Mokie Munch

BRONZE LOERIE WINNER 2022

Mokie Munch is a space genre narrative-driven application that promotes and encourages young children to be adventurous in their eating habits. Healthy eating habits are nurtured from a young age and are foundational for a healthy relationship with food. During play testing with our subjects, it was interesting to note each child chose different avatars with which to interact.

Prototyping user testing taught us that how children relate to the world around them is unique. In our app, we first used words to describe the shape of a vegetable: smooth or rough. However, during play testing we saw the children weren’t sure when it came to broccoli, the stem was smooth but the top was rough. We realised experience is on a spectrum. This enabled us to iterate our concept to use sliders and icons in our app for the children to express their sensory experiences toward food. The sliders were ideal because they had no right or wrong answers. We also discovered our target audience of 6-8-year-olds related better to metaphors like broccoli described as shaped like a tree than comparing shapes to food like an apple as circular. User testing also showed buttons on the top of the iPad screen is harder to reach for children therefor we moved the buttons to the bottom of the screen so that the children will have them in easy access.

The application is easy to use, functioning similar to a traditional set of digital games. The intervention is visually appealing with a universal flat style with added gradients for visual intrigue, making it appropriate for a large audience. Families with children from age 6-8 have the autonomy to decide with which avatar they would like to taste new foods. Our app, Mokie Much is designed to help young children be adventurous eaters specifically targeting sensory aversion and the connection between child and caregiver. Play testing offered multiple insightful examples of this.

Facing the unknown is terrifying. For young children most foods are unknown. Facing the touch, taste, or smell of a new food is easily experienced as dis-pleasurable in some way and very uncomfortable for a child causing picky eating and stressful meal times. Our app therefor aims to help children naturally explore food through taking them through sensory explorative questions as well as rewarding adventurous eating with badges and prizes.

Audience: 6-8-year-olds with their care givers, guardians and parents.

An alien spaceship has crash-landed on Earth! The alien is lost and hungry. For them to go home to their family the alien’s spaceship needs to be repaired. The only way to help them is to explore and try new foods. The more the children try, the quicker the spaceship is fixed. Along with the lost and hungry alien, the kids eat different foods from different food groups and answer some sensory questions, such as what the texture is, what does it smell like and what does it feel like. Once the kid has explored all the foods, the lost alien can return home safe and sound.

The illustrations below include inspiration from South Africa by including the Johannesburg skyline in the first illustration of the Fruit Garden, as well as the famous landmark Table Mountain in the second illustration of the Veggie Garden. The last illustration includes inspiration from the map of South Africa. By including these subtle clues of South Africa, the kids can gain a feeling of the land. Along with bright colours and the chosen monster, the vector illustrations come to life.