NATURE CLIPS FOR KIDS –DAILY NATURE HABITJenna Forsyth

6/8/2015

Jenna Forsyth 2015

My goal was to help people do what they already want to do…

Many parents of children under 5 years old tell me that they want to expose their children to the natural world on a regular basis.

But, nature is far and can be a hassle…

What is a good alternative?

Online nature videos… ?(Unfortunately it is time consuming for parents to find videos of good quality.)

Jenna Forsyth 2015

What if…

Parents received a daily email with a short, 1-2 minute, video of animals in nature to show their children?

Could this be a successful daily nature habit that fulfills a need and fits into an existing routine (e.g. after brushing teeth, during snack time, etc.)?

Let’s find out!

Jenna Forsyth 2015

Make it simple• Simplicity factors to target

• Time

• Mental Effort

• Match existing routine

• Money

• Physical Effort

Of the five simplicity factors, this daily nature clip for kids aims to reduce the time and mental effort needed for parents to find good content PLUS match an existing routine…

Jenna Forsyth 2015

Let’s snap test it. (Step 1 of 6)

1) I watched a lot of animal videos to curate a special set of high quality nature videos with animals…

Snap test = a rapid prototype that generates feedback

Jenna Forsyth 2015

Let’s snap test it. (Step 2 of 6)

2) I made seven video clips (1-2 minutes each) and host them online…

Jenna Forsyth 2015

Let’s snap test it. (Step 3 of 6)

3) I recruited a group of parents with young children (2-5 years old) and gathered email addresses…

I ended up snap testing with 9 eager parents

Yes please!

Count us in! Just tonight I said to Dan [husband], "why don't you go on

youtube and watch an animal video with Ben [2 year old son]". They ended up watching some weird funniest home

video style video w/ animals doing silly things which was not really what I had

in mind… I was hoping for more nature-based videos like yours.

Absolutely!

Jenna Forsyth 2015

Let’s snap test it. (Step 4 of 6)

4) I sent an email to parents with one video clip per day for one week that asked parents to watch the clip with their children at a convenient time, fitting with their routine…

Jenna Forsyth 2015

Parents received 7 video clips over 7 days, featuring these animals in their natural habitat:

• Brown bears• Clownfish• Mimic octopus• Shell octopus• Polar bears• Nautiluses• Sea Stars

Jenna Forsyth 2015

Let’s snap test it. (Step 5 of 6)

5) I received and analyzed feedback from parents and children…

Jenna Forsyth 2015

Analysis: Overwhelmingly positive responses

• 89% of participants watched each daily video clip• 89% of participants wanted to continue to receive video clips• 78% of participants wanted to invite friends to receive a

daily nature clip

We watched it while we were waiting for Daddy to get home.

You happened to pick her favorite animal. She pointed and

said "bear" over and over and over. She has teddy bears and now loves bears. She watched

several minutes of it. I was impressed.

We had fun identifying the different sea creatures in the video.

Jenna Forsyth 2015

Analysis: Did it help people do what they already want to do?

Mostly!Parents wanted to do more than just show their children a nature clip: Parents wanted a moment of learning and bonding between parent and

child.

And what about the children?I was so focused on designing for parents, I forgot about the

children. Children wanted to choose between a couple video clips.

KEY INSIGHTS+ Add educational element (e.g., animal description or fact.)+ Give children a choice of videos to watch!

Jenna Forsyth 2015

Analysis: Was it simple?Minimal time? YESMinimal mental effort? YES Match existing routine? mostly

• 2/3 of parents and children watched the videos at the same time each day – before bed. One child began to anticipate watching the video clips before bed and

started to ask her parents if they forgot.

• 1/3 watched the videos at different times each day – during snack time, bath time...

KEY INSIGHTS+Have parents encourage their children to remind them to watch the

video clips at a certain time every day (e.g., after brushing teeth).

Jenna Forsyth 2015

Analysis: Could it have been easier to do?

Yes I faced technological difficulties with online video hosting application

The video clips were embedded in the entire video, using ‘TubeChop.’ Sometimes parents had trouble watching just the clip and it was disorienting to suddenly be in the middle of a 45 minute nature documentary.

KEY INSIGHTS+ Improve the technological delivery so people don’t get frustrated.

Jenna Forsyth 2015

Let’s snap test it. (Step 6 of 6)

6) I have identified the following next steps:

• Make it educational and allow parents to feel successful

• Provide choices: send out an email with two videos to choose from and a link to a website with a repository of videos

• Explore ways for parents to encourage their children to ‘trigger’ the behavior (e.g., having the child remind the parents)

• Explore other technological approaches to showing clipped videos that don’t cause frustration

Jenna Forsyth 2015

Thank you for your interest – do you want to be involved?

• This was a fun and rewarding project.

• I felt that I truly added value to my friends’ lives and to their children’s lives.

• I am seeking individuals to help curate video content, build a website and generally improve the experience from a technological standpoint.

Contact me if you are interested:

jforsyth@stanford.edu