50% of children today spend less time outdoor than their parents at their age. The reason for this is not only the advancing digitalization, but also the increasing number of helicopter parents who no longer want to send their offspring out on the street alone to play.
In order to promote free play, more creativity and independence, we developed the app PLAYTIME with the product designer Christina Fröhlich as part of her final paper at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe.
More than 60% of all children under the age of 10 own a mobile phone.
PLAYTIME provides fixed play times for children and their parents and simultaneously blocks all digital household devices during this time. The children receive instructions on how to play independently and are motivated to continue playing through rewards in the form of badges.
In addition, the app shows safe play areas for children where they can meet their friends to play.
Thanks to colour coding, user can easily find what they look for.
Posters with quotes advertise the app.
Personal avatars can be put together individually by the children, collected and exchanged with their buddies inside the app.
The longer the kids play outside, the more avatar elements get unlocked which can be exchanged. This incentive leads to children forming new habits over a longer period of time and being rewarded at the same time.