Old Method: Desktop Software Download (ouch)
CONTEXT/PROBLEM
LeapFrog had sold millions of its popular signature product for pre-toddlers, the Scout and Violet customizable interactive electronic toys. Scout and Violet are capable of learning and using a child's name, and learning certain facts about the child, such as their birthday, favorite food, color, and more. While well loved by customers, configuring Scout and Violet required an onerous download and installation of desktop connection software, and a complicated onboarding experience, leading to a high volume of expensive customer support calls.
Working the problem: Design, Iteration, & Testing
SOLUTION
In 2014, LeapFrog began a re-engineering of Scout & Violet's electronics as part of a manufacturing cost reduction effort. Part of that was a strategy to deliver files needed for customizing the toy via the analog output from a mobile device. This was a connection technology previously untested in the toy space, so the challenge was turning a raw engineering prototype into a great user experience.
This engineering approach provided certain unique challenges. First, communication between mobile device and the toy were one direction: device to toy. With the toy unable to send status updates to the phone, certain feedback to the user had to be delivered from the toy itself, and the messaging for that had to be smoothly integrated with instructions on the mobile site. Second, delivering data via headphone output requires calibration to ensure that a user's device is set to the right audio output mode, and delivers audio output at sufficiently high level.
Mobile Site: Easy Configuration via headphone jack
RESULTS
• Improved Customer Satisfaction
• Reduced Customer Support costs
By following a UX & Interaction design process involving meticulous usability testing both in the field and in the lab, and iterative changes to messaging & interaction design, a mobile-optimized site was created that has been used by over 2 million users to date, with a >99.5% reduction of the rate of support calls per units sold (>4000 calls per year for previous software version, <10 calls per year for new mobile site version)