Glimmer.

📋Overview

Glimmeris an interactive game designed to help children develop their speech and language skills, while providing parents with valuable insights into their child's development. The game features a fur-stuffed doll equipped with a device that listens and responds to children in conversation — making learning fun and engaging.

I led UX research and end-to-end product design for the companion mobile app — the bridge between the AI-powered toy and the parents who want to see their child grow.

🎯Main Goal

Design an engaging, educational and interactive experience that supports children's speech development while empowering parents to track progress and gain valuable insights into their child's growth, interests and engagement.

⚡️Define the Problem

A flexible process focused on user needs. It allowed me to revisit empathy, ideation and testing as new insights emerged — fostering creativity and user-centered solutions.

🧠Brainstorming — Research Key Questions

To brainstorm research questions for understanding the problem, we focused on areas that addressed both the children's and parents' perspectives, the technology, and the user experience.

🔍Insights — For Kids

“I get bored of toys after playing with them a few times.”

“I like toys that talk back to me!”

• Lack of EngagementChildren find traditional educational tools uninteresting.
• Need for InteractionInteractive, responsive toys captured attention better — they create a sense of companionship.
• Desire for PersonalizationChildren responded more positively to toys that recognized their name or favorite topics.

👪Insights — For Parents

“I wish I could see how my child is progressing without guessing.”

• Difficulty Tracking DevelopmentParents lacked tools to monitor speech progress effectively.
• Frustration with Limited InsightsParents wanted actionable insights into interests, frequent words, language usage.
• Privacy ConcernsParents valued tracking but worried about data security with their child's voice data.

🗺️User Flow

User flows ensure the design is functional, user-friendly and aligned with user goals — providing clarity, improving collaboration with engineers, and reducing errors.

📊Results

Glimmer successfully provided an engaging, educational experience for children — helping improve speech and language development through interactive conversations with the doll. The mobile app enabled parents to easily track progress, monitor interests and receive valuable insights into behavior and language growth.

🌟Designing for two users at once

Glimmer taught me to balance the needs of two very different users — children who want fun, and parents who want insight. Every screen had to serve both ends without compromising either.

✨Trust is a feature

When you're collecting children's voice data, trust isn't a footnote — it's the product. Privacy controls had to feel as polished as the play experience.