Kinoo
Wand Out of Box Experience and Set up
Kinoo is an interactive co-play video chat platform with a mission to create the best possible future for children, their families, and the world through connection, play, and learning. Kinoo launched in Winter 2021 with the Kinoo Connect app focusing on children 3-7 years old, grandparents, and other older loved ones. Along with the app, we also launched the Kinoo Wand introducing another layer of magic and AR within the app, along with encouraging physical movement and engagement during a call.
The Kinoo Wand Out of Box Experience (OoBE) is the first interaction our users have with the Wand when it arrives and the steps they have to go to set it up and prepare for first use. This experience includes:
The Branding/Design/Marketing of the physical box design
The Wand response to user interaction (pressing a button, shaking, or plugging into the charging cradle)
The process to get the user to download and/or open our app
General onboarding / account creation for a new user OR Wand detection once a returning user opens app
In app steps to get the Wand set-up and running
I was tasked with creating an experience that is easy and enjoyable by engaging the user from the moment they receive the box (through box design) and the use of fun and engaging art and animations (both on the device and on the Wand) to convey the magic of the Wand. All of this was completed in 2 months and with limited budget.
I was the lead designer and owner of this project with guidance from the Chief Experience Officer and support from our front-end, back-end, and firmware development teams.
The following design problems were highlighted by the UX / product team as well as the leadership team. Due to the lack of time and the importance of completion before launching the product, we analyzed the data from both internal and external testing to pinpoint sticky points of the experience.
Very short timeframe to complete the project: due to the limited time we did not complete as much user testing as wanted. We also had to sacrifice some opportunities for graphic animation on screen.
Lack of understanding of the Wand: an over arching problem we ran into was a general misunderstanding of the capabilities of the Kinoo Wand. As a newer technology and concept for most, we iterated on the best structure to introduce the device functionality and possibilities to our users.
Defining user roles: while the app and Wand is designed primarily for children, we acknowledged that the average 3 or 4 year old would have difficulty setting up and connecting the Wand to the iPad or iPhone by themselves. Due to this, we deemed this a parent task and gated access in the app to this set up.
With the goal of keeping the user flow as concise and intuitive as possible we boiled the experience down to 3 steps:
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connection - connecting bluetooth is as simple as turning the Wand on, turning bluetooth on on your iPad or iPhone and once the two devices recognize each other, they connect. BLE was chosen over bluetooth because we do not need to exchange large amounts of data over bluetooth and we can run BLE on battery power for years at a much cheaper cost.
WiFi Provisioning - WiFi connection was critical to the Wand experience because all content (LED animations, sound effects, voice over) for each Wand activity was loaded and unloaded via WiFi.
Calibration - the Wand had initial calibration done at the warehouse, but to support gesture recognition it required additional calibration prior to use by the child. This allowed us to accurately understand the motions and spacial positioning of the Wand when in use.
