StudySapuri, developed by Recruit Co., Ltd., provides diverse learning and educational support for various generations. In July 2023, they also launched StudySapuri ENGLISH for KIDS. Yuki Ishiguro, who has been consistently involved in the design aspect, shares his thoughts on the value of learning and how to support fun learning.

Yuki Ishiguro | Design Director, Learning & Language Design Management Group, Product Design Department, Recruit Co., Ltd.

Yuki joined Recruit Marketing Partners as a new graduate in 2014. He later worked at Quipper Ltd., where he was involved in the launch and improvement of multiple products such as StudySapuri and StudySapuri ENGLISH, with a focus on design. Currently, he is responsible for design management in the learning field at Recruit. He is also a father of two and occasionally hosts a podcast called #Occasional Design FM, where he talks about design.

Supporting learning across a wide range of generations with the StudySapuri series

── First of all, please tell us about StudySapuri and other learning and educational support services provided by Recruit.

Yuki: StudySapuri is an online learning service that supports the learning of elementary, middle, and high school students through over 40,000 video lectures by professional instructors, as well as pre-learning, review, and exam preparation with exercises tailored to their needs at any given time. In addition to StudySapuri, Recruit offers a wide range of services, including ICT education support for elementary, middle, and high schools, English learning app StudySapuri ENGLISH, and StudySapuri ENGLISH for KIDS, which was released in July this year.

Yuki: StudySapuri’s brand vision is “Creating a world where people can learn and live as themselves.” We operate with the conscious goal of providing a learning experience that is easy and enjoyable to continue throughout the series.

── To achieve a learning experience that is easy and enjoyable to continue, what do you prioritize?

Yuki: We consider learning and continuing separate elements. It is important to stimulate curiosity and allow individuals to express their desire to learn. On the other hand, continuing involves integrating learning into daily life as a cycle, not setting the bar too high, and visualizing the goals.

Especially continuing, the users cannot achieve their goals if they stop using the learning service. However, there are voices that studying is difficult and that they don’t want to continue (laughs). It’s challenging, and people are already busy with other things, so they don’t want to make extra time for it. To make it easier to continue, we have designed an app that can be easily accessed without the need to sit at a desk and open a textbook. We have also created short content that can be completed in just a few minutes, allowing it to fit into the gaps of daily life. Additionally, we have incorporated gamification elements, such as giving badges for correct answers, to visualize achievements and provide various incentives.

── While designing many services, is there something consistent in terms of experience design?

Yuki: We strive to create a learning cycle that encompasses both input and output, aiming for retention. This is a common aspect across all our services. In the case of StudySapuri’s predecessor, JukenSapuri, it initially only involved watching videos by professional instructors as input. However, we realized that output is necessary to achieve results, so we evolved the service to allow users to practice and apply what they have learned within the app itself.

Becoming a supportive presence for user self-realization

── When did you personally start to consider the concept of learning strongly?

Yuki: I think it was around the time of the university entrance exams. I found it strange that we were suddenly divided into science and humanities streams, and although I was considering studying humanities because I found it interesting, I remember feeling frustrated when those around me told me to go for the science stream because I was good at math.

── As a result, you ended up majoring in design engineering at university. Was there a specific catalyst for that decision?

Yuki: I bought a new pair of shoes and I was impressed by their usability and functionality. While exploring what kind of creation I wanted to pursue, I came across the approach of design and decided to major in it at university.

From this experience, I came to believe that when it comes to learning, having goals such as I want to achieve this or I want to create something like this gives more meaning to the process. Looking back, I realize that at the earlier mentioned time, I didn’t have a clear vision of what I wanted to do in the future, so my image of my career path was vague.

── It seems that you draw inspiration for the experience of learning from your own past experiences. How did you become involved in designing learning services?

Yuki: My initial assignment was not by my own choice, and in the beginning, I only had a vague image of StudySapuri as something that supports efficient studying.

My perspective changed when I started having conversations with users. Getting feedback like “I was able to achieve what I wanted using StudySapuri” or “I was able to request a transfer to the overseas department, which was my dream,” I not only realized the relationship between learning and goals but also gradually began to feel that our support in learning could contribute to someone’s self-realization, expand their possibilities, and even change their lives. Our users come from a wide range of age groups, from children to adults, and being able to witness how people evolve regardless of age is incredibly fascinating to me.

── It seems that the interesting aspect of learning lies in its connection to one’s life in some way.

Yuki: Yes, exactly. That’s why, when making decisions about our services, we consistently prioritize the user’s perspective. We often discuss with the development team, focusing on the question “Will users be able to achieve results with this?”

StudySapuri ENGLISH for KIDS: Focusing on English exposure and enjoyment as the goal

── Please tell us about StudySapuri ENGLISH for KIDS, which was released in July 2023.

Yuki: It is a new English learning service for children aged 3 to 8. This was our first time developing a service specifically targeting such young children, but we designed it to make learning English enjoyable through games. We also had experts in English learning for young children supervise the content and make it animated and entertaining.

