## 3 Conceptual Framework and System Overview
### Preliminary System Architecture: UX Design Prior to Expert Consultation  
To explore how the theoretical principles described above could be operationalized, an initial prototype was developed based on internal interpretation of relevant psychological theories and design heuristics. As illustrated in Figure 2, this phase corresponds to the \"Initial UX Design Development\" and \"Preliminary UX Prototype\" stages within the overall development process. Though conceptually inspired by developmental psychology, the initial implementation was guided primarily by heuristic design judgement rather than validated models.  
The initial system architecture was structured around three temporal phases--Pre-use, In-use, and Post-use--which defined the basic flow of child-device interaction. Each phase was intended to serve distinct regulatory and emotional functions, though design choices were made without formalised alignment with child cognitive capacities or emotional pacing models.  
Pre-use Stage: This phase aimed to introduce the session with a sense of narrative framing. Upon activation, a character appeared onscreen, offering friendly greetings and setting the context for the upcoming activity. A circular timer, visible only during pause mode, began a slow progression providing visual cues for time passage. These features were designed to establish predictability and gently signal session boundaries.  
The design leverages anthropomorphism by children toward digital agents, using emotionally expressive characters to build relational rapport from the start. This phase fosters engagement by fulfilling the psychological needs of relatedness and structure, aligning with principles from SDT and animistic thinking.  
Figure 1: Emotionally grounded UX framework to support voluntary smart device disengagement in early childhood.  
In-use Stage: During the main session, the character remained onscreen with limited behavioural responsiveness. Subtle animations (e.g., blinking, swaying) were included to maintain a sense of presence. Occasional verbal prompts were scripted to maintain engagement (e.g., \"Let's see how much longer we can play!\", \"Can you show me your best sitting posture?\"), but their timing and tone were based on heuristic rather than psychological criteria. These elements collectively supported emotional pacing and time awareness, gently scaffolding the child's shift from spontaneous interaction to reflective self-regulation.  
Post-use Stage: Toward the end of the session, the character displayed fatigue-like behaviour, such as yawning or speaking in a quieter voice. The child was invited to assist the character in \"going to sleep,\" typically through a drag gesture. While this framing intended to recontextualize termination as a caregiving act, it was implemented as a fixed sequence without personalization or symbolic variability [63]. The closure process lacked embodied interaction or multimodal elements such as voice, touch, or physical routines.  
While the system architecture was conceptually grounded in psychological theories, the version presented here reflects an early-stage prototype developed prior to expert validation. It serves as an initial translation of theoretical principles into UX structure and functionality. The following sections (Sections 3.3, 4 and 5) describe how this prototype was experienced, evaluated, and refined through expert consultation.