funDoo - the inception and journey of a chatbot
By 2030, about 825 million children are expected to leave school without basic secondary-level skills. With a prevailing global skills shortage, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting from knowledge-focused education systems falling short of equipping millions of learners with the skills and training they need, it is critical to ensure young people receive the training and support required to transition from learning to earning.
funDoo was launched in India in 2021 to combat vaccine misinformation during the covid pandemic and has since evolved to incorporate life skill building, learning and employability among students in India - specifically in semi-urban and rural areas.
funDoo was launched in India in 2021 to combat vaccine misinformation during the covid pandemic and has since evolved to incorporate life skill building, learning and employability among students in India - specifically in semi-urban and rural areas.
By 2030, about 825 million children are expected to leave school without basic secondary-level skills. With a prevailing global skills shortage, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting from knowledge-focused education systems falling short of equipping millions of learners with the skills and training they need, it is critical to ensure young people receive the training and support required to transition from learning to earning.
funDoo is a chatbot with bite-sized, gamified content that aims to build 21st century and employability skills through easy "tasks" among young people (12 to 21 years old). It is a collaborative effort initiated by UNICEF India and Udhyam to make these life skills easy to learn and widely accessible. It is available on Whatsapp, Telegram and Messenger.
The Problem
The Proposal
The Problem
The Design
4
Visual Representation
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Draw basic / iterative visuals
3
Persona description
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Characterise funDoo
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Find reference / inspiration characters
2
Narrowing core personality traits
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Define core adjectives
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Narrow down reasonings and group similar traits
1
Brainstorm a list of adjectives
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Brainstorm adjectives
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Explore Jungian brand archetypes
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Compare and provide reasoning
5
The Rules : Do's & Dont's
The Persona
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Draft do's and dont's for conversation patterns, personality, history / background
Bite Sized
funDoo content is divided into learning modules or 'tasks' which take 30-45 minutes to complete and have a specific learning outcome.
Accessible / Low Bandwidth usage
funDoo is available on messaging apps - no additional app downloads required; which means that even in low bandwidth, funDoo is accessible across the globe
Learning by Doing
funDoo content is based on the principle of experiential learning. Learners choose the skills they want and start their own learning journeys.
Gamified
Once a task is completed, users can get automated certificates and giveaways in the form of skills badges and learner boards where they can track their funDoo journeys.
Self Paced
funDoo allows young people to build skills in and out of school. It gives learners the flexibility to complete tasks at their own pace, in their own convenience wherever they are.
The Features
funDoo now
funDoo's standout feature - it's personality - has been incorporated in every country's customisation of funDoo. It has also been incorporated in Udhyam's own chatbots for various state government affiliated programs like Punjab and Delhi's Business Blasters, and Madhya Pradesh's Tejasvi.
After the pilot with 21st century life skills, funDoo won a grant from UNICEF's Office of Innovation, validating the impact of the project. It further expanded to career exploration and readiness; and is currently present in 14 countries with a million registered users. With over 180 tasks, it provides a range of information, from career development and mental health to climate change, gender-based violence, vaccine uptake, and much more.
After the pilot with 21st century life skills, funDoo won a grant from UNICEF's Office of Innovation, validating the impact of the project. It further expanded to career exploration and readiness; and is currently present in 14 countries with a million registered users. With over 180 tasks, it provides a range of information, from career development and mental health to climate change, gender-based violence, vaccine uptake, and much more.
funDoo's standout feature - it's personality - has been incorporated in every country's customisation of funDoo. It has also been incorporated in Udhyam's own chatbots for various state government affiliated programs like Punjab and Delhi's Business Blasters, and Madhya Pradesh's Tejasvi.
Thoughts : Creating the funDoo persona was my first project in funDoo and Udhyam, which took a lot of effort and heart; ensuring that every message in any conversation or image followed this persona was a mammoth task. My experience working with children with learning and developmental difficulties greatly helped in making funDoo as accessible and empathetic as it turned out. Seeing it validated by so many users from different walks of life was heartwarming - especially when a younger user in a user test mentioned that "funDoo is like my friend I can always talk to it about anything". Everything else that I learnt from working on funDoo and every other contribution is an added bonus to that. My experience with funDoo helped me build the chatbots for Udhyam's state programs for teachers and students soon after.
Softwares :
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Google Suite
Adobe XD
Conversation Design
Graphic Design
Illustration
UX Writing
Roles and Skills :
User Research
Content Writing
