Industry
AI; Education Technology
Team
2 members
Roles
Design Strategist | UI Designer
Timeline
10 weeks
Introduction
Non-fiction literature often fails to capture the attention of modern teenagers, leading to a decline in critical cognitive development. Kibo is an AI-powered chatbot that disrupts the linear narrative of books, transforming them into the most engaging format of our time: a social media-style conversation. By turning readers into active participants, Kibo fosters the brain plasticity and problem-solving skills vital for children under 17.
Research
Our research focused on why children and young adults are moving away from traditional reading. Through surveys and interviews, we identified that the primary hurdle is a lack of sustained engagement
Cognitive Development: We targeted the under-17 demographic specifically to leverage peak brain plasticity, where reading plays a key role in developing social and cognitive thought-flows.
The "Habit Fit": Rather than forcing a new behavior, we designed Kibo to "fit" into the user's existing lifestyle, social media chatting, minimizing the friction of adoption.
Solution
A Multi-Sensory Chat Ecosystem: The final Kibo application bridges reading and digital interaction.
The Library & Chat UI: Users curate a personal library and enter a "reading screen" that functions as an interactive chat window.
Multi-Sensory Engagement: The experience isn't just text; it’s augmented with web lookups, pictures, and videos, turning a book into a rich, exploratory environment.
Biometric & VR Integration: To quantify the experience, we explored the use of VR and physiological data (body movement, verbal factors, and heart rate) to gain deep insights into the learning process and refine the narrative loops.
The greatest technical hurdle was the "Content Dissection"—taking a 300-page linear book and re-architecting it into a conversational flow that maintains the author's intent while allowing for user-led diversions.
Conclusion
Kibo represents the next step in information access: moving from "free information" to "interactive wisdom." With future integrations planned for home assistants like Alexa, Kibo is poised to turn every household story into a two-way learning journey.
As a life-long student of design, I’m continuously improving my work. Please look forward to more updates.
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