After the initial release of BloxMob, user retention and the sharing of created apps was not meeting our target goals. We needed to find out what was going on. We had provided a powerful tool for kids to build personal private mobile apps just for them and their needs. So what’s the problem?
Assumed Experience
It was expected that our users would have specific problems or goals that they could use the BloxMob platform to solve.
Consistent Observations
Some unexpected things were happening regularly across a wide range of users
| OBSERVATIONS | METHODS |
| Many new user do not have an app in mind that they want to build. | Observation Interviews |
| Some new users do not know what they can build. | Observation Interviews |
| Many users are overwhelmed and have no idea what to do when they begin to alter the structure of collections (databases) | Observation Interviews Teacher feedback |
| Most users have no prior experience that will help then understand the construct of our blox / collection paradigm. | Teacher feedback |
| Some users try to name the data field label as if they are inputs for adding entry data. | Observation |
| Most users do not discover they can share collections among multiple Blox. | Observation Interviews Teacher feedback |
The Challenge
How might we ease the learning curve and expose BloxMob capabilities earlier in the build process to increase the our user’s ability to feel their way to the successful completion of their app.
Hypotheses
A curated collection of hypotheses to prototype and test are derived from a collaborative process of team and individual ideation.
Blox Derivatives
Flipping the paradigm from a single List Blox that must be highly customized to providing a collection of subject matter specific Blox to spark the user’s imagination to what is possible and simplify Blox configuration.
Predefined Collections
New derivative Blox will have custom predefined collections that can be easily customized by toggling on or off a curated collection of data fields hand picked for the specific purpose of the derivative Blox.
Entries Get Proper Placement
Add a new step explicitly for adding entries to differentiate between Form Building and data entry.
Also shown is a recommendation for data visualization and easy access to editing / deleting data entries.
