Gertie The Easter Goose Website & App
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Project Overview
Gertie the Easter Goose is a children’s story and holiday tradition brought to life through a companion website and app. I designed interactive experiences that translate the story’s magical moments into playful, purposeful activities, from tidying up and decorating to bedtime routines and emotional learning. The app balances two audiences: children enjoy simple, engaging interactions, while parents have clarity, safety, and control. Every design decision prioritizes gentle pacing, emotional feedback, and family connection, showing how UX can turn storytelling into meaningful, everyday rituals.
Problem Statement
Families want meaningful seasonal traditions for their children, but many existing holiday experiences and kids’ apps are overstimulating, hard to trust, or difficult to integrate into daily routines. Parents need experiences that feel calm, purposeful, and supportive, while still feeling magical for kids. This project explores how a children’s story can be extended into a thoughtful digital and physical experience that supports real family rituals, balances wonder with simplicity, and prioritizes connection over distraction.
The Goal
The goal of this project was to design a gentle, story-driven experience that extends beyond the book and into everyday family life. I aimed to create a companion website and app that feel calm, intuitive, and emotionally supportive, while offering playful interactions children enjoy. The experience needed to feel magical for children, reassuring for parents, and intentionally designed to encourage connection rather than screen dependency.
User Research: Painpoints
Overstimulating Children’s Content: Many parents feel overwhelmed by children’s apps and media that rely on noise, bright visuals, and constant rewards, making it hard to trust them as part of calm routines like bedtime or quiet play.
Lack of Parent Control and Transparency: Parents want to understand what their children are engaging with and need experiences that feel safe, predictable, and free from ads, distractions, or hidden mechanics.
Difficulty Creating Meaningful Traditions: Families often want seasonal traditions that feel special and intentional, but struggle to find ideas that are simple, repeatable, and easy to integrate into everyday life.
Digital Play vs. Real Connection: Many digital experiences keep children on screens without encouraging imagination, empathy, or real-world interaction, leaving parents wanting something more purposeful.
Wireframes & User Flows
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Key Features
Story-First Interactive Reading
A beautifully illustrated digital storybook brings Gertie to life through guided reading and optional read-aloud narration. Children can enjoy the story independently or snuggle up with a caregiver, reinforcing shared reading moments.
Gentle, Purposeful Games
Play activities like Build Gertie’s Nest, Egg Color Magic, and Tidy Up with Gertie are designed around calm, nurturing interactions. Each game encourages creativity and problem-solving without time pressures or overstimulation.
Easter Countdown Experience
A visual countdown builds excitement leading up to Easter through daily moments of discovery. Locked and unlocked elements help pace engagement, turning anticipation into a meaningful ritual rather than a rush.
Emotion-Centered Interactions
Features like Whisper to Gertie allow children to express thoughts and feelings in a low-pressure way. Gertie responds with gentle animations and sounds, reinforcing empathy, reassurance, and emotional awareness.
Parent Hub & Controls
A dedicated Parent Hub provides transparency and control, including feature access and reading preferences. This ensures the experience remains intentional, age-appropriate, and aligned with each family’s routines.
Final Designs & Project Impact
The final designs for Gertie the Easter Goose reflect a UX strategy rooted in emotional safety, simplicity, and intentional pacing. Each experience, from the storybook to the website and app, was planned as part of a connected ecosystem, ensuring consistent interactions, visuals, and tone across platforms. UX decisions prioritized calm engagement over stimulation. Game mechanics were designed to encourage care, responsibility, and creativity rather than speed or rewards, while navigation and interactions remain intuitive for young children. Parent-facing features support trust and guidance. Overall, Gertie the Easter Goose demonstrates how thoughtful UX, illustration, and interaction design can transform a seasonal tradition into a meaningful family experience that blends storytelling, play, and emotional connection across physical and digital spaces.
