AI Based Story Telling Platform

Discover the world of story creation and story telling through AI

Client: Curiominds

Client industry: AI

Type of project: UI/Ux research project

Tools: Figma

Duration: 4 weeks (May-Jun 2024)

People: 2

BACKGROUND

Curiominds wanted to explore if children in the 7-12 year age group could learn to use AI through prompt engineering and also compliment their learning.

With the growing use of AI, schools are struggling to assimilate AI into kids eduction and learning curriculums. With the fast growing access to AI systems, the purpose of this project is to create kids learning platform where a kid from the age of 7-12 years old can create their own creative story books using AI.

This platform will be also a learning platform where there will be a curriculum for kids to learn about AI and prompt engineering to be able to become an book author.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

How can we empower and teach kids aged 7-12 to create their own storybooks using AI technologies and teach them AI/Prompt Engineering and aid their learning in the process?

RESEARCH GOAL

Understand children’s learning patterns and their motivations
Identify kids challenges and experiences with AI tools and its applications
Explore the most effective teaching methods in introducing AI concepts and technologies to children
Understand how kids feel most comfortable interacting with the AI
Understand Parents perspectives on AI learning

THE RESEARCH

Users

The Research was targeted at primary school children:

Local and international school children in 7-12 year old age group.
Preferrably non native english speakers
Seggregation of kids based on grade level and gender.

Research Methodology

Primary research:

Conduct surveys and in-depth interviews with kids aged 7-12 to understand their learning patterns.

Interviewing will need different methodologies as compared to interviewing adults. This will need to be more visually aided and kinesthetic as opposed to adults.

Secondary research:

To analyze the market and the competitor landscape for strengths, weaknesses and opportunities

Competitor Analysis
Storywizard.ai

Key features
1. AI-Generated Stories: Children can create stories using AI
Library: A collection of pre-made stories that users can read or listen to.
2. Customization: children can personalize their stories and be the main hero of their own story

Pros

1. User-Friendly Interface: Simple navigation and clear instructions make it accessible for kids.
2. Variety of Content: Offers diverse stories and listening options.
Interactivity: Allows for personalisation

Cons

1. Limited Educational Focus: Lacking structured educational content.
2. AI Integration Depth: Less emphasis on teaching AI and prompt engineering

Duoling (Indirect competitor analysis)

Key Features

AI based Free language learning app
Quick, fun bite sized lessons which makes language learning fun
Includes a placement test to determine your level
40+ languages available for learning

Pros

Tracks your learning progress
All courses are available on the free version
Gamification to motivate users through streaks, leaderboard, progress reports, reminders, bonus challenges
Adaptive path ways where learning path is decided based on how the user answers the questions
Visually appealing

Cons

Adaptive or AI based learning is available only in the premium version
Limited speaking exercises

UNDERSTANDING THE USER

We tried to understand the user (7-12 years old) behavior according to 3 different categories: Learning behavior, story telling preferences, prior engagement with AI

1. Learning behavior: We want to uncover what kind of learning patterns the children have. Whether they are visual, auditory, read/write or kinesthetic kind of readers. Is there any difference in learning based on gender? How does gamification help the learners?

2. Storytelling and story preferences: Which part of a story do they like the most? Is it the plot, character or setting? What factors influence their interest in story telling or story writing?

3. Engagement with tech and AI tools: how do kids engage with educational platforms in and outside school? How familiar are kids with AI tools and technology?

Additionally we also wanted to understand how the parents felt towards letting their children use an AI tool.

I like reading other people's stories

As they have more interesting characters and plots

User Survey

We surveyed 23 respondents from 7 countries

English Fluency	Age Group

Locations:
6 - Bangladesh

12 - Hong Kong

1- China

1 - Italy

1 - Japan

1- USA

1 – India

Gender:

Male: 60.9%

Female: 39.1%

Top 3 Apps for learning:

Youtube
Duolingo
Khan Academy

Reasons for liking a learning app

Makes it fun – with more games, so it doesn’t feel like learning
Bite sized content
Easy to use

Top apps for fun and games

Roblox
Youtube
Brawl Stars
Minecraft

Reasons for liking a fun/game app

Diverse content with different types of games
Allows interaction with friends
Rewards in the game

Some other takeaways

Most have used AI before and at home (~80%)

Want to be assisted by AI for learning (~82%)

Responders were multi-modal – not strictly adhering to any particular learning style

INTERVIEW PROCESS

The interview process was through a series of games to understand the children's preferences. The children were asked to play 4 games

Memory Game:The children were given a set of words. Each word was either displayed or just said aloud or described through a picture etc. This was used to understand the learning type - whether the child was a Visual, auditory, read/write or kinesthetic (VARK) type of learner.

At the end of the game, the child had to recall as many words as they could.

Word Search Game: The children were asked to find as many 3 letter or more words as they could in under 2 min.

The story game was played with an AI assistant, which was a character of their choosing and a fellow interviewer

Story Game - Prompt was provided by the children: The first line (prompt) was provided by the child. The AI assistant and the fellow interviewer also had to write a few lines of a story with this prompt.

Story Game - Prompt was provided by the AI: The first line (prompt) was provided by AI. The AI assistant, fellow interviewer and the child had to write a few lines of a story using this prompt.

RESEARCH SYNTHESIS

Affinity Map:

Children enjoyed creating stories with others. They liked it better when somebody else wrote the story or told them what to write.

USER PERSONA

When asked whether they think AI for education is safe for their child, 48% of parents said ‘Agree’, and 48% said ‘Neutral’.

43% stated they did NOT have any concerns regarding children safety when using AI.

60% of kids say their favourite task at school involves building a project or creating something

65% of kids learn best when a parent, friend, or sibling teach them

USER JOURNEY

SOME OF THE INSIGHTS WE GATHERED

Child wants to be given a prompt

Because he wants to be inspired and not think of how to start the story

Child wants to play some games along with the learning process

Because he wants to do some fun activities and be challenged in parallel with learning

Child likes a story

Because he likes the genre setting or content and not because he likes the author

Child wants to see where he stands on the leaderboard

Because he recognizes some friends on the leaderboard

Child has a preference for other's stories

Because the plot, characters and writing style are very different from that of his/her own for the same prompt

Child consumes content in all forms

Because he/she has a mixed modal style of learning and does not strictly adhere to a single form of learning

TITLE OF THE CALLOUT BLOCK

Solution Space

How might we make learning engaging and fun, at the same time making it accessible to a wide range of learners with mixed learning styles and learn something new like prompt engineering?

Solution:

The users need to

A platform that includes gamification elements
A flow that incorporates personalization elements
A platform that encourages learning in a fun and interactive way
A platform that caters to the different basic learning styles – Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic