Evaluation

Who participated

Our participants were students from Group 20 and Group 18, acting as first-time users of the app and imagining themselves as parents.

Participants completed three multi-step tasks using our paper prototype:

1. Check and Respond to a Content Alert

• Open the dashboard and locate a suspicious or AI-generated content alert.

• View the alert details and understand why it was flagged.

• Decide whether to block, allow, or monitor the content.

• Return to the dashboard and confirm the alert status updated.

2. Set Up Screen Time Restrictions

• Navigate to the parental controls/settings section.

• Select a child profile.

• Set daily screen time limits and restricted hours.

• Save the settings and verify the updated restrictions appear on the dashboard.

3. Learn About an AI Safety Topic and Save a Resource

• Navigate to the educational resources section.

• Search for a topic related to AI-generated misinformation or online safety.

• Open and review a recommended article or guide.

• Save/bookmark the resource and return to the homepage.

• What worked well

Our participants understood the overall purpose of the app and the main workflow. The dashboard organization was particularly useful and helped users locate important sections and complete most tasks independently. Users also responded positively to having alerts, monitoring tools, and educational resources all combined in one app for parents. The child profile structure was also greatly appreciated as it felt thoughtful and intuitive for parents with multiple children.

• Problems users encountered

Users needed clearer explanations. They relied heavily on labels and button wording, and highlighted the need for clearer terminology, more visible navigation tools, better explanations for alerts, and more consistency between the screens. The design needed simplification. Some users struggled with timer controls, blocking settings, and screen-time restrictions. The educational resources needed clearer organization.

• Changes you made after testing

After testing, we simplified our design. We added a navigation bar at the bottom to make it easier to find certain pages. We added tabs to the alert page and color-coded the alerts to make the page more readable. We made the screens consistent by giving them all the same blue color and font. We added personalized videos for the learning page, and added module tabs. We also added an awareness level that determines what modules parents should get started on.

• Clearer explanations

• More navigation tools

• Better alerts

• Consistency in screens

• Simplification

• Timer controls, blocking settings.

• Educational resources