Q&A with Nancy Sun, Co-founder and CEO of StoryMii

By Henry Duah

Imagine a world where every child, regardless of their background or learning style, can enjoy reading and actively shape the stories they encounter. StoryMii is turning this vision into reality, tackling declining literacy rates with an innovative platform that makes reading a fun and interactive journey for kids. Whether creating their adventures, engaging with stories that reflect their unique experiences, or connecting with a global community of young readers, StoryMii ensures that every child finds joy and empowerment in the world of books.

Led by visionary co-founder and CEO, Nancy Sun, StoryMii exemplifies the intersection of technology and education. By empowering children to become creators of their own stories, StoryMii supports literacy and encourages self-expression and creativity. With features like community engagement, customisable content, and accessibility tools, StoryMii is committed to creating a diverse and supportive learning environment for all children.

In this Q&A, we explore StoryMii’s inspiration, challenges, and future potential and how this groundbreaking platform redefines what it means to read in the digital age.

The FutureList: Can you provide an overview of StoryMii’s primary innovation or product offering?

Nancy Sun: StoryMii, at its core, is a product designed to MAKE READING FUN FOR KIDS. Literacy rates have been on an alarming decline with no real solution to correct its current trajectory. With the StoryMii innovation, there is no reason that reading cannot be a more exciting and fun experience that allows the child to be the creator of their own stories. It upholds our three principles: Igniting Imagination, Enlighten Minds, and Fostering Inclusivity Futures by personalising content for each child’s needs, including neurodiverse individuals, language learners through adjustable translations, and those lacking interest in reading.

The platform encourages community engagement by allowing users to share, rate, and create new chapters for ongoing stories, fostering a diverse learning environment. The initiative is led by a female CEO, Nancy Sun, who emphasises the commitment to diversity and women’s representation in STEM. MiiApps uses the latest technology to provide tailored experiences across its offerings, ensuring meaningful and enriching family interactions.

The FutureList: What inspired the development of this particular innovation?

Nancy Sun: StoryMii was born out of a real need observed by its founders who are parents themselves. They experienced the challenge of constantly finding books that would engage their children and suit their reading levels and neurodivergent needs. Seeing how fundamental reading is to a child’s development, they envisioned a solution that would provide endless storytelling possibilities and support literacy development in a personalised manner. By leveraging the latest technology, Nancy and Ryan saw firsthand how StoryMii’s concept could help their child be more engaged at story time and become much better readers quickly. The founders’ background in technology, love for their kids, and passion for education fuelled the development of this unique product.

The FutureList: How does your innovation address your industry’s unique need or challenge?

Nancy Sun: StoryMii addresses the unique challenge of personalised and engaging reading experiences for children, particularly those who are neurodivergent, second language learners, or simply those who do not enjoy reading. With literacy rates at all-time lows in almost all first-world nations, our kids are at a critical juncture. Traditional reading materials may only partially cater to these diverse requirements, leading to disengagement or frustration. StoryMii’s innovation lies in its ability to create customised stories tailored to individual children’s interests, experiences, and reading needs, promoting a more inclusive and effective learning environment. By leveraging the latest tech, StoryMii offers a solution where every child can feel represented, celebrated, and catered to for their unique needs and wants.

The FutureList: How does the design of your innovation enhance its functionality and user experience?

Nancy Sun: StoryMii’s design is focused on user-friendliness and adaptability, ensuring seamless integration with existing devices and platforms to make it accessible to a wide range of users, including parents, educators, and therapists. The interface is intuitive and simple, allowing young children to navigate the app easily. We’ve thoughtfully incorporated accessibility tools like reading masks, colour contrast options, adjustable text sizes, and screen readers, all tailored for neurodivergent readers. Drawing inspiration from widely used applications, we’ve also designed the UI to feel familiar to most users. Moreover, our community section, which features thousands of created and shared stories, reward stickers, and personalised libraries, enhances the user experience by offering personalised learning journeys. StoryMii offers a white labelling option with Single Sign-On, making it customisable and easily integrated into various organisations’ digital platforms in a B2B context, thereby broadening its reach and impact.

The FutureList: How has the community responded to your innovation, and how do you engage with your user base?

Nancy Sun: The community response to StoryMii has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly among parents, educators, and neurodivergent support networks. We continuously engage with our user base through regular feedback loops via social media, user forums, and direct communication channels. User feedback has driven significant improvements, such as the addition of rating capabilities for community-published stories, the option to print physical books based on stories created by children, and the implementation of a comprehensive sticker reward system to motivate young readers. These interactions ensure that StoryMii evolves in line with the needs and expectations of its users. We also have several exciting new features in the pipeline that we’ll share as soon as they’re out of beta testing!

The FutureList: Are there any specific areas where you see the potential for improved data utilisation or integration of AI functionalities to enhance StoryMii’s offerings or user experience?

Nancy Sun: Yes, there is significant potential to leverage data and AI further to enhance StoryMii’s offerings. For instance, improved data analytics could enable more precise tracking of reading progress and personalised recommendations for story content. Additionally, integrating more advanced natural language processing (NLP) models could improve the app’s ability to understand and respond to a child’s wants and needs, further customising the learning experience. Ultimately, we believe we can build a StoryMii-specific LLM model within the next 12-18 months, which will hone in even further into the world of stories for kids.

The FutureList: Where do you envision taking StoryMii in the future?

Nancy Sun: In this space, our ideas far outpace our resources. We envision ourselves as a bridge between technology and human experience in customised learning and living. This expansion isn’t limited to products for children but extends to enhancing the daily lives of adults—think health, food, entertainment, and more. I believe that in the next 5-10 years, AI will be as seamlessly integrated into our lives as smartphones and online shopping are today. MiiApps will stay at the cutting edge of technology, elevating lives with a level of customisation and innovation that even Marty McFly couldn’t have imagined.

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