Grad Show 23

Good Morning Rocket

Launch into a Great Day

As a team of grounded designers and skilled engineers, our primary focus is on developing products that blend engaging design with practical functionality. We started with ourselves and observations and resonated with the morning struggle faced by the whole family in getting young children ready for school.

With the goal of helping children develop a positive morning routine that raises independence and self-regulation, we designed Good Morning Rocket, a gamified routine planner and task tracker that helps 6 to 9 years old children in completing routine activities independently.

Our team's commitment to fun and empowerment shines through in every aspect of our creation, ensuring that children feel motivated and empowered while parents experience a newfound sense of ease and efficiency.

Team members:

Carlissa Arrow
Jiawei Lu
Alejandra Sanchez
Bohan Xu

Turning Morning Chaos into Valuable Learning Moments

Navigating morning routines with young children can often prove to be time-consuming and challenging. Parents frequently invest additional time and effort in coaxing and reminding their children to complete essential tasks like brushing their teeth and preparing their school bags. These morning difficulties can lead to delays, rushing, and increased stress levels for both parents and children.

The underlying factors contributing to these struggles can be attributed to the cognitive development stage of primary school children. Between the ages of 6 and 9, children experience a critical transitional phase marked by the development of time awareness, executive functioning, and an understanding of cause and effect. Leveraging this phase effectively presents a unique opportunity to instill long-lasting positive impacts, fostering independence, organization, and a sense of accomplishment in children.

Placement of Good Morning Rocket on the wal

Our final product, Good Morning Rocket, leverages intrinsic motivation to empower children in completing routine activities independently. Serving as a routine planner and task tracker, it encourages efficient task completion, facilitates seamless task switching, and provides timely reminders for ad-hoc routine changes.

Building Excitement and Accomplishment into Daily Activities

Using the metaphor of a rocket launching mission control board, our product helps children visualize, track and complete their morning routine tasks. With each completed task, the rocket on the board moves closer to launch, creating a sense of excitement and accomplishment. Instant audio feedback is also provided to involve the whole family in the cheer.

Additionally, our product aids in developing crucial time management and organizational skills. By tracking their progress on the board, children learn the importance of completing tasks in a timely and efficient manner.

The task token consists of two parts: the top part is attached to the board with a built-in screen for displaying the task, while the bottom part is placed at the location where the child should complete the task (e.g. next to their toothbrush in the bathroom). It slides back to complete the token with another piece, indicating task completion.

Fostering Guided Conversations and Progress Reviews

Our product not only alleviates parents' stress but also establishes a communication channel for effective guidance in planning routines. Through our research on parents' preferred methods of managing their children's home devices, we have discovered that a companion mobile app is the favored approach, considering user familiarity and convenience.

The companion mobile app serves two key functions: gamified product setup and instant status tracking. By incorporating a missionary storyline, the product engages children and encourages them to maintain consistent performance. The ease of task setup on the app also allows parents to make ad-hoc reminders or routine changes effortlessly. Both daily progress and long-term performance can be easily monitored through the performance dashboard.

Product user flow that enables children to complete tasks independently while facilitating efficient parental guidance.

The user flow starts with the initial collaborative product setup led by the parent. After onboarding, the child is empowered to independently perform their daily tasks. With audio feedback, the parent stays informed anywhere in the house, while instant mobile tracking allows for remote usage and monitoring.