Rediscovering “A Jugar”: My 2004 Thesis on Playful Learning Through Multimedia Design
1. Personal Introduction (Context + Motivation)
In 2004, during my final year at the Instituto Superior de Diseño Industrial (ISDI) in Havana, Cuba, I teamed up with my classmate Yasser Héctor Orta to create our graduation thesis under the guidance of Mónica Núñez Infante.
The project wasn’t just academic, it came from a real commission by the Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas (UCI) and the MINED Preschool Directorate. They had conducted multidisciplinary research with educators and health specialists and needed a graphical interface and communication system to bring their findings to life.
At the time, Cuba had no established digital education system for preschoolers. We saw a chance to design something meaningful: a multimedia tool that could develop intellectual, emotional, and motor skills in 4 to 6 year olds, all while being intuitive for non-readers and useful in real classrooms.
2. The Design Challenge
Core question: What design guidelines can contribute to developing essential intellectual skills in 4- to 6 year olds?
We operationally defined essential intellectual skills as:
Identification
Comparison
Observation
Classification
Seriation
Modeling
And basic informatics skills as:
Move, point, single-click
Multiple-click selection
Drag
Point + Enter
Use cursor keys
Apply symbols
The goal: a conceptual, didactic, and ergonomically functional system for computerized tasks that supported holistic development (intellectual, physical-motor, affective-motivational) in institutional settings.
Users:
Child (primary, 4–6 years, non-reader)
Teacher (supervisor, guide, menu access)
3. Creative Process (Inspiration, Research, Methodology)
We started with child psychology:
Constant positive emotional state
Mastery of practical spatial relations
Ability to classify by shape, color, size
Comparison of 2–3 objects using models
Sound analysis and word variation recognition
Design principles:
Visually attractive
High functional level
General definitions:
Navigation structured by user (teacher: cluster/menu; child: linear, guided)
Iconographic system responsive to child needs
Illustrations aligned with graphical treatment
Interactive elements easy to handle
4. The Final Concept: “A Jugar” and Its Meaning
“A Jugar” (Let’s Play) was chosen to motivate interaction — even non-readers intuitively understand the invitation.
Due to time constraints, we focused on a single infantile concept expressed through:
Color: Globe-inspired palette
Typography: Playful, color-matched
Access Icon
A dog paw print (nod to the mascot) in green. Studied in 3 sizes:
32×32
24×24
16×16
Custom Cursors
Designed for visual and interactive yield:
Selection, Waiting, Link select
Occupied, Text selection, Unavailable
Move, Vertical/Horizontal/Diagonal 1 & 2 Resize
Groups Screen
Child’s entry point: 6 colored globes (primary + secondary) as buttons. Each color = a classroom group.
Identifications Screen
After clicking a globe:
Group color displayed
42 icons (butterfly, banana, cactus, mushroom, flower, snail…and many more)
Child clicks their pre-assigned icon to access tasks
Illustrations
81 immersive environments + characters recreated:
Mascot’s house
The Family and friends
Preschool room
Field, beach, countryside, playroom
5. Outcomes, Learnings, Reflections
We delivered a working prototype:
Linear flow for kids
Menu access for teachers
Icon-driven navigation
Custom activities framework
Custom cursors for feedback
81illustrated backgrounds
Learnings:
Non-readers need icons over text
Ergonomics > aesthetics alone
Constraints force prioritization
Teacher supervision is key in early tech use
Reflections: In resource-scarce 2004 Cuba, we proved multimedia could educate and delight. It wasn’t perfect, more user testing would’ve refined it but it worked as proof of concept.
6. Influence on My Current UX Practice
Two decades later, “A Jugar” lives in every interface I design:
Linear flows → onboarding wizards
Icon systems → universal recognition
Custom affordances → micro-interactions
Playfulness → gamified engagement
For recruiters: this was end-to-end, research, analog wireframes, iteration under constraints.
For students: start with real problems. Constraints breed creativity.
For designers: your early work reveals your growth.
Rediscovering these slides reminded me: great design invites play at any age.
