Product Designer
Product Manager
Aiden Montesinos
Brian Sa
Arianna Hsu
Jessica Andrews
Client Communication, Competitor Analysis, User Interviews, User Testing, Prototyping, Dev-Ready Designs
Product Designer
Product Manager
Client Communication, Competitor Analysis, User Interviews, User Testing, Prototyping, Dev-Ready Designs
Aiden Montesinos
Brian Sa
Arianna Hsu
Jessica Andrews
context
Alaska Children’s Trust is a non-profit organization educating parents on children internet safety.
ACT is the statewide leader in preventing child abuse and neglect, working to ensure all Alaskan children grow up safe and healthy by advocating for families, investing in communities, and uniting partners across the state.
DEFINING the space
Reimagining how families connect
Their most significant educational service is the Conversation for Families deck, available in both physical and digital PDF formats, although these decks are hardly reused, difficult to customize, and challenging to navigate.
After familiarizing ourselves with the deck, we proceeded to interview 10+ families from varying backgrounds and analyzed major issues that came up repeatedly.
Research
Loved by families...held back by missing features.
Customization is difficult
Users can't adapt the deck for different contexts, limiting reuse and personal investment
Complex Navigation
The PDF format is hard to navigate, reducing engagement and access to key sections
One-Time Use Tool
Families don’t return due to lack of motivation and fresh content
Goals of Solution
How might we...
Keep the tactile charm of a physical deck while making it effortlessly customizable
There is something very human about using a physical deck to lead a conversation, therefore we want the app to feel just as comfortable.
Transform a static PDF into an experience that's immersive and intuitive to explore
The parent leading the conversation should not be confused while using the deck, otherwise the child will feel less engaged in the conversation and explanation.
Drive repeated use and deeper learning after that first tap
All of our users found the information in the deck to be extremely useful, although there is a huge drop off in usage after the first look at the deck.
market research
We’ve seen flashcards before… just not like this
There has never been an internet safety tool educating parents, and that’s the problem. A PDF or printed deck can’t adapt to a child’s curiosity or a parent’s busy life. Conversation gets lost in clunky interfaces and rigid formats. But safety isn’t static, and neither are kids. If we want families to engage meaningfully, we need to meet them where they are: in an experience that feels light, safe, and playful. One that turns a lesson into a dialogue and a deck into something they’ll want to come back to.
Prioritizing the impact
We proceeded to come up with as many solutions to these issues and mapped them on an Impact-Feasibility Matrix where we voted on our favorite ideas. We used this to separated features into MVP and “Think About Later” features.
displaying cards
Displaying Cards Tastefully
Each card should be formatted intuitively. Parents will be leading the conversation with our questions, therefore our designs should not be so confusing that a parent is unable to guide the discussion. This thought process was used in our decision making.
In the end, we chose Option E for its clean, familiar design that preserves the physical card format families enjoy. A subtle color difference helps parents distinguish between the front and back of each card. On the back, if multiple sections are present, users must read each one before proceeding to the next question, ensuring they fully understand the topic before moving on. Although if you would rather not ask your child a question, you can feel free to skip it right from the question screen and move on.
Final Deck Flow
Filtering
Filtering Intuitively
Next, we focused on enabling customization for each user. Since many Alaskan parents are especially mindful of what their children are learning, we wanted to give them the ability to choose the topics they feel are most relevant. Additionally, ACT emphasized that the deck should be flexible—there’s no single correct way to use it; parents are encouraged to adapt it to their own needs and preferences.
We ultimately chose a mix of Option B and Option C. The filter icon in the top right felt more intuitive, and removing descriptions from each cell allowed for a cleaner layout with multiple cards per row. We preferred Option B’s filtering modal, as it was less intrusive than Option C’s. Unlike earlier designs, our final version removed the search and navigation bars since parents don’t know what content is in each deck, searching isn’t useful, and the app’s simplicity doesn’t require multiple pages.
Final Filtering Flow
Home
Awaiting Your Return!
Finally, we focused on the making decks accessible for first time users while encouraging parents to come back to this app! We first had to figure out a layout which made the most sense for our needs.
Accounting for different use cases, we want families to pick up from where they left off. Initially we thought a “Favorites” section would work best, although this would require parents to favorite a deck before they leave to do something else. Therefore, we went with Option A’s format and changed the wording to Recent.
In order to encourage parents to return after completing a deck, we introduced “Achievements” as simple metrics. Instead of creating a separate page, we used the top section of Option B to display them above the decks. However, in hi-fis, the Achievement cell felt too prominent, especially the “Explore” button. Therefore, we made it smaller (Option A) to downplay it and enlarged “Explore” in the final version. We also added a profile feature to let parents track progress for each child.
Final Home/Profile Flow
Reflection
What we learned (besides sleeping less)
Presenting our Idea
Showcasing our vision to LinkedIn, Infosys, and Cornell's community
We presented at Cornell’s BOOM, where judges and faculty praised our playful, well-crafted prototypes. One professor noted, “I forget people are not on the internet yet.” Feedback highlighted our strong design but encouraged technical implementation on devices, ideally expanding to Android as well to target all mobile device users.
Helping parents guide safer, smarter conversations about life online