Design of a social media platform based on solving parent-child communication problem Xintong Li, B.A.
School of Communication, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY USER PROFILE
INVESTIGATION (Continued)
BACKGROUND As a community of social life formed by ties of blood, the family is a place where family members live. The family provides an environment for family members to survive, so the importance of communication between members is self-evident. Through communication with parents, children understand their parents' needs and expectations of their parents; parents can reach children education and maintain the smooth operation of family life through communication with their children. However, parent-child communication is very difficult for some families. Nowadays, some adolescents show varying degrees of rebellious psychology during adolescence, mainly manifested in disobedience to discipline, lack of ideals and beliefs, internet addiction, violence and other phenomena. This situation has caused parents to have obstacles in the process of communication with their children, and parent-child relationship has potential cracked. And vice versa. Parents at this stage usually cannot understand the children’s thoughts due to the generation gap caused by their age, and often misunderstand the children or use incorrect methods such as beating to teach them. Therefore, due to these incorrect communication methods, the parent-child relationship has caused more and more estrangements because of these unresolved contradictions and unspeakable words.
#2-2 Literature Analysis The Problem of Child-Parent Communication • Parents are often used to communicating in a controlled • Emotional Communication • Refuse to communicate. Replace quarrels with silence. The Reasons for Communication difficulties • There is a lack of correct awareness and sufficient attention to communication • Identity Role Unequal. Parents are more likely to be in a controlling role, while children are more likely to be in a caring role. • Family is a special environment. Treating a family member is not like treating a leader or a colleague. Home is a warm harbor, so there will always be emotional treatment of family members, can not think rationally Solution • Build right awareness of communication • Listening + Empathy
DESIGN INSPIRATION
Design Problem How can we make children and parents listen and understand each other and improve their relationship?
Listen + Understand = Listand Me
INVESTIGATION
Brian Smith 55 Real Estate Development
Oliver Campbell 14 Middle School Student
Fish Yu 16 high school student
PAINPOINTS -Do not know children’s preference. -His children do not like to talk with him. -Worry about his children’s study and life. EXPERIENCE GOALS -Relieve anxiety from interaction with users. -Find a sense of identity in other parents. TASK GOALS -Acquire professional education knowledge. -Find out what teenagers like.
PAINPOINTS -Do not know parents’ real thoughts. -Cannot pursue his ideal. EXPERIENCE GOALS -Feel temporary reliefs from others replies. -Feel satisfied by solving other users questions. TASK GOALS -To understand what parents thinking. -To apply online experiences in real life, so as to better communicate with his parents.
PAINPOINTS -Lack of parental care. -Her parents do not want to accompany her. EXPERIENCE GOALS -Relieve sadness from looking the similar examples. -Get warm and comfort from other users. TASK GOALS -Find a way to communicate with parents. -Open the knot and become strong.
PROTOTYPE & KEY FEATURES
# 1 Research Methods Surveys Surveyed 42 individuals who fit the target user demographics
Interviews Conducted interviews with 2 parents and 3 children
Secondary research Analyzed existing census data and related literature on educational psychology
View posts and comments
Anonymous registration
Place user posts on the planet, click to browse and comment or like
Anonymous and no profile picture can eliminate the uneasy feeling when users leave a message, allowing users to speak free
# 2 Research Findings #2-1 Survey Results Out of 30 children that completed the survey, it was able to determine that 8%
Daily Featured Post
8%
8% 11%
92% of children think they love and respect their parents, only 8% are prefer not to say
Encyclopedia
81%
92%
App pushes the homepage according to the number of likes and comments of posts, and updated daily,. Users can click on favorites.
92%
81% of children think communication can solve contradictions, and 11% are not sure
92% of children tried to communicate with their parents to solve the problems, only 8% never do that before
To provide users with more comprehensive explanations and cases of academic terms such as pedagogy, psychology, etc., to help users better understand a phenomenon
Expert Appointment An expert consulting platform built in the App to provide users with the convenience of consulting. The users can select experts by classification, and select time, and also check the records at any time (for parent users)
• Only 4% of children think the contradictions be solved after face-to-face communication, 56% think face-to-face communication is not the best way to solve the problems • 93% of children had disputes with their parents or were beaten by their parents • 76.3% of children think they are always fail to understand their parents' thoughts Out of 12 parents that completed the survey, it was able to determine that 0% 17%
8%
8% 8%
50%
61%
Investigation
100%
100% of parents think they love and care their children
DESIGN PROCESS
23%
25%
50% of parents think they cannot understand their children most of time, only 8% think they know what their children thinking
61% of parents never hold a formal family meeting
• 75% of parents are willing to try or have tried listening to their children or playing with their children • 83% of parents think they are often use parental authority to educate children; only 8% of parents think they can be friend with their children
Design
Design Question Discover Needs Survey Interview Secondary Literature Research Personas
Sketching Paper Prototype Wireframing Digital Prototype
Ideation
Brainstorm Market Analysis
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
Revision
Presentation
Evaluation
Usability Testing
Design Documents UI style design Design Rationales
• Direct Message between users • Invitation Function (Invite users' own parent or child by send message)