Playground App
A 4 week sprint to develop a kids activity discovery and booking app in Barcelona.
My Role: Product Vision & UI/UX Design | App illustrations & Animations | Case Study | Research, Customer Interviews and Testing | Documenting Patterns
Background: 4 Week Sprint | Personal Project | Barcelona Code School
Tools: Figma / Figjam / Notion / Miro / Illustrator
DISCOVERY
PROBLEM STATEMENT The Challenge: Many expat parents living in Barcelona don't know where to look or how to find quality, fun and development boosting activities and things to do for their kids in the city. Once found, booking is an additional pain-point, typically characterised by a confusing, time-consuming and frustrating process. The Outcome: An app where you can discover all the things to do in Barcelona for kids in one place, filter by key criteria (location, age, price, language, activity type, reviews, date and time), and then book them quickly and easily. |
Assumption Matrix
Desk Research Summary
Spanish Market:
Almost half of children (47%) in Spain take some form of private lessons outside of school with €1.7bn spent on private lessons between 2019-2020.
UK Market:
Parents in the UK spend a large proportion of their income (on average £28,000 per annum) and time (3 hours a week spent taking their children to and from activities) on kids' extracurricular activities outside of nursery and school time. There is high demand for kids to do multiple activities per week across sports, music, drama and extra tuition.
Spending on ‘non-academic’ activities is approximately three times greater than that on additional tuition. Swimming is the most popular – and expensive – extra-curricular activity.
Parents are willing to cut back on their own spending to pay for their children’s extra-curricular activities.
UK Market - Direct Competitors:
In the UK some direct competitors already exist to solve the problem of finding and booking classes and activities for kids, which suggests they have developed out of a customer need and gap in the market. Parallel industries with a related customer problem and market opportunity also point to a similar growth and success potential for the kids activities industry. In the last 10 years customer desire for on-demand booking apps for their health and fitness activities has exploded with several businesses successfully springing up across continents to serve this need (ClassPass launched in 2012 and is now present in 2,500 cities worldwide.
In 2020, it became a Unicorn with a $1 billion valuation.) This could be an indication of what might be to come for the kids activity industry.
Benefits of engaging in additional activities outside of nursery and school for children's development:
Extra-curricular activities are important to young people and result in a range of positive outcomes. Child play and social activities for toddlers and babies promote brain development, enrichment, physical, emotional and social skills.
Sources:
Almost half of children (47%) in Spain take some form of private lessons outside of school with €1.7bn spent on private lessons between 2019-2020.
UK Market:
Parents in the UK spend a large proportion of their income (on average £28,000 per annum) and time (3 hours a week spent taking their children to and from activities) on kids' extracurricular activities outside of nursery and school time. There is high demand for kids to do multiple activities per week across sports, music, drama and extra tuition.
Spending on ‘non-academic’ activities is approximately three times greater than that on additional tuition. Swimming is the most popular – and expensive – extra-curricular activity.
Parents are willing to cut back on their own spending to pay for their children’s extra-curricular activities.
UK Market - Direct Competitors:
In the UK some direct competitors already exist to solve the problem of finding and booking classes and activities for kids, which suggests they have developed out of a customer need and gap in the market. Parallel industries with a related customer problem and market opportunity also point to a similar growth and success potential for the kids activities industry. In the last 10 years customer desire for on-demand booking apps for their health and fitness activities has exploded with several businesses successfully springing up across continents to serve this need (ClassPass launched in 2012 and is now present in 2,500 cities worldwide.
In 2020, it became a Unicorn with a $1 billion valuation.) This could be an indication of what might be to come for the kids activity industry.
Benefits of engaging in additional activities outside of nursery and school for children's development:
Extra-curricular activities are important to young people and result in a range of positive outcomes. Child play and social activities for toddlers and babies promote brain development, enrichment, physical, emotional and social skills.
Sources:
- Out of Pocket Study”, 2019 by education communications company GK and Partners which was based on their survey of 2000 UK parents. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56a6236aa2bab8bce6c99d9b/t/5cd7ed34a4222fa712d6de1d/1557654845920/Out+of+school%2C+out+of+pocket.pdf
- https://hoop.co.uk/, https://clubhubuk.co.uk/
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/payal-kadakia-pujji-classpass-mission-obsessed-iteration-davies/?trk=public_profile_article_view
- Study “Shadow Education in Spain” by the Esade Centre for Economic Policy, January 2023, https://www.esade.edu/ecpol/es/publicaciones/educacion-en-la-sombra-en-espana-una-radiografia-del-mercado-de-clases-particulares-por-etapa-escolar-capacidad-economica-de-los-hogares-titularidad-del-centro-y-comunidad-autonoma/
- Rosenzweig M, Bennett E. Psychobiology of plasticity: effects of training and experience on brain and behavior. Behav Brain Res. 1996;78(1):57-65. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8793038.
