Maily: Your Kids' First Email

Website problem fixed! Sorry for the trouble.

I've been thinking about how you might go about designing an email account for non-readers.

The target audience, I guess, would be kids in the 2-5 range, but I guess more generally, it would be anybody who can understand a language but not read or write it.

Obviously, for kids, you would want more of a "pretend" email account than a real email account, but it would be cool if the basic functionality were there, so that a kid could send a cute little "Hi Mommy" or "Hi Daddy" message to a parent who's away at work or traveling.

I guess the best interface for it would be a touch-screen tablet, which is a little more intuitive than using a mouse to click.

Because the intended users wouldn't be able to read, they would have to be heavily guided by voice prompts.

Maybe it would go something like this:

(email app loads up)

Voiceover: If you would like to _send_ an email to someone, tap the picture of the disco-dancing pony. If you would like to view the emails you have _received_, tap the picture of the hula-hooping pterodactyl.

(kid taps the disco-dancing pony)

Voiceover: Here are pictures of some people you can email. Tap the picture of the person you want to email.

(kid taps the picture of his dad)

Voiceover: Now, it's time to record a video message for Dad. When the giant roller-skating ice cream cone appears on the screen, you can begin recording your message. When you're finished, tap the screen.

(kid records a short "Hi Dad!" video message)

Voiceover: If you want to replay the message you recorded, tap the picture of the elephant in the hot tub. If you want to re-record your video message, tap the picture of the bacon strip doing jumping jacks. If you're happy with your recording and want to email it to Dad, tap the picture of the unicycling weiner dog.

(kid taps the weiner dog)

Voiceover: Great! Your video message has been emailed to Dad. Hey! You just received a new email from Grandma. If you're ready to view it, tap the picture of the monkey modeling ladies' hosiery.

(kid taps the monkey)

Voiceover: Here is the text of Grandma's message. If you'd like me to read the words for you, tap the picture of the transcendentalist turtle.

I love this idea. I have some pre-teens that I would love to allow to send more email while having control over who they can reach.

Any plans for other than iPad?

I agree, I was about to grab this for my kid, but getting the dozen or so friends and relatives to create accounts isn't worth it. Very nice looking, but should have the option of just using an email whitelist to send. Then include a one time use reply link in each email so the recipient can reply without having an account.

Great idea and name. My only criticism is for it to be really smart I'd love to be able to reply without having to login to maily. That would really become like a safe version of email. Another would be for the child to be able to request to add a contact (like a friend) where the parent is sent a notification with the email and a note.

The other thought would be an iPhone app. The iPad was definitely a smart place to start with but I know a lot of kids (maybe slightly older) have iPod Touches with parental settings on, these are replacing the Nintendo DS and goes everywhere with them.