The Right to Breathe - Kuki
RSA Student Award Winner 2021
Creative Conscious Award Winner 2021
Overall Creative Champion South West Design + Digital Awards 2021
Brief
The RSA The Right to Breathe brief aims to ensure that everyone living in areas with poor air quality are guaranteed their right to clean air. The brief encourages a systems thinking prospective, considering both the local and global factors and actors that impact your chosen area.
Insight
Air pollution is the world’s biggest environmental health risk, and children are especially vulnerable to the adverse health impacts it brings.
In response to this I have created kuki, an air quality pet for young children, which uses gamification techniques to inspire, engage and encourage the adoption of positive behaviours, creating responsible adults that will reduce air pollution in the future and inspire long term change.
UX/UI Design, Product Design, Copywriting
Solution
Kuki links to an app with features for both parents and kids. Within the app kids can earn points and receive rewards for their ‘pet’ kuki, encouraging positive behaviour.
The health of their ‘pet’ is reflective of their own pollution exposure levels, acting as a contextual reminder. Parents can use the app to monitor their child’s exposure, find areas of high pollution, and stay up to date on air quality news.
The Impact
Kuki aims to encourage sustainable behaviour and advocacy for clean air strategies in both children and their parents, promoting long term change. By using this bottom up approach for change it ensures that the barrier to entry is low, promoting inclusion and diversity as all can make an impact.
The key to effectively managing this approach lies in communicating the goals and strategies for implementing these changes. Kuki does this by providing the tools - air pollution monitor and filter, and information - data visualisation and news, needed to protect and make informed decisions.
Parent Mode
In the parent mode of the kuki app the user can monitor their child’s daily air quality exposure, breaking down both indoor and outdoor pollution and identifying key areas to avoid through the daily exposure map feature. From the home screen they can also monitor kuki’s battery level and the remaining lifetime of the current filter.
The map feature enables the user to search for specific locations and get air quality information for that day.
Through the updates tab the user can stay up to date on air quality news and information, broadening their understanding and engagement with the issue.
Kid's Mode
In the kids mode of the kuki app the user monitor’s their ‘pets’ vitals. Health is reflective of the child’s pollution exposure whilst food and play encourage children to engage and learn about air pollution in exchange for rewards for their ‘pet’.
In the lesson feature of the app the user learns about pollution at a pace suitable for their literacy level, in exchange they receive treats for their ‘pet’.
To increase kuki’s play level the user plays pollution related games, providing a fun and engaging form of learning.
The user can connect with friends within the app adding a social element to the experience and encouraging good health of their kuki.