- Report by the Social Mobility Commission in the Department of Education and Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath on Extra-Curricular Activities, Soft Skills and Social Mobility which draws on evidence from 34 academic studies.
Discovery Interviews
7 interviews were conducted in person with target customers (expat parents living in Barcelona).
1 additional interview conducted with an activity provider to start understanding their needs and priorities.
1 additional interview conducted with an activity provider to start understanding their needs and priorities.
- HILLARY
Mum to Damian, age 5 & Elian, 2
¨ My biggest problem is finding out what’s on or what to do with the kids. The booking I’m not as bothered about. If it’s something I want to book I can deal with it not being so easy. ¨ - FFION
Mum to Elia, age 4
¨ I feel overwhelmed in Barcelona. It´s hard to know the what, when and where because a lot of it is word of mouth and I don´t know what is good or what something will be like because there´s often no information... it´s hard to stay on top of. I wish there was somewhere I could go to look up whats on everyday.¨ - SILVIAMum to Alma, age 3
¨ Finding out about activities is not easy. Sometimes I need to do a lot of research which is time consuming. Right now it's a mess - I have notifications on facebook groups, I have signed up to newsletters, I have WhatsApp groups...it's a stress.¨ - STEPHYChildcare and activity provider
¨I don't have the budget for marketing and I don't have the time to research and install an online booking service. I don't need one. Everything comes from word of mouth. Creating a community is really important for me".
Discovery Main Takeaways
There is a clear opportunity for an app that enables expat parents in Barcelona to find fun, valuable activities and things to do for their kids in one place. Booking is a nice to have but not essential at MVP stage.
- 1FINDING IS THE PROBLEMFinding and discovering activities and things to do for their kids is the main problem that parents face. There is no one place parents can go currently to find out this info.
- 2BOOKING IS A PAINPOINTBooking an activity is usually a poor experience. However, parents are prepared to overcome this if they find the right activity.
- 3EASY IS KEYParents feel stressed, overwhelmed and lack time. They need things to be as easy as possible. This could mean one place which has all the info they need to know, that makes booking easy, syncs with their daily calendar and sends helpful reminders.
- 4KEEP IT SOCIALDoing activities is also a way parents socialise, meet new friends and feel more integrated into the Barcelona culture and life.
- 5POTENTIAL FOR SUCCESS IS CLEARAcross all the desk research gathered it is clear that parents are willing to spend money on multiple activities for their children. Furthermore competitor research showed there is currently no offering in Barcelona where parents can find and book kids activities in one place. Playground could fill this gap.
DEFINE
MVP Activity Found: Drawing on all learnings in the discovery phase, the MVP would be a mobile app that enables users to discover relevant activities or events to do with their kids in and around Barcelona. There will be an advanced filter function for users to search by age, activity type, location, price, language, date and time so they can find relevant activities that match their needs. From these results, users will be able to learn more about a specific activity, favourite activities for later and select an activity to book. Booking Enquiry Sent: The MVP will not provide direct booking since this has been identified as a secondary pain-point rather than a primary customer need. Instead, users will be able to send a booking enquiry in the app to the activity provider alongside having their direct contact information. |
Information Architecture - End Points
Information Architecture - Main User Flow
Information Architecture - Site Map
User Persona
SILVIA HOLT
Age: 35
Occupation: Marketing
Location: Barcelona
Living: In a rented apartment with her husband & son Nico (3 years old)
ABOUT
Silvia is a working mum and expat living in Barcelona. Life is very busy for Silvia juggling a job and her active toddler Nico so having a plan makes life much easier. At the weekends Silvia enjoys spending quality time as a family and also catching up with friends. Silvia likes to stay active and go to the gym a few days a week to destress and take an hour just for herself.
GOALS
Silvia wants to nurture Nico's interests and find activities that bring him value. She also wants to spend her time outside of work and chores in the best way. This means having quality time with her son, and as a family with her husband. Hanging out with other parents and making new friends who also have kids and relate to her juggle makes her feel more connected and integrated in the city. Having a support network and established group of friends for herself and for Nico is a big goal for Silvia.
NEEDS
One place where she can easily know what’s on and find relevant activities, classes, events and things to do with Nico. An easy, fast and clear booking process would also save her time and stress.
