Mobile App Design
Luna's Bedtime Stories
Overview
I had the opportunity to work on a project that brought storytelling to life for young children. Our mission was to create an immersive experience like no other by developing an interactive mobile app that combined the powers of Chat GPT and MidJourney technology.
Personalized bedtime stories where the child is the hero! With Chat GPT's storytelling capabilities, we crafted custom narratives that placed the child at the center of their own adventure and incorporated MidJourney technology, which allowed us to transform a photo of the child into personalized illustrations.
We wanted each child to feel an unbreakable bond with their story, as if they were living it themselves. By making the experience intensely personal and relatable, we aimed to forge an emotional connection that would leave a lasting impression on our young readers.
** The Luna's Bedtime Stories App is currently in development and going through user testing.
Check out the beta here!
Audience
The personalized bedtime stories app caters to both children and parents, providing an immersive storytelling experience that enhances parent-child bonding and fosters a love for reading.
Objectives
Create Immersive Experiences: The project aimed to develop an app that provided children with an interactive and immersive storytelling experience.
Personalize Narratives: By leveraging Chat GPT's storytelling capabilities, the app aimed to craft custom narratives where the child became the hero of their own story.
Integrate MidJourney Technology: The project sought to incorporate MidJourney technology, enabling the transformation of a child's photo into personalized illustrations within the story.
Establish Emotional Connection: The app aimed to forge an unbreakable bond between the child and their story by making it intensely personal and relatable.
Challenges
As the project progressed, we encountered inconsistent results when using MidJourney technology to illustrate children's faces. To address this, we decided to pivot our approach and instead used MidJourney to create illustrations of the story settings. This allowed us to maintain personalization and consistency while capturing the enchanting atmosphere of the tales. By adapting our use of the technology, we ensured a captivating and immersive experience for young readers.
Desired Impact
Emotional Engagement: Through the personalized nature of the stories, the app will foster a strong emotional connection with young readers. Each child will feel a sense of ownership and investment in the narrative, resulting in heightened engagement and lasting memories.
Active Imagination: Placing the child at the heart of the narrative will inspire their imagination and encourage active participation. The app will empower children to visualize themselves as the heroes of their own adventures, nurturing creativity and cognitive development.
Bedtime Routine Enhancement: The app will serve as a valuable tool for parents by offering a unique and personalized bedtime routine. The immersive storytelling experience will provide an opportunity for quality bonding time and memorable shared experiences with loved ones.
Wireframes for Jobs to be done
Create characters for your kids
Generate a personalized story
Store the stories: new, old, archived
Read the stories
Inspiration
We added shades of purple and wood textures to our app to bring in a touch of magic and capture the essence of enchanting storytelling. Purple sparks imagination and creativity, while wood textures are inspired by the captivating tales set in the woods. It creates a cozy and mystical atmosphere that invites young readers to embark on exciting adventures.
New User Experiences
The new user experience flows in the app have been designed to make it easy and engaging for parents to create personalized books for their children. Here's an explanation of the flow:
Log In
Users begin by signing up for the app, creating their account.
Adding Characters
Once signed up, users have the option to add their kid or kids as characters in the stories. They can specify the age, select an avatar, and define their interests. This step ensures that the stories are tailored to each child's preferences and characteristics.
Creating Your First Story
After adding their kids as characters, users can start creating their first story. They have the flexibility to choose one or multiple characters from the list of children they added earlier.
Next, users are prompted to select a theme for the story, which determines the setting or environment where the adventure takes place. They can choose from various options, such as a magical forest, a space adventure, or a medieval castle. This step adds excitement and variety to each story.
To instill important values and lessons, users are asked to select a moral for the story. They can choose from a predefined list or even choose a random one. This step helps in creating meaningful narratives that go beyond entertainment.
Once the characters, theme, and moral are selected, the app generates a preview of the personalized book. Users can review the story, ensuring it aligns with their expectations and captures the essence of their child's adventure. This step allows for any final adjustments or fine-tuning before proceeding.
Managing Your Stories
Users have the ability to manage their personalized books in the app's library by tapping and holding on a book to access options such as deleting it, archiving it, or returning it for credits. Additionally, users can provide valuable feedback on the books and their overall experience through a dedicated feedback section. This allows them to share their thoughts, suggestions, and report any issues they encounter, enabling the development team to improve the app based on user input.
Story Sorting
The library organizes stories in different sections: new stories are at the top, followed by stories currently being read, locked stories, completed stories, and an archived book section. This structure allows for easy navigation and keeps the collection organized based on story status.
Secret Stash
When Chat GPT is unavailable, the app provides users with access to a secret stash of stories. This exclusive collection ensures that users can still enjoy a diverse range of engaging stories even when the interactive Chat GPT feature is temporarily unavailable. It offers a hidden treasure trove of content, keeping the reading experience exciting and uninterrupted.
Reading a book
When a story is chosen from the library, users are consistently shown a preview that includes essential information about the story. This preview provides details such as the story's title, the characters that appear in it, a brief summary of the plot, and the morals taught throughout the narrative. This feature allows readers to have a quick reference and better understanding of the book's content.
The story is divided into multiple sections, creating an interactive experience for the users. At each section, readers are presented with two options that will shape the course of the story, similar to a choose-your-own-adventure game. By making choices, users actively participate in the narrative, influencing the direction and outcomes of the story. This interactive storytelling approach adds an element of excitement and personalization, making each reading session a unique adventure tailored to the user's preferences.
Waiting For Story Creation
During the generation of each section of the story by Chat GPT, it takes approximately 2 minutes. To provide users with a visual indication of the progress, a modal pops up displaying an animation of Luna typing the story, accompanied by a loading bar indicating the remaining time.
In case an issue arises during the generation process, a bottom sheet appears, showing Luna asleep at her desk. This indicates that something went wrong. The bottom sheet presents the user with options to try again, cancel the generation process, or return the story in exchange for credits. This allows users to manage any unforeseen errors or delays effectively, ensuring a smooth and satisfactory experience with the story generation feature.
Components
Below are the components used throughout the app.
