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Project Overview
An interactive children's book (ages 2-5). We wanted something Australian that was competitive with international products to capture the new toddler to pre-school games/entertainment market. A new segment which has only existed in this category since Tablets were introduced.
Organisation
Team
Jason Elder - Programmer
Simon Rippingale - Animator
Jacob Staley - Music
Don McCorkindale - Voice Over
Xander Black - Writer/Illustrator
Project Brief
The number of good apps for tablets... kids aged 2-5 is limited to a handful of companies. Even the well known kids entertainment companies (e.g. Disney, Nickelodeon, etc) have yet to make a serious push into this space... lacking compelling content and leaving opportunities for smaller startups to move in. These number dwindle even more when we look at Apps with a female bent. We saw an opportunity for a new Australian company to capture some of the international audience currently owned by Toca Boca, Sago Mini and Fox and Sheep to name a few.
In the vein of mega-selling title - 'Nighty Night' we wanted a bedtime story which had simple interactations on each page which would progress the story, give kids practice with tablet gestures and still had the educational benefits of story in rhyming verse. Further more we wanted a story with female appeal without delving into the princess territory. A story with a heroine which appealed to both boys and girls. But most of all we wanted to create a classic... a children's book which could be remembered as fondly by today's generation as the Hungry Caterpillar or Seuss books have been remembered by previous generations.
Project Need
Given the nature of the category... it's not unexpected there are no huge technological or interactive innovations or breakthroughs. However, the category itself is an innovation. It's only been around as long as the iPad, and has yet to see serious progression internationally and certainly not nationally.
Understanding the user experience for children and how they interact with these devices was key to creating a product that they would engage with again and again. One which rewarded them on an understandable level rather than through a complex game system.
The artwork was also a unique style brought to life by animation director Simon Rippingale who's recent work on A Cautionary Tail (Cate Blanchett, Dave Wenham, Barry Otto) has won him critical acclaim. Bringing this level of talent to the category was another breakthrough for the project as was the music from Sonic Branding expert - Jacob Staley who was able to produce a quirky "amelie style", playful, piano track.
User Experience
The amount of time spent observing how young children in that age category respond to interactivity both in terms of their gesture based dexterity and what sort of mechanics appeal to them has been the biggest investment. Certainly full reward/penalty based gamification does not yet resonate in kids that young... we found simple interactions which progress to the next stage (i.e. next page) was the key to engaging them.
Whilst most children seemed to understand the interactions straight away... we found oddly enough that adults without exposure to tablets struggled with the interaction thus we added hints for further usability when parents read to children.
Additionally we added other controls around sound to enable parents to read it to children or for East Enders actor - Don McCorkindale to narrate the story to kids.
Project Marketing
Like most books (except big sellers from big authors) there is no advertising - its simply not cost effective for the category.
The marketing strategy relies mainly on PR, reviews and social shares. At present it features prominently on several review sites and social platforms (facebook, Pinterest, Instagram). With more press releases going out daily. The aim is to get more views and reviews which increases its visibility in the itunes ecosystem. Since it's launch just over a month ago views and sales have tripled and continue to rise.
Project Privacy
Mandatory privacy around kids apps is considerable. The book collects no data on users... its single link to the support page is protected by a parental gate.
The full privacy policy is here:
http://www.goodknightstudios.com/privacy.html
Family
Apps have an enormous impact on our family lives - from the games we play, parenting guides, researching our family tree, childhood development and education to even looking after our pets. We're looking for apps for use in our family lives - whether it be work, rest or play.
More Details