Letter recognition and phonics skills at the emerging-k level are quite repetitive. Students are also not yet comfortable using computers or maneuvering a mouse or trackpad. We set out to design an enriching experience within these constraints.

This product was only the second digital lesson set in development during this time. We set out to learn from the past lesson set and create a process, lesson flow, and design approach that would be engaging and memorable for students.

To evaluate this skill digitally is a unique challenge due to the time-based nature of the skill. Our goal was to design a playful experience and keep the lessons as short as possible.

“Brain break” games were needed for kids to play during the long diagnostic test. A call-to-action went out for agile teams to form (a designer, developer, and QA engineer). This was a volunteer hack-a-thon project in which we were given three days to design, develop, and launch a short game.

After leading many projects designed for K-2 users, a new challenge was presented to design a look and feel for the new grade 3-5 products.