PAINPOINTS
Silvia feels overwhelmed and stressed by the prospect of finding fun and new things to do at the weekends with Nico. She would also like to find some regular activities or classes to take Nico to during the week to kill the dead time between nursery pick up and dinner but she doesn’t know where to start, and she doesn’t have the time to research for hours. She relies on an in-the-know mum friend to hook her up with anything good happening. Silvia encounters a secondary pain-point when it comes to booking an activity. The process is usually time-consuming and confusing. She never feels totally secure she has booked since she doesn’t get an confirmation and sometimes there is no website to check out the activity details. But right now her biggest challenge is finding great stuff to do - if she wants to book an activity enough she will find a way!
Occupation: Marketing
Location: Barcelona
Living: In a rented apartment with her husband & son Nico (3 years old)
ABOUT
Silvia is a working mum and expat living in Barcelona. Life is very busy for Silvia juggling a job and her active toddler Nico so having a plan makes life much easier. At the weekends Silvia enjoys spending quality time as a family and also catching up with friends. Silvia likes to stay active and go to the gym a few days a week to destress and take an hour just for herself.
GOALS
Silvia wants to nurture Nico's interests and find activities that bring him value. She also wants to spend her time outside of work and chores in the best way. This means having quality time with her son, and as a family with her husband. Hanging out with other parents and making new friends who also have kids and relate to her juggle makes her feel more connected and integrated in the city. Having a support network and established group of friends for herself and for Nico is a big goal for Silvia.
NEEDS
One place where she can easily know what’s on and find relevant activities, classes, events and things to do with Nico. An easy, fast and clear booking process would also save her time and stress.
PAINPOINTS
Silvia feels overwhelmed and stressed by the prospect of finding fun and new things to do at the weekends with Nico. She would also like to find some regular activities or classes to take Nico to during the week to kill the dead time between nursery pick up and dinner but she doesn’t know where to start, and she doesn’t have the time to research for hours. She relies on an in-the-know mum friend to hook her up with anything good happening. Silvia encounters a secondary pain-point when it comes to booking an activity. The process is usually time-consuming and confusing. She never feels totally secure she has booked since she doesn’t get an confirmation and sometimes there is no website to check out the activity details. But right now her biggest challenge is finding great stuff to do - if she wants to book an activity enough she will find a way!
Heuristic Analysis
IDEATE
Style Guide
The visual identity of Playground is based on the concept of the Playground app being a digital playground for parents and children to explore, play, discover and have fun together. The ´California summer´ inspired colours, hand-drawn illustrations, rounded icons and animations bring a light-hearted sense of childish fun to the overall look and feel. The Sans-Serif typeface Raleway reinforces this feeling with its round, warm and endearing characteristics. The logo is a playful take on the name and concept of a playground and more specifically the childish action of going down a slide.
The visual identity of Playground is based on the concept of the Playground app being a digital playground for parents and children to explore, play, discover and have fun together. The ´California summer´ inspired colours, hand-drawn illustrations, rounded icons and animations bring a light-hearted sense of childish fun to the overall look and feel. The Sans-Serif typeface Raleway reinforces this feeling with its round, warm and endearing characteristics. The logo is a playful take on the name and concept of a playground and more specifically the childish action of going down a slide.
Sketches
Low Fi Screens
Mid Fi Screens
Mid Fi Testing Key Takeaways
4 Interviewees were taken through both mid-fi flows and asked to give their feedback on the functionality, orientation and clarity of the design.
- 1THE DISCOVERY EXPERIENCE HAS TO BE MEMORABLE AND FUNSince the MVP is focused on searching for and finding activities for kids, this process must be memorable and fun, rather than just a standard list of activities to choose from. How else can we make it engaging?
- 2THE WAY USERS WANTED TO SEARCH REQUIRES A REDESIGNSome interviewees were lost when on the search page. They said they would rarely type into a search bar and prefer to navigate by categories or map, then filter. Ordering of activities/places was also unclear.
- 3PERSONALISATION AND CURATION IS KEYInterviewees felt overwhelmed by choice, preferring the idea of starting with less choice (curated edit), then choosing to expand if desired via a personalised onboarding (tinder-style get to know you fast.)
- 4MAP & LOCATION SETTING IS A PRIOSome interviewees wanted to set location and use map as a way to search immediately, then filter. All interviewees wanted to see a bigger view of the map, set a search radius and personalise by neighbourhood.
