Speech practice that feels like play
Speech practicethat feels like play
About the project
Speak is a music-based app built on a simple idea: children find their voice more easily when it feels like play.
Speak already had the hardest part: a teacher children love, and lessons and songs that use music as a way into language. What it did not have was a reason for a child to come back tomorrow, or a way for the grown-ups around them to see it working. Lessons were a list of videos, the Music Box was a list of songs, and the score sat at zero.
We redesigned the app end to end for the two people who use it together: the child who practises, and the parent or caregiver beside them. Over four months and two rounds we worked alongside Speak’s team, from the first screen a child sees to a design system ready for development.
- Client
- Speak
- Stage
- Startup
- Services
- Mobile App Design · Product Design · Design Systems
- Platform
- iOS and Android
- Timeline
- 4 Months, Two Rounds
The vision
Make using their voice the fun part of the day, not the hard part.
Make using their voice the fun part of the day,not the hard part.
For a child who finds speaking hard, the hardest step is trying at all. Speak’s method starts with listening and copying: a rhythm, a sound, a single word, long before a sentence. So every small try had to feel like a win.
And because most practice happens at home, a parent needed to see it too: what their child did today, what is getting easier, and when a gentle nudge would help.
The practice
Listen, try, celebrate, share
Listen, try,celebrate, share
Every activity in Speak follows the same small steps: listen first, have a go, then celebrate the try.
Short video classes with Speak’s teacher, easy or extensive. Watch her first, then record yourself alongside her, with a playful camera filter if being on screen feels like a lot.
Rhythm games built on songs children already know. “First, listen to me”, then tap to speak and sing along to the beat, across four levels from Beginner to Legend.
Every try earns points, stars and badges, from First Voice to Try Again Champ. Points buy new microphones in a vending-machine shop, and levels climb from Rookie to Legend.
A safe place to share a recording or a new badge, cheer each other on, and join live events, from story time to rhythm games.
The idea
Reward the try
Nothing in Speak marks a child wrong. Badges celebrate listening to the end, trying again and being brave on camera, and “You can play again” stands where a fail screen would be.
Grown-ups in the loop
A caregiver sees every child at a glance: minutes practised, classes completed, the current streak, and a weekly report in plain words on what is going well and what needs a little attention.
Made for every child
Text size, colour vision, high contrast, voice guidance and reduced motion are set child by child, and Speak works in eight languages from the very first screen.
Calm by design
An app for children has to know when to be quiet. Reminders go to the parent, not the child, loves arrive in gentle batches, and any change to parent controls sits behind Face ID.
Impact
A practice children come back to
In the months after launch, the practice did what it was built to do. Children practised on more days of the week and tried again more often after a miss, and most parents now open the weekly report.
+43%
Practice days per child
2.4×
Recordings per child
130
Screens for both sides
What our client said
“They designed for our kids first, and every screen shows it”
“Usarion understood that our app is used by two people at once: a child who needs to feel brave, and a parent who needs to see progress. They designed for our kids first, and every screen shows it.”
-Founder, Speak
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Let’s build something amazing together
Let’s build somethingamazing together
For product, interface and web-system work that needs clear direction and careful execution.