UX/ UI Case Study
JollySquare
A digital tool designed to help families create calm and structured morning routines. It combines playful child experiences with parent controls to reduce stress and improve coordination during busy mornings.
Developed as part of a Delft Design Approach course at TU Delft, this project is presented as a multi-phase case study from research to mobile experience and system design. Explore each part to learn more.
Rotterdam, Netherland
Role
UX & UI Designer
Timeline
8 weeks (Jun 2025)
Tools
Figma, FigJam, Maze,
Responsibilities
• User research with parents
• Behavioral insights & problem framing
• User journey mapping
• Wireframing & interaction design
• UI design for playful guidance
• Prototype creation in Figma
• Usability testing & iteration
UI Design
Browse the work across Mobile, and Design Systems by selecting the categories below.
• Guided tasks for kids
• Simple, playful interactions
App Design
Product Design
Social Design
• Consistent components and patterns
• Scalable visual language
Design System
Color System
Typography
UX Research
Project Overview
JollySquare is a digital tool designed to support families during busy mornings by creating structured and engaging routines for young children.
The project explores how combining clear structure with playful interaction can help children stay on track while reducing the coordination burden on parents. By connecting both experiences, the app enables parents to customize routines through a dashboard, while children follow simple, visual tasks on their device.
Developed as part of the Delft Design Approach Certificate, this project applies user research and structured design methods to transform stressful morning moments into a calmer, more coordinated experience.
The Challenge
Problem Statement
Mornings in families with young children are often stressful and unstructured. Parents must manage multiple tasks while motivating children who feel tired or distracted. This creates tension, delays, and high mental load before the day even begins.
Why this matters
Creating a smoother morning routine can improve family wellbeing, reduce stress, and help children build independence and positive daily habits.
Why this Solution
Based on the key insight that morning stress often stems from poor coordination between parents and children, I decided to design a shared digital system that supports both sides of the routine. The system helps parents manage and coordinate responsibilities while guiding children through clear, step-by-step tasks.
Solution
Designing a shared digital system that helps parents coordinate morning responsibilities while guiding children through clear, step-by-step routines. The concept combines customizable task flows, multi-child management, and supportive tools such as weather updates, traffic information, mental health tips, and engaging content all in one structured environment.
Research & Insights
I explored the emotional and practical challenges families face during morning routines.
Observation
Observed real morning routines to understand behavior and challenges.
User Interviews
Speaking with 3 parents to uncover pain points.
Persona creation
Creating user personas to represent parents’ needs, goals, and frustrations.
Survey
Gathering feedback from parents to validate key challenges and needs.
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Key Insight
Research showed that morning stress is not only caused by lack of planning, but by limited shared visibility, low child motivation, and high mental load for parents. Families need simple tools that support coordination, independence, and calm interactions during busy mornings.
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Children respond better to visual and playful guidance
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Parents manage high mental load during mornings
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Lack of shared visibility creates confusion and delays
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Positive motivation works better than pressure
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Structured routines reduce stress for families
Observation
Understanding parents’ and children’s morning routine challenges.
By observing Nasrin and her husband’s morning routine, I noticed that every step from getting dressed to breakfast and daycare required constant coordination and supervision. Even with two parents involved, the routine depended on reminders, task management, and quick decision-making.
Competitor Research
I reviewed existing routine and wellness apps to understand how they support children and parents. The analysis revealed gaps in coordination, customization, and shared parent–child support.
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Most apps focus only on children, not parent–child
Customization for real family routines is limited
Motivation systems are often weak
Parents lack one simple morning support tool
Problem & Design Opportunity
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How might we help parents of young children create calm, structured, and stress-free morning routines?
This revealed an opportunity to design a shared parent–child experience that improves coordination and reduces morning stress.
Lack of coordination
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Families rely on verbal reminders and memory, causing confusion and delays.
Opportunity:
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Shared visual routine for both parent and child.
Low child motivation
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Children often forget or resist routine tasks.
Opportunity:
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Playful visuals and rewards to guide routines.
Parent mental overload
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Parents manage multiple tasks at once under time pressure.
Opportunity:
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Smart structure, reminders, and helpful morning info.
Design Strategy
Setting design principles for a calm and engaging experience.
The design strategy focused on creating a calm, structured, and engaging experience for both parents and children.
Clarity & Structure
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Step-by-step visual guidance helps children follow routines independently.
Motivation Through Play
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Playful visuals, sound, and rewards keep children engaged and motivated.
Support for Parents
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Simple customization and shared visibility help parents plan stress-free mornings.
Feature Prioritization & Product Strategy
Selecting high-impact features for a focused product experience.
Features were prioritized based on user impact and implementation effort to keep the experience simple and effective.
Key Decisions
Focus on features that reduce morning stress first
Keep the experience simple for children
Keep the experience simple for children
Avoid complex features that distract from routines
Wireframing
Exploring layout and navigation before visual design.
Low-fidelity wireframes explored layout, navigation, and routine creation before visual design.
Simplified onboarding for fast parent setup
Clear step-by-step flow for children
Easy routine editing for parents
Consistent navigation across parent and child views
Final Design
A dual-device experience designed to support structured morning routines, enabling children to follow step-by-step tasks independently while giving parents simple tools to manage and guide the process.
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03
Buzz Screen
Smart updates for parents including weather, reminders, and daily tips in one place.
01
Routine Customization
Parents create and customise routines for each child with flexible task ordering and visuals.
02
Today's Routine
Step-by-step task flow helps children complete routines independently and stay on track.
Onboarding
Quick onboarding helps parents set up children and routines in minutes.
"The setup felt really intuitive, I knew exactly what my kids would see."
— Test Participant
Home Screen
Clear daily overview showing tasks, progress, and priorities for the morning.
“The home screen makes the day feel manageable, I instantly know our priorities.”
Test Participant
Usability Test
I tested the prototype with parents to evaluate clarity, navigation, and routine setup. The goal was to identify friction points and improve the experience before finalizing the design.
8/8
SUCCESS RATE
78%
USABILITY SCORE
Navigation Clarity
95%
Setup Efficiency
70%
Key Improvment
Users initially struggled to find the “edit routine” option. Introducing a sticky header made the action more visible and improved task completion speed by 40%.
Visual Engagement
88%
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Navigation clarity
Users wanted a faster overview of daily priorities.
Setup length
Some steps in routine setup felt too long.
Visual progress
Helped users feel more organised.
Shared visibility
Parents appreciated shared task visibility.
Outcomes & Reflection
Key learnings from designing a real-life family solution.
Designing for two users
Balancing parents' need for structure with children's need for motivation was essential. A "one size fits all" approach doesn't work; flexibility must be built into the core framework.
Emotional UI
Visual design isn't just decoration; it's a functional requirement for calming stress. Soft shadows, rounded corners, and pastel tones directly contributed to perceived usability.
This project reflects my approach to designing meaningful, user-centered digital products that simplify everyday life through thoughtful UX and engaging visual design.