user experience | chrome extension
Inquiztr
Inquiztr is a Google Chrome extension that encourage questioning and curiosity in an age of answers.
The Problem
With technology at our fingertips, answers are easy to come by. Seeing answers before formulating a question represses our natural curiosity.
Our culture is answer-driven, and the focus on answers is instilled early on in the education system.
Research
Fact: toddlers ask a lot of questions. The number of questions we ask beyond our toddling years decreases dramatically as we go through life and the education system. But it's not because we suddenly know all of the answers. According to cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, questions stimulate curiosity, yet teachers and parents are often “so eager to get to the answer that we do not devote sufficient time to developing the question.” Being told an answer subdues our interest in the topic at hand. But the subtle cues to jump to answers before questions doesn't stop with parents and teachers.
The Insight
The Opportunity
The first place we look for answers: search engines.
Typing in a question word, such as 'why' into Google, and auto-complete shows two questions: "why is the sky blue" and "why is caillou bald" suggesting young children ask the most questions. But that doesn't mean the rest of us don't have questions.
The Solution
Inquiztr is an imaginary collaboration with Google. The search engine autocomplete feature is disabled, and users input questions and guesses before seeing answers.
Inquiztr displays your guess, as well as the most popular guesses on the results page.
