in our next phase!
Conversational Agent plays a tune after asking the child to turn the page
Prompt is not a separate agent but embedded within the story.
Question is removed from the story and only the CA would ask the question.
Option provided to skip and work on additional activities
Measuring our success
Based on the feedback, the team was able to make another design iteration that was more user friendly and we were able to raise funding from StartX for $1,500. We were also able to present our project at the Expo to esteemed faculty and industry professionals in this area. You can check out our project on the Stanford Website here and also watch our project video below:
Learnings & Next Steps
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