Children crave independence with everything they do
Having independence at home can create positive social experiences later in life
One of the best ways to start this is in the kitchen!
As a former educator, learning different ways to teach children new skills was all a part of my job! I started with a Mind Map to decide how a cooking app could encourage kids to try cooking! I wanted it to have cute illustrations, be adaptable for many ages, and inspire children to cook!
Cooking encourages childrens thinking and problem solving skills.
Practice with measuring, simple math problems, following sequence and
direction. How might we give them the opportunity to showcase
these life skills in a gamified way?
Fine-motor skills as well as hand-eye coordination are essential parts
of childhood development. Chopping, mixing, adding spices, and learning to open packages can be an advantage to them down the line when they learn to write and, of course, be safe in the kitchen.
How might we encourage self-confidence and trust in young
children? Cooking together can create learning opportunities for
achievement, managing disappointment, frustration and patience.
I wanted to create a simplistic style of app. My favorite types of designs are very clean with minimal lines. Primary colors are generally a great option for children's designs. I pulled inspiration from TV shows, books, and artists who have a more playful style.
After many, many, many sketches I started to design the final idea. For this MVP, I wanted it to include a few things such as a levels page that builds upon a children level capabilities, a rewards' system, and simple designs to
guide, but not distract children.
Ideally, there will be a variety of animal chefs to choose from for the childs avatar, but to start, we have Fred! He was the driving force for the design style of the app. Fred is a friendly alligator that is always hungry and is just starting his cooking journey as well. His friendly face will be cheering children along as they learn to chop, cut, and mix their own recipes.
I wanted designs that were childish, similar to those you’d see in a children's activity sticker book. Creating avatars from animals that allowed children to feel a fun and inviting atmosphere. Icons and illustrations were made to compliment the minimalist style that allows children to clearly see what it is they're suppose to be using.
Buttons should be large enough for any size hand to use!
Recipes should include clear images and animations with audio to accompany
A motivating reward system for every level completed
Designing for children is a completely different ballpark than designing for adults.
While there are a lot of similarities, such as keeping the design clean and having usability be the most important feature, designing for children requires understanding of their still growing abilities and knowledge in both the digital and physical worlds.
For prototype purposes, our user is around 3-4 years old. The recipes shown are presented with clear images and the user has already completed two recipes. They can choose to continue or can check their achievements with the cutlery shaped button. Any profile related activities are parent locked.
An animated loading screen is presented before every recipe begins. Reminding and encouraging users to wash their hands.
Recipes are displayed with clear images and simple animations. With every new page, users will receive audible instructions as well as an ability to click the image to hear the instruction repeated.
