Tinkr Science App

Role: Product Manager, UX Designer, Content Manager

Tools: Internal Content Management Tool, Asana, G Suite, Phabricator

Team of 15+

I managed the development of the Tinkr Science App with the goal to help children learn science through hands-on activities at home. The entire experience was designed to take into account the constraints of parents who have little time dedicated to such activities and struggle to find the materials needed.

I was based in Singapore. I worked with an engineering team and a curation team in Chennai. The learning team responsible for the curriculum of the app was based in Singapore with me. I led the development of the different features through multiple iterations involving user testing at every phase. You can find some of the features below.

(images from https://www.facebook.com/imagin8ors/)

Schedule Activity

Time is the second most common barrier for parents. I created a scheduling feature so they can plan their projects ahead, gather the materials needed, and make time with their children to make together.

Materials

The materials for each activity is clearly accessible and creatively presented. It is possible to keep track of the materials you have at home and to add the missing materials to a shopping list. The activities are designed to involve easy to find materials.

Extend Learning

To extend the learning beyond the project, we offer challenges. They take the form of quizzes, conversation starters, and tinker challenges that prompt children to explore new directions (eg: to use unexpected materials).

Curriculum Alignment

The hands-on projects are organized by science topics based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Each project covers one or more science concepts (eg: gravity, lifecycle)

Hands-on Activities

Each project starts with an introductory video followed by the tutorial video. Children have access to challenges, peers' creations, the list of materials, the possibility to like, save, or schedule the project for later.

Tinker Kit

The search for materials was a strong barrier for parents to organize hands-on activities with their children. Therefore, I developed the Tinkr Kit. It is a box of materials that children can use independently to tinker and make, or together with the Tinkr Science App to work on specific projects. On the left side of the image, the compartments are fixed in the box. We improved the design to make the compartments modular (on the right). There are several reasons to it:

Children can take out the boxes they need for their projects rather than take the whole box
Children can replace boxes individually if they run out
Children can personalize their Tinker Kit by arranging the boxes as they like

The box was sold in our partners' locations, including the Singapore Science Center.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse