Design for Development: Folks' Tales App

Design for Development

Folks' Tales

Brief summary

Design is not only a commercial enterprise, but it also has the potential to facilitate positive social change. This project tackles the issue of increased isolation owing to social distancing amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, and the consequent necessity for virtual connection. With this in mind, the intention of the project is to design a digital, game-based intervention that harnesses the powerful act of playing as a means to encourage connection. The project is premised on a particular prompt which should be explored within a local context. The application must be designed for children between the ages of six and eight, and encourage their development through experiential learning. Working in groups, this project requires iterative research, design, and prototyping to produce an innovative digital solution.

Project deliverables

01. Process documentation*

• Research

• Visual identity development

• Game development

• Prototyping

02. Design solution

03. Presentation*

*Click here to view extensive project deliverables.

Design strategy

Folks' Tales is a digital collection of South African fables and crafts that sparks connection through creative play. Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent increase in social isolation, children's interactions with different cultures have been limited. Monocultural homes further maintain a sense of homogeneity. There is a need for children to engage with different cultures in an alternative way. Folks' Tales provides a platform for children to connect to multiple South African cultures by using storytelling, drawing, and crafting to cultivate social awareness.

Folks' Tales is premised on the expressive and communicative qualities of arts and crafts, incorporating biblio, mastery, and creative play into the final solution. The app includes a variety of South African fables that children can draw along to and create crafts from. Individual story pages provide shapes that act as guiding prompts for the child to draw elements from the tale and interpret the narrative in their own creative way. The app encourages open-ended play, giving the child agency and allowing them to take ownership over their learning experience. With Folks' Tales, children may develop their cognitive, emotional, physical, social, and creative skills.

Folks' Tales allows children to explore more about the world around them and creatively express how they see it. The game is not intended to be completed in one sitting but can be continually revisited; encouraging life-long learning while teaching that drawing, creating, and playing is an iterative process. Our app encourages cultural connection by allowing children to develop an appreciation for others. Folks' Tales may create a lasting and sustainable impact on the child by harnessing the power of play.

Scope of the project and timeline

The project involved various research and design aspects to develop an effective digital solution. We began by establishing the scope of the work at hand which helped us define our project goals and determine what was feasible to achieve.

Concept moodboard

We researched South African themed arts and crafts projects, and various traditional fables to develop the game concept.

Research

Primary and secondary research was fundamental in our app development, allowing us to support and validate our game. The initial research phase helped to identify an appropriate and relevant topic for the digital intervention. Broad research was conducted on playful learning, arts and crafts, and our target demographic. Various academic, corporate, and internet sources were consulted. Our research findings illustrated the key aspects of play and the benefits of art in child development.

We began our primary research by conducting an online survey for child caregivers. The survey comprised of quantitative questions to provide statistical information about our target demographic, preferred types of play, and access to supplies. We also conducted qualitative research to gain a broad understanding of different play experiences and learning perspectives. We complied long-form, open-ended questions for caregivers in addition to interviewing a child educator. The above data sets are taken from sixteen responses.

We conducted multiple play testing sessions to research, test, and iteratively design Folks' Tales. Our play sessions involved engaging with an analogue prototype of our digital intervention; we used storybooks, drawing activities, and a crafting project to emulate key aspects of our app and gameplay. The sessions engaged with different kinds of play to explore the application of our initial research in practice. The play testing allowed us to co-design with our target demographic by considering their feedback and including them in the development of Folks' Tales.

Key insights from the research

Project goals

After conducting preliminary research and establishing the focus of our app, we defined goals for our project development.

Competitor feature map

A competitor feature map was created to establish necessary and appropriate features for Folks' Tales. We examined various children's apps that involve drawing, crafting, or storytelling to explore the features that contribute to a successful play interaction. This research also identified a gap in the market for our digital intervention.

User flow

We established a basic user flow to guide the app's navigation. Folks' Tales follows a linear progression to ensure a straightforward and uncomplicated play experience. The gameplay creates a meaningful, fun experience that children can engage with on a personal level.

User interface

The Folks' Tales visual language combines bold colours and shapes with tactile textures to reflect the app's underpinning theme of arts and crafts. The clean interface creates a space for open-ended play so that the child may interpret and experience the game in their own creative way.

Folks' Tales typography consists of Crafty Display paired with Futura PT. The hand-cut font reflects the fun and creative feeling of the brand, while Futura’s modern sans serif ensures readability throughout the app. Folks' Tales mascot, Crafty Croc, is also hand-crafted from paper to enhance the tactile feel of the visual language. Folks' Tales colour palette is a simple twist on the colours of the South African flag; the palette creates a sense of youthfulness and fun. Distinct patterning combines different textures, colours, shapes, and simple line work to reflect the conceptual underpinnings of the app's gameplay.