Blox

Exploring how kids in the future engage in block-based programming

My team: Gameplay Research Group at UCLA CRESST

Members: Research Mentor and me

My role: Student researcher

Timeline: 2024.1 – 2024.4

Background

As the digital landscape rapidly evolves, the goal for educational gameplay is not only teaching children skills, but also enhancing social, emotional, and personal experiences. Future households will likely be rich with digital resources, including smart devices, immersive learning tools, and interconnected platforms, all contributing to a more dynamic learning environment. These advancements create both opportunities and challenges for designing meaningful educational experiences. The following infographics provide a foundational overview of the goals and resources anticipated for future gameplay settings. Through this project, we aim to explore how these elements will shape the design of toys that support children’s learning in an increasingly digital, interconnected world.

Goals for gameplay

Problem

Resources of a future household

As children increasingly engage with smart electronics, the need for computational thinking skills grows. To equip children for a future filled with diverse digital tools, this project aims to design an educational toy that introduces computational problem-solving in a playful, engaging way. By envisioning future households and exploring the evolving goals and resources of families, this project seeks to create a future-focused educational experience that anticipates the skills children will need in a digital, interconnected world.

Research

Secondary Research

Trends

Some current trends in educational products were being investigated prior to designing the learning experience. According to the annual report from the Toy Association, demand for computational thinking games has risen with a broader audience.

Competitive Analysis

A competitive analysis was performed to investigate the current landscape for educational products that promote computational thinking. I selected 4 products from the market that are “popular” and evaluated their performance in the levels of easiness, customization, cost, socialization, and richness.

Primary Research

Ethnographic Research

To better get a sense of how children engage with educational game play nowadays, I went into a primary school in Los Angeles to observe a coding class. I watched how students played with different kinds of toys to learning about coding while logging the relevant events that happened during the 1 hour class.

Interviews

Goal: Discover general user patterns and habits during the game play process

Setting: A coding class at a primary school in LA

Number of participants: 14

Games demonstrated: RoboBlocks, Lego, Osmo

Findings:

High engagement and collaboration: More than 10 kids exhibited positive behaviors such as increased focus, cooperative play, and enthusiasm when engaging with coding toys, indicating that these toys successfully foster engagement and teamwork among primary school children.
Challenge with frustration: A smaller but notable group of 3 to 9 kids displayed negative behaviors, including frustration and conflict. This suggests that while coding toys are effective for learning, they may require additional support or guidance to help children navigate challenges and minimize negative interactions.
Learning through exploration and problem-solving: A consistent number of children showed behaviors related to exploration and problem-solving. This reflects the potential of toys to encourage critical thinking, although it may be beneficial to incorporate structured guidance to enhance learning outcomes.

After getting a sense of how children engage with educational toys in general, I dived deeper into the research by going into a family. Since the space of interest is in a future household, I want to further investigate the special interactions and needs of children when they play at home with their family members. Therefore, the goal of conducting this interview was to find out what current households desire for future game play. Interviewing different people in a household, different perspectives on how to facilitate computational learning are collected.

Findings:

Desire for Innovation: Both children show an eagerness to explore new games and invent unique ways of playing. This highlights a desire for educational toys that offer flexibility and opportunities for creativity, allowing children to explore and customize their experiences.
Parental Interest in Teaching Opportunities: Parent expresses a wish to be more involved in her children’s learning, indicating that educational toys could benefit from incorporating features that support parental guidance.
Need for Multi-Generational Engagement: The family’s feedback points to a need for toys that cater to different age groups and support collaborative play across generations. Designing toys that allow both children and parents to engage meaningfully can create a more enriching learning environment.

Based on the findings of secondary and primary research, I came up with some insights that determine the main themes for guiding the design. Collaboration, innovation, connection, and customization are all central to the design of future educational experiences for computational thinking.

Insights

Observation chart

Who

Future families are expected to create educational environments through collaborative interactions. With more members actively engaging, gameplay becomes more inclusive and educational, supporting children’s development in computational problem-solving in a shared learning experience.

Where

Future smart spaces will feature interconnected toys and boards that link seamlessly with other devices. This integration enables an immersive, interactive learning environment where educational play adapts and responds to the connected ecosystem.

What

Future gameplay creation emphasizes kids’ desire for more creativity and personalization in their games. Today’s children increasingly seek games that allow them to shape their experiences. They look for personalized, imaginative play as a key element in engaging educational tools.

How

Future mixed media will blend tangible and digital elements, creating a learning experience that bridges physical interaction with digital engagement. This integration offers kids a richer, hands-on approach to computational thinking.

Ideation

User personas

Based on the insights from research, I created user personas for different kinds of users we want to craft experience for. In general, we want to offer the educational experience to “learners" in a family, but the goals and needs for members in different ages and roles are different. I distinguished them by creating a visualization for their differing levels in learning, creating, and teaching.

Concept mapping

I created a concept diagram before diving into design to establish a clear understanding of the user journey and interactions. The concept diagram was developed to investigate how children engage with educational toys across different levels of interaction—starting with guided play and advancing to independent, creative exploration. By mapping out core concepts like Connection, Manipulation, and Freedom, the diagram helps identify key functionalities needed for each type of player in a family. This process ensures a well-structured experience and guides feature development to align with different educational goals.

Fabrication

Prototype

Feature Testing

Design Outcomes

Hardware

Software

Users can connect blocks to the website to program them and explore different ways to play. Apart from the age-based coding interfaces, the website also offers features for sharing and connecting with other players.