Tales
a children's smart speaker delivering immersive, interactive learning experiences
A smart speaker that helps children learn through stories, music and light, and helps parents keep an eye on home.
01 · Context
Smart homes, and the parents running them
Smart home devices such as the Amazon Echo, Google Home and Ring have become a regular sight in many American households. There is a strong market pull for them and their ability to handle everything at home, from security to vacuum cleaning.
A survey found three main reasons people in the US buy a smart home device: saving time, watching the home when they’re away, and general convenience.
Identifying a very specific audience would help create a solution with real impact. One candidate: parents who rely heavily on smart home devices to run their households.
- Product
- Smart speaker
- For
- Children and their parents
- Disciplines
- Product Design, UI/UX
67%
of Amazon Echo owners are aged between 25 and 54.
54%
of Google Home owners are aged between 30 and 60.
Barry Elad, “Smart Home Statistics: by Region, Revenue and Demographics,” Enterprise Apps Today, May 2023.
02 · User interviews
What parents value, and what they trust
Five couples, ten parents, were interviewed to understand how the target market thinks about a smart speaker for their children. Three couples didn’t own a smart speaker and two did. Between them they had children aged 3 to 10.
Parents ranked a list of functions twice: by their value as a learning tool, and by how much they would trust their children to use each one on their own.
Value as a learning tool
- Audiobook
- Question and answer
- Projection of visual aids
- Music player
- Night light
Trusted to use independently
- Night light
- Question and answer
- Audiobook
- Projection of visual aids
- Music player
03 · Features and functions
Designed around the rankings
Carbon monoxide sensor
Built into the speaker is a carbon monoxide sensor, programmed to alert parents or guardians to a gas leak and related hazards through an alarm and a module in the Tales companion app. Many homes use carbon monoxide sensors, especially in rooms where young children sleep. This one also lets parents monitor levels remotely.
An audiobook
Tales can read out stories, with access to large databases across the internet. Through interviews of around 30 parents, this function was preferred over others for its educational value, without becoming too much of a distraction.
A speaker
Tales can also play music on demand. Parents supported the idea that music is a great tool in their children’s education and development, and were confident in their children’s ability to control it on their own.
A projector
When prompted, Tales can project visual stimuli onto the walls of the child’s room to accompany a song or an audiobook. This replaced the idea of a screen, to avoid excessive use.
04 · Colourways
Three colourways, three worlds
Each finish is paired with its own playful pattern.
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