- 5CURRENT FILTER IS CONFUSINGConfusion amongst all interviewees finding the filter, returning to use the filter since it was always not consistently placed and if filters could be already pre-selected based on preferences in profile or onboarding.
- 6REVIEWS AND FRIEND RECOMMENDATIONS SHOULD BE MORE VISIBLEA friend-driven experience is important. All wanted to see if a friend had recommended or attended a class before. Likewise, reviews, sharing an activity with friend and seeing how many spots were available or filled in a class were highlighted as essential for trust.
- 7HAPPENING NOW / SOON IS IMPORTANTClear need to see regular activities however all interviewees most immediate desire was to find timely seasonal activities and one-off events for the upcoming weekend and have dedicated categories for this.
- 8FLEXIBILITY OF HOW TO GET INTO DISCOVERY IS VALUEDAll interviewees appreciated the ability to view classes by map and list and also discover classes both individually or via an activity provider. Flexibility with the design / user flow is key.
Prototype Screens
Prototype Recording
VALIDATE
Prototype Interviews
6 interviews conducted in person with target customers.
- HILLARY
Mum to Damian, age 5 & Elian, 2
"I get the swipe is based on Tinder but I’ve never used it so I would appreciate clearer instructions". - KEVIN
Dad to Xavi, age 2.5
" Where can I go to find everything? Like all the classes. I get some people want a more personalised experience but I want to see everything, then filter. - SILVIAMum to Alma, age 3
" I didn’t see the map to be honest. But I wouldn’t really look at it. I would set my filters, distance and just use the list.¨ - MARINAMum to Arnau, age 2
" I didn’t notice the map. The grey colour makes me think its not functioning.. it looks disabled.”
Prototype Testing Key Takeaways
Overall the app received positive feedback from users regarding the UI, visual identity, and engaging interactive nature of the app. However, clear improvement points arose from testing:
- 1TINDER SWIPE IS FUN BUT NEEDS CLARITYThe tinder swipe discovery created delight and engagement for all users, but more clarity was needed for users to know what action to take.
- 2MAP VIEW IS NOT CLEAR ENOUGHThere was a clear contrast between where male users and female users wanted to navigate. Male testers went straight to map view, whereas female testers got stuck into the list view with some not even noticing the Map view since it was not something they were looking for. This suggests the design of the map is not clear enough for the user to find and would therefore benefit from a redesign.
- 3SEE EVERYTHING FASTERThere was a user desire to “see everything” faster. This suggests the search icon was not a clear signifier and the home screen should have a clear signal to “see all” at the very start.
- 4SMALL ONBOARDING TWEAK FOR B'DAY QUESTIONOnboarding design for the child’s birthday question felt wrong. Some users said they would prefer a calendar, others just shared that the design felt more like a bank code.
- 5SAMPLE OF MOST RECENT REVIEWSUsers expressed a desire to see a sample of the most recent reviews on the activity provider profile and class detail pages. They would also like an easy way to see ‘most recent’ things happening at the venue as it gives them reassure the place / activity is legit.
ITERATE
Design Solution 1 - Clearer Action for Tinder Swipe
Stacking card visuals, cards coloured to individual activity and clearer swiping instructions.
Design Solution 2 - Map View is Clearer
Clearer icons at navigation bar for quick access. Clearer signifiers of map vs list. Removal of the search bar. Decluttering of filter system to create cleaner, easy to navigate interface.
Design Solution 3 - See Everything Faster
Clearer icons at navigation bar for quick access, Clearer copy home page is curated and the latest. Prompt for first time user for where to go to see everything quickly.
Design Solution 4 - Onboarding Date Tweak
Calendar date selector replaced the old design which users said felt more like a bank code and not consistent with the rest of the visual design.
Design Solution 5 - See Reviews
Clearer reviews from the start of the Activity Providers´ profile to read and explore.
SUMMARY
This project was a flawed success: Feasibility: Acquiring consistent feedback from a software engineer I ensured the designs were able to be implemented to the engineer's parameters. Removal of elements like the search bar were also considered from an efficiency development perspective. Desirability: Users gave consistent positive feedback surrounding the UI, playful aesthetic and engaging elements. Viability: Clear user feedback highlighted the importance of an easy and fast user experience. Future testing topics include testing the removal of the search bar to see if users miss it and testing specifically around the design style and colour palette to ensure that the current ¨fem¨ aesthetic isn't too limiting in attracting a broad audience. |
Say hi.
+44 7815 784 780
sophi.heywood@gmail.com
+44 7815 784 780
sophi.heywood@gmail.com
