Backpack partnered with nonprofits Magpie Literacy and Great First Eight in 2022 to create Starwriter, a new web app for teaching handwriting to Pre-K through 1st grade. Using Dr. Nell Duke’s pioneering system, Starwriter reimagines the way students learn how to write, prioritizing letter-writing efficiency over perfection with short 10-minute sessions that group letters into kinesthetic sets. Rather than tackling the alphabet A to Z, kids are taught the simpler letters like I, T, and L first before moving onto more complex letterforms.
Building this web-based app from the ground-up, our design team immersed themselves in Dr. Duke’s work. Part of our job was understanding and sticking close to the research–there are other handwriting programs out there, but Starwriter stands out because of the research-backed educational foundation it’s built on. The fewer times you pick your stylus tip up from the writing surface, the more effective the instruction is, which in turn accelerates the students’ learning.
We designed Starwriter for diverse classrooms, and this came with unique challenges to solve. Underfunded schools often don’t have access to active styluses, so the program was built to account for limitations in classroom tools. We also brought diversity into the visual design with a wide range of skin tones, to create a program that stayed relevant and engaging for students of all backgrounds.
In three months we developed a working demo that was piloted in classrooms and continued to hone and improve the app over the following year. Starwriter has rolled out in classes across New York, Michigan, North Carolina, Mississippi, California, and South Dakota, with more on the way.
With a focus on first-time writers, we started with the fundamentals: designing a teaching solution that balanced engagement with simplicity. To that end, we focused on pre-writing videos and a demonstration of how to properly pick up and grip a stylus.
From there, rewards are built into the lessons–you can unlock new pen colors as you progress through the program. As students learn how to write, they get to play games simultaneously (like chasing a star across the screen to spell out letters).
Customization and gamification are the key to keeping students engaged. Built into the experience are fun custom songs in the background, letters that resolve into a starscape, and a colorful, intuitive UI. The name itself, Starwriter, is derived from the visual style we created.
As a part of the Starwriter development process, we participated in an observational study at an elementary school in Brooklyn, monitoring how several different classrooms responded to the program.
User feedback is crucial to every project Backpack takes on, and this part of the design process allowed us to pinpoint improvements that would help students – in our first iteration of the spacing activity, we found that students were still struggling with the letter formation, and as a result weren’t getting to practice letter placement and spacing. From that, we created a new activity where students moved a written letter to complete a word with the correct amount of spacing.
Educator feedback is just as important in designing an efficient teaching tool, so we also approached the Teacher Council for their thoughts. We gathered their feedback on design, usability and navigation, the reception by students, and the content of the lessons themselves – all important data points we use to improve future versions.
An educator portal within the program also allows for teachers to adjust the experience – along with resources and guides for using Starwriter, they also can create custom sets of letters for students to practice.
We’re proud of the passionate team at Backpack that brought Starwriter to life, and love to see the results as we continue to improve and evolve the app.
Tracy Minstry: “Working with Backpack Interactive on the StarWriter app has been a fantastic experience. Drew and Cassandra brought creativity, organization and a consistently positive attitude to the team as they captured our vision for Starwriter in engaging, education focused designs. Their strong interactive communication style made the collaboration process a pleasure and was integral in creating an engaged, fun and effective team for our StarWriter project. I very much look forward to working with them again in the future!”
Dr. Nell Duke: “Backpack Interactive is amazing to work with! They have a multidimensional team with expertise in graphic design, user experience, classroom context, child development, and the affordances of specific technologies. They listen to vision and feedback and liaise effectively with developers. We are so appreciative of Backpack’s role in our work!”
