ISDIN SPARK

SPARK reframes sun protection from a rule enforced by adults into a habit children adopt independently. Designed as a multi-touchpoint service, it integrates sun safety into everyday outdoor routines through play, visibility, and shared responsibility. By combining physical products, digital experiences, and school-led activities, SPARK reduces parental burden while helping children recognize sun cues, make informed choices, and build long-term protective behaviors that feel natural rather than enforced.

I contributed across all phases of the project, from research and workshop design to synthesis, service concept development, and prototyping. I led the design of research activities with children and parents, including the creation of workshop tools grounded in child development principles. I played a key role in sense-making, mapping stakeholders, systems, and service flows, and translating complex insights into a coherent, multi-layered service. Visual and interaction design were used intentionally as tools to clarify systems, align stakeholders, and bring the service concept to life.

Research & Discovery

We began by exploring why sunscreen habits fail in practice, even when parents understand their importance.

Research Methods

• Desk research on children’s health behavior and habit formation

• Parent interviews focused on daily routines and friction points

• Workshops with parents and children, using co-creation and play-based activities

• Stakeholder analysis including schools and sports teachers
  
  

Key Insights

• Sunscreen is perceived as a medical task, not a child-owned habit

• Children resist sunscreen because it interrupts play

• Schools and sports environments lack structured sun-safety systems

• Parents alone cannot sustain the habit without institutional support

These insights revealed that sunscreen adoption is not a product problem, but a service and behavior design challenge.

How might we help children build a positive, long-term relationship with sunscreen by embedding sun protection into play, learning, and shared routines across home and school environments?

Ideation & Synthesis

We shifted from designing a single intervention to creating a multi-layered service ecosystem that supports habit formation across contexts.

Through journey mapping and service blueprinting, we identified three key leverage points:

• Playful interaction at the moment of application

• Education through engagement, not instruction

• Social reinforcement through schools and group activities

This synthesis led to SPARK, a three-layer service designed to work across physical, digital, and institutional touchpoints.

Prototyping & Testing

We developed low- and mid-fidelity prototypes across all three layers and tested them iteratively.

What We Tested

• Physical sunscreen packaging interaction with children

• App concepts for clarity, engagement, and age-appropriateness

• Teacher platform flows and feasibility within PE classes

Key Learnings

• Gamified sunscreen application reduced resistance from children

• Children engaged more with weather and UV concepts when framed as play

• Teachers valued ready-to-use resources over custom planning

• Collective challenges increased motivation and consistency

Feedback directly informed refinements in interaction design, language, and service flow.

Final Outcome

SPARK: A Three-Layer Service Ecosystem

Layer 1: Playful Sunscreen Packaging
A dual-purpose sunscreen with colored game paint, UV-reactive elements, a carabiner for portability, and NFC connectivity to bridge physical and digital experiences.

Layer 2: SPARK App for Kids
A weather-based learning app featuring sun-safety tips, seasonal guidance, fun facts, and a solar flare game that reinforces sun awareness through play.

Layer 3: SPARK Challenge (Schools & Teachers)
A PE-class–based international challenge enabling schools to apply, receive SPARK kits, run sunscreen education sessions, and track participation through a teacher platform and leaderboard system.

Together, these layers create a scalable, systemic solution that transforms sunscreen from a daily struggle into a shared, motivating ritual.

To ensure long-term viability, we mapped how SPARK could scale through schools, partnerships, and educational programs while aligning with ISDIN’s preventive health mission.

Impact & Learnings

• Designed a service-led solution spanning product, digital, and institutional systems

• Applied behavioral design principles to habit formation in children

• Strengthened skills in workshop facilitation, service blueprinting, and multi-stakeholder design

• Demonstrated how service design can translate health education into playful, real-world adoption