── Are you also conscious of the two aspects of “learning” and “continuing” for StudySapuri ENGLISH for KIDS?

Yuki: Yes, that’s correct. When it comes to learning, it becomes challenging to set clear goals for very young children. They may not necessarily have a clear intention as to why they are learning in the first place. The parents’ motivations vary as well, from wanting to prepare for entrance exams to pre-studying for elementary school or hoping for their child to have a global career. Therefore, unlike other services, we needed to provide the goals ourselves. Ultimately, we set the goal as “exposing children to English and having fun with it.”

For continuing, children are more honest than adults. If it’s not enjoyable, if they can’t get absorbed in it, or if they don’t feel like doing it, they won’t continue. So, we incorporated various elements to make it consistently enjoyable.

One of the approaches we took was to create a world where children embark on a journey to make 100 friends in an animal-filled world. Similar to an RPG game, as they progress in their learning, they can meet different animal friends and aim for completion. We incorporated elements such as English learning, animations, and appearances by teacher instructors in each step of the process, making it engaging and motivating for children to want to move forward.

Designing the fun of learning by understanding children’s reactions

── It seems that you conducted user testing with many children before the launch.

Yuki: In service development, it is important to first increase the resolution for the target audience, so we value listening to and observing the target users. If, for example, we were to create an app for 60-year-olds, I think it would be important to go to places where there are many 60-year-olds.

In the case of StudySapuri ENGLISH for KIDS, we incorporated a user testing process with children of the target age group from the stage of considering what to create. We had them try out the prototype, made improvements based on their reactions, and proceeded with development.

── How was the user testing conducted?

Yuki: We approached it with a mindset of “observing their actions” more than usual. The movements of children are completely different from what I imagine. User testing was an important process to bridge that gap.

The challenge is that children may not be able to express their thoughts well, even if they want to say something. They may get nervous or become expressionless and difficult to read their emotion, due to concentration. Since the testing was conducted remotely due to the pandemic, it was even more challenging.

In such situations, the information we received from parents was very helpful. By asking them about the differences in their child’s reactions compared to usual and whether they wanted to play again after finishing, we were able to grasp their reactions properly.

── Based on the actual reactions, what aspects did you improve?

Yuki: For example, young children sometimes struggle with simple actions like touching an object and moving it to the left, or releasing it at the right spot. If they know what they should do but can’t manipulate it well, it becomes frustrating. Therefore, we adjusted the design while observing the hand movements and made changes such as expanding the area for releasing at the end.

Yuki: Additionally, while StudySapuri ENGLISH for KIDS is designed like a game, we also realized that children enjoy challenging themselves more than we think. There is a problem where you have to find and discover animals, and when observing during user testing, most children couldn’t solve it. So, I thought it was too difficult and needed to be fixed. However, I heard from the parents, “They said they want to do it again.” From such experiences, I felt even more strongly about the importance of difficulty-level design.

Looking back, it was the same when we were children playing video games, right? Just like how it’s fun to level up and challenge ourselves 10 or 20 times to defeat a monster, it’s not about doing something easy and quick, but rather enjoying the process of putting in a little effort. I remembered that feeling.

── As a service for children, are there any other points you focused on?

Yuki: We also paid a lot of attention to sound. Since young children can’t read text, we minimized text-based communication as much as possible. Instead, we designed it to be more sensory-oriented by playing fanfares and adding voice guidance in important situations, allowing children to grasp the situation intuitively. We also made sure that the background music changes according to the scene or stage, aiming for a more immersive experience in the world.

To be honest, even though the perspectives of learning and continuing are the same, it required a quite different approach from the design of other services, and we often struggled during development (laughs). While there were parts that could be reused from StudySapuri and others, we had to create a different experience, so there were many challenging elements involved.

Connecting the joy of learning across generations

── What was the development of StudySapuri ENGLISH for KIDS like for you, personally?

Yuki: I have two children, and they will soon reach the age where they can use StudySapuri ENGLISH for KIDS. Beyond that, there is the journey of learning in elementary school and middle school… and if they want to work globally as adults, they will need English. StudySapuri ENGLISH for KIDS is the starting point of that journey, and if they can enjoy the experience of learning there, it will open up even more possibilities for them. I felt that StudySapuri has become a service that can support them in the long run, to help them achieve what they want.

While we mainly talked about StudySapuri ENGLISH for KIDS this time, StudjySapuri provides a wide range of learning opportunities, not only for elementary, middle school, and high school students but also for supporting teachers and schools with digital transformation, as well as providing English learning training for companies. Just as understanding and designing for children was necessary for the development of StudySapuri ENGLISH for KIDS, supporting learning for people of various generations requires a design perspective that is broad and enhances their understanding. As technology continues to advance and individual optimization becomes more prevalent, the importance of such design will only increase. While embracing these changes, I plan to explore better learning experiences.

　

Sponsored By
Recruit Co., Ltd.