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Natiq

Speech practice at home that children enjoy and parents can follow

Between therapy sessions, parents weren’t sure how to help their child practise, and children lost interest within minutes. Natiq brings the child, parent and speech therapist into one app, with short playful exercises and a clear next step.

Capstone · Tested prototype

Natiq parent home before the first assessment, with a single ‘Start the assessment’ button
My role
Project leader & UI designer
Project type
Capstone 4 · Mobile app for 3 user roles
Team
4 designers
Timeline
8 days
Method
Double Diamond
Tools
Figma · Maze

  • 30

    parents surveyed

  • 100%

    task completion in Maze testing

  • 100+

    high-fidelity screens, 3 roles

  • 60+

    components in Design System v2

The challenge

Children make much of their speech progress at home, but parents relied on YouTube and advice they couldn’t verify, and couldn’t tell whether a sound was right. The main user was a five-year-old who can’t read yet.

My contribution

I led a team of four designers through an 8-day Double Diamond process, kept research, decisions and screens connected, and designed the high-fidelity UI.

Together, we ran the research, built the design system, tested on Maze and evaluated the app against Nielsen’s heuristics.

Key insights

Interviews with parents and speech therapists, plus surveys of 30 parents and 3 specialists.

  • Parents need a plan

    Their top needs were understanding the next step and knowing how to do the exercises at home (53.3% each). Unclear instructions were the biggest barrier (36.7%).

  • The child has to enjoy it

    Children get bored after 5–10 minutes. Praise, rewards and everyday words worked better than repetition.

  • Trust in AI was split

    Interviewed parents were open to AI, most survey respondents were hesitant, and specialists wanted safeguards. This shaped our most important decision.

Key decisions

  1. 01AI encourages; the specialist assesses

    User need
    Parents wanted feedback on pronunciation but were wary of AI, and a machine can be wrong.
    Design response
    AI listens and encourages each attempt. The specialist writes the real assessment and can correct AI results.
    Why it matters
    A wrong verdict could discourage the child or mislead the family.

  2. 02Designed for a child who can’t read

    User need
    A five-year-old can’t read instructions and is discouraged by “wrong”.
    Design response
    Spoken instructions, a sun mascot that listens, thinks and celebrates, short activities and 64px touch targets.
    Why it matters
    If the child doesn’t enjoy it, no one keeps using it.

  3. 03Progress without a diagnosis

    User need
    Parents want to see progress, but scores can read like a medical verdict.
    Design response
    Show practice days and completed exercises, plus the specialist’s notes, in plain language.
    Why it matters
    Parents stay motivated, and the specialist stays the reference.

From the first assessment to daily practice

The core parent and child journey, in the final screens.

Natiq parent home before the first assessment, with a single ‘Start the assessment’ button
1 / 9
Parent home before the assessment: one clear next step, plus what happens afterwards.

An animated walkthrough of the Figma screens, not a working prototype. Use the controls to pause or step through.

Look closer — select a screen to enlarge it

  • Parent home before the assessment: one clear next step, plus what happens afterwards.
  • Assessment: Natiq says the word and the target sound is highlighted, so a child who can’t read yet still knows what to listen for.
  • System status stays visible: the sun mascot ‘thinks’ while the attempt is analysed.
  • Results suggest a starting stage and target sounds, and can be shared with the specialist once linked.
  • Play: an audio prompt, the target letter in yellow and a star counter, all added after our wireframe review.
  • Success is shown with colour, an icon, text and sound together, never colour alone.
  • Trying again, gently: “Let’s try together slowly” instead of “wrong”, and skipping is always possible.
  • Progress for parents: current level and practice days in plain language, with the specialist team one tap away.
  • Ask Natiq answers parents’ questions any time. It was the quickest task in testing.

What changed after testing

Changes from our wireframe review, heuristic evaluation and Maze test.

  • Letter bubbles

    Before

    No guidance, and every letter the same grey.

    After

    A spoken prompt, the target letter in yellow and a star counter.

  • Say & choose

    Before

    A mic button alone, with no cue to speak and no success feedback.

    After

    A clear question, “Listen and speak” under the button, and a green success state.

  • Linking a specialist

    Before

    Showed “Linked” before the specialist had accepted.

    After

    Shows the real state, “Request sent · Awaiting approval”, with a way to recover expired codes.

Evidence

Usability testing on Maze

An unmoderated test with 4 parents and 3 tasks. Everyone completed every task, and the data showed where to improve.

  • 72.1s · 4.3/5

    Letter ‘ب’ lesson and game

  • 172.5s · 3.8/5

    Join a specialist session

  • 23.5s · 4.0/5

    Ask Natiq a question

  • To improve: finding a session

    The slowest task, with 56.1% misclicks. The fix: a “Your next session” card on the home screen with a join button.

  • Strength: lessons and games

    The highest-rated feature (4.3/5) and the one participants mentioned most.

Outcome

  • An interactive prototype with 100+ screens for the child, parent and specialist, including error and empty states, dark mode and iPad layouts.
  • Design System v2: 60+ components, 21 text styles and 65 colour variables, with contrast checked against WCAG 2.2 AA.
  • Research shifted our focus from booking a specialist to understanding the next step.

Next project

Wijhah