My Role:
Art Direction
Design Research
Prototyping & Wireframing
Website Testing
UX/UI Design for Website
Copywriting
Motion
Collaborators:
Isa Armstrong: Design Research, UX/UI for Website, Copywriting
Miriam Listiak: Design Research, Trademark Development, Brand Identity, Ad Campaign
Karsen Jones: Design Research, Spline (3d) Illustrations, Extension UI Design
Mallory Blackwell↗︎:Art Direction, Design Research, Prototyping & Wireframing, UX/UI Design for Mobile App, Copywriting, Brand Identity
Social media was created to help people stay connected. However, the lack of regulations and precedent for social media interactions has resulted in a number of negative outcomes for their users. Minors aged 11-14 are one of the most negatively impacted groups; catfishing, falsified information, and mental health disorders—anxiety, depression, and addiction—are the most significant negative impacts.
The goal is to develop a service that guides children as they navigate and interact with the internet, giving parents peace of mind that their children are safe. This is accomplished through a character-based extension that educates and supports children while they use the internet and social media, an app that provides games to help them learn more, and interactive installations that raise awareness about the service.
When we first began evaluating various areas of technology and social media, as well as children's interactions with them. There were a few paths we could take that would allow us to truly identify the problem and come up with the most realistic solution. Some of these topics included:
● Parents believe that parenting is more difficult than ever and that they are unprepared to teach their young children how to use the internet effectively.
● Too controlling—at the moment, several available resources work by restricting or imposing on how children interact online, rather than teaching them.
To be safe online, the user must first understand the Internet, what it contains, how it is used, and how it works. It also entails safeguarding yourself and others against online risks such as sharing personal information, interacting with spam or fake accounts, or bullying, all of which can jeopardize your safety and mental well-being.
Overall, we noticed that we had two audiences, despite the fact that our primary focus was on the child's independence and literacy. We can see how parental involvement can make learning more accessible and enjoyable. Similarly, it can help their relationship grow in terms of trust.
Parents have many tools that they can use to monitor and protect their kids. As a result, we began to examine what they were doing well and what weaknesses we could address.
We understand that parents want to introduce their children to digital technology, but are they aware of the risks that children may face?
Despite the fact that there is a market for parental control, most parents are unaware of how to approach them without being overbearing or preventing their children from accessing social media without their supervision. As a result, the question is how we can keep the parent and child engaged and safe without becoming overly flexible.
With all this in mind
We want to make the internet, and especially social media, a safer place for kids by developing an accessible, entertaining app and extension to encourage kids to learn more about online interactions, as well as a platform to help parents be more aware of their children's online behavior. Meeko interactively provides beneficial online safety resources so that children can face the internet and feel empowered to learn more. We also encourage parents to get involved by monitoring their child's online statistics to learn more about how they behave online.
This project taught me a lot, especially how to pivot when I felt stuck with the research. Similarly, it was extremely beneficial in teaching me how to collaborate with others in order to produce the best product. Being able to take on responsibility for a system while maintaining consistency with the rest
For the website, I would have liked to elaborate more on an app for the parents to go along with the website dashboard, while incorporating elements from the Meeko app. Similarly, we discussed a campaign and how it could have been expanded into a more interactive experience, incorporating components such as VR or AR that could teach more about Meeko's end goal and attract more users.