Marathon Kids
Children Health-Focused Tech
Marathon Kids combines advanced-guard techs with an excellent UX to promote health and education through sports for children.
Mission
Marathon Kids is a joint solution to improve the quality of life of future generations. Furthermore, it allows community members to encourage children’s participation in sports.
Impact
Its most significant impact is putting advanced technology on children’s well-being. Not only does it promote sports as a recreational and healthy activity, but it is entirely free. Also, it increases bonds between different community members.
Services
We took the project's spirit to build a light and fast platform. In addition, we took care of every detail to ensure a magnificent UX.
Goal
Marathon Kids’ goal is to encourage kids, teachers, and families to get motivated. The idea was born when considering inactive childhoods. A lack of exercise or inadequate nutrition can lead to inactive adulthood. It aims to promote a healthier lifestyle.
Story
The idea for Marathon Kida rose from Kay Morris in 1995. Back then, she began reading reports on the rise of child obesity. Also, this was closely correlated with the lack of exercise among youth populations. Studies state that the first ten years of life can change long-term commitment to physical activities. While these studies claim that kids need at least an hour of exercise a day, only 20% of them reach it. As a result, she asked herself how to share her love for sports with younger generations.
Kay got in touch with the ISD of Austin, Texas, and got a strategic alliance with Paul Carroza. While expecting 200 kids in the project’s first year, over 1.600 got on board. Over 25 years later, over two million kids have been involved. The project will keep working as long as people are willing to overcome movement or health obstacles.
Challenges
Marathon Kids’ main challenge was to expand the idea of a healthier lifestyle into communities. This idea had to consider factors like measures of goals, levels of involvement, and precautions to guarantee children’s safety. As a result, our team built a solid structure and base with data storage and vital metrics to ease members’ commitment. That’s when Capicua fully invested in creating the support this project deserves. We designed profiles for each type of participant, paying attention to Marathon Kids’ core values, like fun and freedom.
That’s why we’re committed to getting kids moving today: so they will be active for life.
Marathon Kids for Kids
The platform offers a unique ID and QR code for each child. This QR gets scanned at the beginning and end of workouts to keep track. It counts daily activities. For instance, the system equates 20 minutes of moderate training with a mile.
Marathon Kids for Teachers
Teachers get a specific type of user on the app. These have to get approval not only from the establishment in charge but also from kids’ parents. They set goals on times or distances in school-related activities. Moreover, they can also equate daily activities to add them up in students’ advances.
Marathon Kids for Parents
Marathon Kids also has a special section created for parents. Its goal is to get them involved in their children’s activities. It also provides conversation topics to deepen their bonds through joint exercising.
Marathon Kids for Organizations
Further, MK has profiles for any organization worried about well-being and life quality. Camps, churches, OTS programs: any communitarian organization can sign up for free.
In sum, this project not only encourages kids’ improvement of quality of life. It creates deeper relationships between children, their parents, and their teachers. Also, it opens dialogues between adults on behalf of the youth’s well-being. Furthermore, it’s free for all users and has the support of specialized institutions from every district.
Worth Mentioning
Our team set helping an ONG to walk forward on an advanced-guard digital transformation as our main challenge. Nowadays, it’s a responsive platform that combines multiple techs in a practical, attractive, and 100% UX-focus way. As a result of this hard joint work, the platform won the Best Emerging Technology Solution of EdTech Awards in 2021. Furthermore, it accomplishes its goal of guaranteeing an excellent service on each person’s daily road to a healthier life.
Technology
We applied a vast spectrum of first-level languages and tools with the highest standards. Besides React, React Native, and Node.JS, we included Bitbucket’s Code Repository and Traefik & Ngnix’s Web Server. Also, our team used PostgreSQL’s Database (RDS AWS) on Dev (T2 small), Stage (T2 large), and Prod (T3 2X large). Moreover, we add a Headless WordPress CMS, Salesforce CRM, and Docker’s containerization.
UX Design
We renew the image of Marathon Kids entirely, endowing it with values like vitality and dynamism. Our team created a UX unique graphic concept with a defined palette and easy-to-find information for each member. Through our photography curation, we reaffirm aspects like fun and belonging sentiment. Beyond this, a huge priority was to show cultural diversity, the main point for the company and our team.
Strategy
We went hard on details to highlight vital information on the homepage. Those include the variety of roles and how each could get on board. Along this, the site has testimonies from participants and former participants, sharing their experiences with the project. Also, the homepage shows its latest alliances, such as the one with the giant Nike. The different pages reflect the mechanics of the project. Furthermore, it shows the systems and criteria used to track both daily progress and goals’ achievement. We also took care of sections like Mission, FAQs, and News.
Testimony
Their experience helped us define how we need to move forward as an organization. — Derek G. - Marathon Kids’ Tech Chief
