Surprise Button
Surprise Button is an iPad-first discovery product that sits between rigid, curriculum-driven edtech and the chaotic, algorithmic sprawl of kids’ video platforms. It’s designed to surface unknown unknowns — topics and interests children didn’t know to look for — while keeping parents meaningfully involved.
Overview
The product intentionally optimizes for serendipity, simplicity, and parent–child conversation rather than engagement-maximizing feeds or completion-driven learning paths.
Problem & Trigger
The Problem
Modern “iPad kids” are exposed to two extremes:
- Structured, efficient, but often uninspiring content (curriculum apps, Khan Academy-style learning)
- Highly engaging but poorly moderated, low-signal content (YouTube Kids-style platforms)
Neither category reliably produces net-positive outcomes for families. One optimizes for testable knowledge; the other optimizes for attention. Neither is designed for curiosity-driven discovery with a parent in the loop.
The Trigger
While observing how children actually use tablets, a clear gap emerged: there was no product intentionally designed for serendipitous discovery that was also safe, calm, and parent-aligned.
Advances in AI made this a compounding bet instead of a static catalog: continuously generate, curate, and improve content over time.
Target Users
Curious Child (Ages 3–16)
Job: “Show me something interesting I didn’t know I’d like.”
- Short attention windows
- Curious but not goal-oriented
- Responds to novelty, visuals, and narrative
- Not capable (or interested) in explicit search
Engaged Parent
Job: “Help me understand what my child is discovering so I can support and participate.”
- Wants safe, high-quality content
- Wants insight, not surveillance
- Time-constrained
- Values conversation and bonding over dashboards
Surprise Button avoids positioning parents as managers or children as test-takers.
Insight & Differentiation
Core Insight
Discovery is most valuable where intent is absent. Children often don’t know what they want — so Surprise Button treats lack of intent as a feature, not a bug.
Most edtech targets known knowns (what we already agree children should learn) or known unknowns (curriculum gaps). Surprise Button targets unknown unknowns — blind spots, latent interests, curiosity-driven exploration.
The Quadrant of Wonder
Vs Alternatives
- YouTube / YouTube Kids: engagement loops, algorithmic amplification, not educational signal or parental alignment
- Pinterest / browsing platforms: require intent and reading-level sophistication
- Curriculum edtech: efficient but narrow; optimized for outcomes, not exploration
Surprise Button has no feed, no search, and no recommendations based on past behavior. There’s one call-to-action: Surprise.
User Flow
- Parent installs the iPad app for their child.
- Child opens the app and sees a single interface element: the Surprise button.
- Child taps Surprise.
- A carefully curated piece of content is revealed (topic, story, concept, or idea).
- Child explores briefly — reading, scrolling, or looking at visuals.
- Interaction is logged silently (no likes, no comments, no pressure).
- At the end of the day, the parent receives an email.
- The email summarizes what the child discovered and includes dinner conversation starters.
Aha Moment
The learning continues off the screen, through conversation.
A Calm Web
A big part of the “kids internet” problem isn’t just content — it’s the modern web itself. Even adult websites are hostile: pop-ups, ads, autoplay, cookie banners, subscription modals, and pages that don’t work without heavy JavaScript.
Surprise Button’s content pages are intentionally the opposite: simple, fast, readable, and calm. No pop-ups. No dark patterns. No ad tech. Just a clean page that works for kids and parents.
Anti-Patterns
- No ads
- No autoplay
- No cookie banners and modal spam
- No “subscribe to continue” gates
- No engagement loops disguised as UX
MVP Scope
Built First
- iPad-only app
- Single interaction: Surprise
- Content hosted on the web (surprisebutton.com)
- Daily parent email with summaries and prompts
- Manual + AI-assisted content moderation
Intentionally Not Built
- Favorites, likes, or saves
- Browsing or feeds
- Search
- Gamification mechanics
- Android or web apps
- Parent analytics dashboards
Restraint is a feature: if something reduced simplicity or shifted attention away from discovery and conversation, it stayed out.
Tech Stack
- Frontend: Astro (website + content delivery), Swift (iPad app)
- Backend/infra: Cloudflare Workers + Cloudflare hosting
Why This Stack
- Low baseline cost
- Fast iteration
- Minimal infrastructure complexity
- Bootstrap-friendly, long-term sustainable
AI
AI is used as an internal force multiplier, not a visible feature. It powers content ideation, drafting, topic discovery, safety checks, internal tooling, and code generation.
Model Strategy
- Provider-agnostic
- Model choice optimized per task (quality > loyalty)
- Willing to swap models as capabilities evolve
AI is treated as infrastructure, not branding.
Content & Safety
Sourcing
AI agents continuously explore topics aligned with serendipity and curiosity — especially ideas outside standard curricula.
Quality & Moderation
Every piece of content is reviewed by a human, then run through AI-based moderation for safety and appropriateness.
- Calm by default
- No user-generated content
- No comments or social mechanics
- No external links or rabbit holes
Metrics That Matter
Quantitative metrics are secondary to qualitative signals. The success definition is simple: if a child teaches their parent something they discovered, the product worked.
- Parent email open rates
- Parent replies and feedback
- Anecdotal reports of dinner conversations
- Child excitement when recounting discoveries
Biggest Challenges
- Achieving simplicity without feeling empty
- Saying no to obvious features
- Staying flexible in an AI-fast-moving landscape
- Resisting growth hacks that undermine trust or calmness
The hardest part was not building — it was not building.
Failed/Surprising Experiments
An early desktop version built with Tauri (Rust) was abandoned. Cross-platform ambitions were intentionally cut. It reinforced a key lesson: in an AI-accelerated world, simplicity is anti-fragile.
What’s Next
Near-Term
- Richer content formats (light games, interactive visuals)
- Expanded topic coverage
- Better parent controls for thematic nudging
Long-Term Vision
Surprise Button as “StumbleUpon for children”: a longitudinal map of a child’s emerging interests and a tool parents use to prepare kids for experiences (travel, life events, curiosity arcs).
The north star is not screen time — it’s lifelong curiosity.
Visit: surprisebutton.com