MY ROLE
MY ROLE
Embedded Files
UX Researcher, UX Designer
DATE
DATE
Mar 2022 - May 2022
TEAM MEMBERS
TEAM MEMBERS
Shreya Choudhury, Qihan Fang, Jasper Lai, Jack Nortan, Santiego Valencia
TOOLS
TOOLS
Mural, Figma
THE PROBLEM
THE PROBLEM
Design a product that combines learning and play.
THE SOLUTION
THE SOLUTION
Our solution focuses on the critical developmental years of 8-12, aiming to provide a digital solution that combines the benefits of physical play. Considering The LEGO Group's move into "fluid play", we designed our product around LEGO bricks. Our solution encourages collaborative and creative play while optimizing resource utilization. LEGO Lab enables users to scan their LEGO brick inventory, leveraging the available resources to suggest new and feasible builds. Moreover, teachers have the ability to select specific lesson categories within the application, allowing children to engage in construction activities aligned with their educational objectives. The application also provides a platform for users to share their creations with others, fostering collaboration and creativity, and offers the option to purchase customized brick packs directly from The LEGO Group, further enhancing the building experience.
PROCESS
PROCESS
DISCOVER
DISCOVER
We undertook an extensive research exercise to identify existing and emerging trends in the market, understand the wants and needs of the students and their caregivers and look into current innovations in the field. A summary of our research plan and activities can be seen below.
To initiate the discovery phase, we analyzed emerging macro-trends in Education to gauge their influence on user behavior and shape our design brief. We observed a prevalent shift from traditional textbook-based learning to adaptive, play-based approaches that consider individual needs and integrate digital technology. Gamification of lessons emerged as another recurrent theme.
Following the analysis of trends in the field, our team chose to concentrate on urban children aged 8-12 in New York City. Although no specific income group was targeted, we aimed to design a sustainable product accessible to a wider economic range.
User Interviews
User Interviews
We conducted semi-structured interviews with children, educators, and parents, to understand not only the users but also the perspectives of teachers and caregivers. Their role in facilitating children's learning and exploration is crucial, and we wanted to gauge their openness to adapt and create new learning opportunities. Team members also visited the LEGO store for a field study, observing how adults and children interacted with displays and activities.
Key Insights
Key Insights
Secondary Research
Secondary Research
We conducted thorough secondary research to complement our findings. Given the vast scope of learning and play, we aimed to identify a specific intersection where we could propose a practical solution with mutual benefits for users and stakeholders, and make a significant impact. Our research focussed on the following questions:
How are the needs of children in classrooms changing? How are they currently being addressed?
How do teachers plan teaching lessons? What kind of teaching styles are effective?
Trends in Edtech products.
What products are toy companies currently marketing and developing?
What features of video games make them popular?
What are different kinds of play? What is their role in child development?
Understand the reasons behind decline in playtime for children.
DEFINE
DEFINE
Our next step was to generate How Might We questions to guide our ideation phase.
We did a Brainwriting workshop followed by a Brainstorming session. Based on our HMW questions, we came up with five product ideas. Four key attributes ran through all our ideas and was included in our final solution:
It should be implementable in the classroom
Promote collaboration and sharing with peers
Combination of digital and physical.
Promote reusability and sustainability.
Considering The LEGO Group's emphasis on investing in fluid play and the widespread appeal of LEGO bricks as an engaging and educational toy, we chose The LEGO Group as our client and designed our product around LEGO bricks. Our final solution combined 2 of our initial ideas.
IDEATE
IDEATE
IDEA NAMES
IDEA NAMES
2D to 3D, BrickLabs
IDEA DESCRIPTION
IDEA DESCRIPTION
seamlessly integrates learning and play using LEGO bricks.
Utilizes principles of hybrid play to create an engaging and interactive experience
enables users to scan their LEGO brick inventory and receive personalized build suggestions
Incorporates specific lesson categories to align construction activities with educational objectives
Provided a platform for users to share creations with other user
CUSTOMER BENEFIT
CUSTOMER BENEFIT
Allows children to learn and play simultaneously, fostering creativity, sharing, negotiating, and problem-solving
Provides personalized build suggestions based on the user's available LEGO brick inventory, enhancing the building experience
Aligns construction activities with educational objectives, making learning more interactive and enjoyable
Facilitates sharing of creations, encouraging collaboration and inspiration among users
INITIAL VISUALIZATION
INITIAL VISUALIZATION
COMMERCIAL BENEFIT
COMMERCIAL BENEFIT
Offers a unique and engaging product in the market that combines learning and play
Attracts LEGO enthusiasts and educators who are looking for innovative tools to enhance the educational experience
Differentiates from competitors by incorporating the principles of fluid play and personalized build suggestions
Creates potential partnerships and collaborations with The LEGO Group for customized brick packs and expanded market reach
User Flow
User Flow
We designed a user flow for an end-to-end customer journey to guide our prototyping activities.
Low-Fi Prototype
Low-Fi Prototype
Our first version of the prototype can be seen below.
EVALUATE
EVALUATE
We conducted a competitive usability evaluation of customer reviews of a competitor application and the key findings are summarised below:
Ability to scan only certain types of bricks
Generated build suggestions are not challenging enough
Does not have a feature to save builds or sort them based on build completeness
Crashes all the time, impacting the user experience and potentially leading to frustration and negative reviews
Pricing concerns: Customers find the monthly subscription cost of $8 or annual cost of $45 to be expensive, potentially impacting the product's market competitiveness
Inability to generate builds from the user's own brick library, limiting customization options and potentially reducing the product's appeal
Final Protoype
Final Protoype
We incorporated all the feedback from the testing phase, to design our medium-fidelity prototype which can be viewed below.
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