Ella the Jellyfish is the first and only skill for Amazon Alexa that’s designed for families affected by Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS). Children who are living with LGS often feel isolated and may never meet someone in their lifetime who is quite like them. Because of these feelings of isolation, the team created a tool that helps children experience the world in a way that is new to them, while also bringing them joy. Together with their families, kids can play games, listen to stories, follow along to meditations, and more, with Ella the Jellyfish.
The objective of the social efforts through Instagram and Facebook was to promote the launch of the Ella the Jellyfish skill to LGS caregivers by raising awareness and spreading the word about the new Amazon Alexa skill.
Leading up to the creation of Ella the Jellyfish, Eisai conducted research with caregivers and HCPs in the LGS community to understand what would have the greatest impact. Through the interviews, both groups expressed they were most passionate about finding a way to combat the isolation that children with LGS face on a daily basis.
Ella the Jellyfish was designed based on this research learning and the knowledge that families affected by LGS have limited activities to do together.
A child’s cognitive disability, and the many seizures encountered every day by a child with LGS, prevent families from spending quality time. Eisai decided to develop an Amazon Alexa skill to assist families who feel isolated and deal with the strain from the daily activities of monitoring and caring for a child that could experience over 10 seizures a day. This skill was designed to bring families affected by LGS closer together and combat the isolation that children feel within their own family.
After a prototype for Ella the Jellyfish was created, children with LGS and their families interacted with the skill prototype—providing incredible feedback to help develop the skill fully.
Together with their families on the Amazon Alexa skill, kids can play specially designed games, listen to relevant stories, follow along to calming meditations, and more, with Ella the Jellyfish. Written from Ella’s point of view and housed in Ella’s underwater world, the skill provides families affected by LGS with an innovative way to listen, learn, and play together. A series of Instagram stories and Facebook ads were developed to support the launch of Ella the Jellyfish by raising awareness about the skill within the LGS community.
In just over 3 months, the social media efforts supporting the launch of the Ella the Jellyfish skill received over 81,000 landing page views, nearly 1,100 skill downloads, and over 270 Facebook comments. The outpouring of positive comments on Facebook was overwhelming, with caregivers and parents praising Ella the Jellyfish as a wonderful, extremely helpful tool that’s loved by so many families affected by LGS.
