Moodo Polokalama Lagona by Aishwarya Suresh and Jaylon Tellis

Moodo Polokalama Lagona by Aishwarya Suresh and Jaylon Tellis is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award Uʻamea in Mamanu Fa'asavali Competition Category.

UʻameaFa'asavali· 2025

Moodo Polokalama Lagona

by Aishwarya Suresh and Jaylon Tellis

Client: Tinker Works

A' Design Award Uʻamea Winner in Fa'asavali Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #167658

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Moodo Polokalama Lagona

O le Moodo o se polokalama iPad manaia ua mamanuina e fesoasoani i tamaiti e iloa ma fa'aalia o latou lagona. E ala i le fa'aogaina o se pa'u faigofie, e mafai e tamaiti ona su'esu'e lagona masani ma o latou vaega fa'aloloto. Fa'ata'ita'iina e se robot fa'auo, e mafai ona latou fa'ailoaina o latou lagona ma maua fautuaga fa'apitoa mo le pulea o ia lagona. E ala i le toe manatu fou i le uili fa'alegona masani, ua fa'afaigofie e le Moodo le atamai fa'alegona, fa'afiafia, ma avanoa mo tamaiti la'iti'ti o lo'o a'oa'o.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Uʻamea

O le A' Design Award Uʻamea na manumalo ai Moodo Polokalama Lagona, o se faamaoniga mamalu e tuuina atu i mamanu lelei e faataunuu ai manaʻoga faapolofesa ma pisinisi e faamoemoeina mai galuega ua mamanuina lelei. O ē manumalo i le Uʻamea e faaalia ai le tomai tele, le faapitoa maualuga, le malamalama o tagata poto ma le mafai fatufatuaʻi o ē na faia. E faamoemoeina Moodo Polokalama Lagona e avea ma mea ua matuā vivii, mataʻina ma pelepelea e aogā ma fou. O lenei mamanu na manumalo i le A' Design Award Uʻamea e tuufaatasia ai faiga sili o le pisinisi ma e iai uiga faatekonolosi mafai ua fesoʻotaʻi ma le poto ma le taleni. Ona o lona faatuatuaina, e tatau ai Moodo Polokalama Lagona ona faaaloalogia ma ua mamanuina e tuuina mai ai faaleleiga o le olaga e fesoasoani e faia ai e le lalolagi se nofoaga e sili atu ona lelei.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Moodo is an innovative iPad app that helps kids understand and express their emotions in a fun, interactive way. Through a unique slider interface, children can easily explore core feelings and their subtle layers. With the guidance of a friendly robot character, they can pinpoint their emotions and receive personalized coping tips. Moodo reimagines the traditional emotion wheel, making emotional intelligence simple, engaging, and accessible for young minds.
Dimensions & Packaging: The app is for iPad and Android tablets which are commonly used devices by children
Tags: emotions, emotion wheel, dynamic slider, child, kids, children, friendly, robot, novel interactions, user experience, user interface, emotional intelligence, emotional development, education, emotional wellness, AI, dynamic dialog, GPT model
Production Technology: We used the design thinking process to create a solution for children to develop emotional intelligence. This iterative approach helped refine designs in Figma, producing wireframes, high fidelity screens, and interactive prototypes for user testing. The app integrates an emotion database and a conversational AI engine (e.g., GPT models) to drive dynamic, context-aware dialogues, enabling real-time emotional recognition, adaptive responses, and personalized interactions based on user input.
Design Challenge: Teaching young kids, especially about emotions which is a topic even adults struggle with, can be challenging. Our biggest challenge was taking a complex concept, traditionally shown in emotion wheel diagrams, and reimagining it in a way that is easy, engaging, and accessible for kids. Conducting usability studies and extracting meaningful insights was also an unexpected challenge as these young kids are just learning to express themselves.
Research: A literature review on emotional development in children was conducted, tracing the evolution of emotions from infancy to adolescence. Research by the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that emotional intelligence leads to more self-confident individuals. A usability study with children aged 5 to 8 provided insights that informed key adjustments, resulting in a simplified, child approved app designed to effectively engage young users while supporting their emotional development.
Inspiration: Inspired by my five year old son, Moodo helps young children understand and express their emotions. At this age, kids often struggle with feelings like frustration or anger, leading to tantrums. While there are tools for parents to identify emotions in babies and toddlers, there is a gap in resources designed to teach preschoolers about emotional intelligence. Moodo aims to fill that gap, helping kids recognize, understand, and express their emotions in healthy ways.
Project Duration: Project inception was in December 2024 in Houston and Los Angeles. Brainstorming, ideation, user research, usability study and design iterations virtually took place in January 2025.
Operation Flow: Moodo starts with a friendly robot who helps the child identify their emotion using a unique slider. The robot mirrors the emotion and engages in an interactive dialogue. The background changes to match the mood, and the child is guided to explore more nuanced emotions. They can describe the situation behind their feelings to the robot. A weekly recap helps the child track emotional growth and reflect on their increasing emotional intelligence over time.
Patents: No Patents
Team Members: Aishwarya Suresh
Jaylon Tellis
Image Credits: Image #1 : Creator (UX Tech Lead) Jaylon Tellis, Moodo, 2025
Image #2 : Creator (UX Tech Lead) Jaylon Tellis, Moodo, 2025

Image #3 : Creator (UX Tech Lead) Jaylon Tellis, Moodo, 2025

Image #4 : Creator (UX Design Lead) Aishwarya Suresh, Moodo, 2025

Image #5 : Creator (UX Design Lead) Aishwarya Suresh, Moodo, 2025