Questo
Boosting school children's curiosity and motivation for learning


TL;DR
Questo is a tool designed to foster curiosity, inquisitiveness, and the skill of asking questions in school children
Goal
Encourage school children to ignite their curiosity and motivation for learning by asking questions and exploring with Questo
Role
Product designer (Research, ideation, UX/UI design, user testing, handoff) in collaboration with PM and engineers
CONTEXT
🎓 The business
MEET MINDCET

Questo was born in MindCET, an organization committed to exploring and developing innovative educational solutions that enhance Israeli education.
I joined MindCET's R&D program, which brings together product and education professionals to create breakthrough EdTech products that address real challenges.
🧐 The problem
SCHOOL ISN'T THE MOST EXCITING PLACE.

Kids would much rather spend their day playing soccer, dancing, running around the park, or diving into their favorite computer game than sitting in a classroom.
Can you really blame them? At school, they're often forced to study subjects they don't enjoy and have little interest in.
Over time, children start to lose their natural curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, which only makes the process harder for them—and for their teachers.
🤔 How might we help school children boost their curiosity and motivation for learning?
RESEARCH
📚 Literature review
EXPLORING THE PROBLEM SPACE

To better understand motivation and learning, we conducted a literature review. We explored the problem space by reading articles and research papers, and gained insights into how motivation, curiosity, and learning are interconnected.
Curiosity is the drive to learn more about a subject;
Motivation is the desire to take action with that knowledge.
Curiosity is an intrinsic motivator that fuels active learning and spontaneous exploration. Therefore, curiosity-driven learning and intrinsic motivation are essential components of effective education.
Intrinsic motivation
Students experience intrinsic motivation when they find meaning in what they are learning—when it's something they want to do or when it feels relevant to their lives and identity.
Intrinsic motivation arises when learning is engaging, and it comes with feelings of interest, enjoyment, freedom, choice, peace, and sometimes even a sense of fulfillment.
Curiosity
At any age, curiosity drives learning and development. It affects a student's engagement with what is happening in the classroom, their ability and willingness to "get through" the next lesson, and their motivation to be actively involved in learning.
🔎 User research
MEETING SCHOOL TEACHERS & STUDENTS

We conducted surveys and interviews with teachers and students from 5th to 12th grade to gain a better understanding of their perceptions of motivation for learning.

45% of students stated that their motivation to learn a new subject comes from their interest in it.

The majority of students (55%) believe that motivation for learning is their own responsibility, while the majority of teachers (55%) feel that it is a shared responsibility between the teacher and the student.

According to 30% of students, the lack of motivation is the primary factor preventing them from learning certain subjects.
Interviews with teachers revealed that they believe their role extends beyond just teaching. They see their role as stimulating students’ curiosity, introducing them to new topics, and exposing them to fresh concepts and ideas. Their goal is to motivate students and ignite their imagination and interests.
Interviews with students showed that they enjoy learning new subjects when they feel interested and connected to the topic. However, they also expressed the need for someone to give them a push to reach that point of engagement.
Interviewees' quotes
WHAT DO THEY SAY?

RON, 6TH GRADE STUDENT
"I'm really interested in learning things I don't know. The more I learn, the more successful I'll be"

LILY, PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER
"As a teacher, I want to foster students' motivation, help them become more autonomous, and encourage their creativity"
KEY INSIGHTS
01
Lack of motivation
The main reasons students struggle to learn a new subject are lack of motivation, boredom, and lack of persistence.
02
Interest is the key
A strong interest in the subject being studied appears to motivate students to engage in learning.
03
Responsibility for motivation
Most students believe that the responsibility for motivation to learn lies with them, while most teachers feel it is a shared responsibility between the teacher and the student.
04
Will to change
Teachers are committed to fostering students' motivation, helping them become more autonomous, and encouraging their creativity.
IDEATION
💡 Ideation process
PICKING A DIRECTION

Through POV and user journey workshops, we explored both the students' and teachers' perspectives, and recognized the need to create a solution that would benefit both, primarily within the school's boundaries (but not exclusively).
During a group ideation session, we brainstormed ideas and directions for an MVP. We decided to focus on fostering curiosity and motivation in students by encouraging them to ask questions.

Student's perspective
Asking questions makes students more engaged in their learning—if they care enough to ask a question, they become more invested in finding the answers. This process boosts motivation and interest through cognitive curiosity.
The ability to formulate questions promotes curiosity, stimulates further learning, encourages creative thinking, expresses personal opinions and interests, and legitimizes uncertainty.

Teacher's perspective
Students' questions offer teachers valuable insight into their prior knowledge and any difficulties they may be facing.
Moreover, these questions can shape the curriculum: incorporating students' questions into lessons is an effective way for teachers to engage them. Lessons can focus on answering these questions, thereby motivating students to learn.
DEFINING THE MVP
To validate our findings, we planned our MVP by identifying the essential features and defining the user flow.
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Phrase search: Users can use a free search bar with autocomplete functionality to receive Wikipedia-based results.
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Explore results: Users can explore the search results and related topics, refresh them, search them on Google, or visit Wikipedia to continue reading.
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Add questions: Users can add questions to each topic they search for, with the option to use the suggested interrogative words or not.
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View questions: Users can view and rate questions submitted by other users.
USER TASK FLOW

DESIGN
🎨 Solution design
DESIGNING FOR CHILDREN

To ensure our solution is suitable for children, we adhered to the following guidelines:
01
Minimal design
The interface should avoid overloading children with too much information, keeping it simple and easy to navigate
02
Use of images and icons
Incorporating visuals helps make it easier for children to read, understand, and engage with the content
03
Auto-complete search
: Searching can be challenging for children, but an auto-complete feature can assist by making it easier to find what they're looking for
04
Sans-serif fonts
These fonts are generally considered easier to read compared to serif fonts, making them more suitable for children.
05
Desktop compatible
Designed for use on desktop computers, as children often use computers during class rather than mobile phones.
💡 Solution overview
MVP DESIGN


MAIN FEATURES
Search area
When users type a phrase (for example, "Anne Frank") into the search field, autocomplete suggestions from Wikipedia are displayed.
The main result appears with its image, along with 5 related results based on hyperlinks found in the Wikipedia entry summary.

By hovering over a result, the user can view a brief summary of the Wikipedia entry, allowing them to explore the content quickly.

Questions area
Under "My Questions," users can write new questions about the topic they are researching and view previous questions they have written.
When writing questions, users have the option to use a list of question words. An explanation and example will appear when hovering over each question word.

Under "All Questions," users can view and rate questions written by their classmates or search Google directly for the question.

TESTING
🕵️ User testing
TESTING THE MVP PROTOTYPE

For the testing phase, we developed our first MVP version with the goal of identifying UX frictions, challenging false assumptions, and eliminating as many errors as possible.
During this phase, we visited four classes: one 4th-grade class, two 5th-grade classes, and one 6th-grade class.


Based on the topic the teacher wanted to cover, we asked the students to complete the following tasks:
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Find and explore the required topic
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Add at least one question about the required topic
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Rate the question you like the most from your classmates' questions
TESTING INSIGHTS

NEXT STEPS
🤔 Final thoughts
WHAT'S NEXT?

Adding new features
Based on user feedback, we plan to make design improvements and add new features, including suggestions for relevant YouTube videos, an option to respond to classmates' questions, and a personal notes feature.
Teacher dashboard
To help teachers get the most value from the questions students write, we plan to create a dashboard where they can view the questions along with the full details of the lesson.