- Bachelor Thesis Project
- I designed an app for the LoCoMoGo toy train that teaches children from the ages four to six how to program.
- The final result was an Adobe XD prototype and video mock-up of certain animations.
- The project went through several phases: literature research and analyses (competitor analysis, PACT-analysis, personas and scenarios), ideating, low-fidelity prototyping and testing
The demand for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in the labour market is rising and so might the number of parents that want to prepare their children for it. The startup LoCoMoGo is developing a toy train that teaches children programming to satisfy this demand. However, the primary objective, according to LoCoMoGo, should always be for the child to play and have fun. Part of their product will be an app used to program the train wirelessly. The purpose of their assignment was to design this app for children between the ages of four to six and to create a prototype.
The final result was a prototype of the app made in Adobe XD and a mockup in Adobe After Effects for certain animations. The app allows children to learn the basics of programming through concepts as sequential and conditional programming. As the users would be very young while still being cognitively underdeveloped, the app needed a step-by-step approach. In the free play game mode, children have the possibility to explore the possibilities on their own, while the levels provide a more structured approach.
Before designing, a literature review was performed to understand how children learn through play, what they can be taught about programming and how do children interact with digital devices. This provided a framework for later design choices, for example, the 5E instructional model was used to guide learning. During the design process, a low-fidelity prototype was tested with young children to evaluate the current concept and guide further design choices.
