Week 0
The 2nd idea was inspired to respond to Anxiety problem, especially in Singapore. The main reason is that Anxiety is a universal human problem, and it is not easy to overcome some of the panic attacks. Some people might experience it every day that makes them suffer from an anxiety disorder.
Early sketches and mind map
Game reference Monumen Valley 2 The usage of Monumen Valley 2 as the main reference is because the game has aesthetic and also a story behind! Might be suitable for the upcoming project :)
Operah favourite games Operah picked one of the game that she loves. The user needs to complete quotes by playing a puzzle game! Although the idea of puzzle game has been commonly used, I feel the idea of quotes is unique.
Weekly take out: However, a game mobile application is only one potential deliverable. Research about the market and target audience lifestyle is needed to make sure the relevancy of the product.
Week 1
Communication Tools: Circles Curved and circular shapes are considered the friendliest as they have no sharp or dangerous corners. Circular shapes in nature has a tendency of being soft and harmless and evoke likable characters. Many of the most well-known protagonists are designed around circular concepts (Solarski 2012:180). Squares Square-like shapes relate to straight vertical and horizontal lines that communicate strength, stability and confidence. Squares can both be large and daunting or comforting and clumsy. They often depict steadfast characters who are dependable and are commonly used for superheroes or the heavy (Bancroft 2006:34).
Triangles Triangles relate to diagonal and strong, angular lines and are the most dynamic of the three shapes. Bad guys and villains are often based upon dominant triangular concepts, as they appear malicious, sinister and communicate with the most aggression (Bancroft 2006:35). It is the circle’s most opposing shape and often used for antagonists.
Insight: Decided to create the asset in circle or oval / edge-less based objects! This is to create a friendly and fun impression for the audience.
What makes you laugh??
Laughing It’s a form of communication, not a reaction. The science of laughter is telling us that laughter is less to do with jokes and more a social behaviour which we use to show people that we like them and that we understand them. Robert Provine, a psychologist from the University of Maryland found that we actually laugh most when talking to our friends. In fact we’re 30 times more likely to laugh at something when we are with other people.Intriguingly, within these conversations, we are still not laughing at jokes: we laugh at statements and comments that do not seem on the face of them to be remotely funny.
Meanwhile, Nasedon prof sophie scott form University College London, most times laughter is not about jokes. Ask adults what makes them laugh, and most will tell you it’s jokes and humour. But they would be wrong.
Call of Doodie
Klepto Cats
Call of Duty fans will note the similarities and blatant differences for this game from the name along. Call of Doodie allows players to control stereotypical office place employees as they get the awkward urge to get to the bathroom.
This game is both simple and rewarding, and involves mischievous cats so what’s not to love? Be advised feline owners, stray away from letting your pets get any ideas from this one. You’re the owner of an apartment or home in which you go from owning items and cats. The cats don’t seem to enjoy you owning the former however and take it upon themselves to mess things up. The game combines both cute and funny elements as there are plenty of cats willing to rob you blind.
The game also adds in bonus doors that may or may not be the bathroom you desire, but no spoilers on that one. After playing this game I can attest that going to the bathroom has never given me such anxiety while I also try to explain what I’m playing on my phone (which is a bonus game really)
Dumb ways to scare Following after the lighthearted tone but often dark implications of Dumb Ways to Die, this game takes you into a monster’s perspective to scare people. Can’t say if he’ll ever be satisfied, but how could you when life’s a scream? The game keeps you entertained by the absurdity of just trying to scare people in the most home-video type of way to just down right evil deeds.
Type of games matters. the one that usually makes people laugh is silly or games for killing times. Technical problems while opening the game: Call of doodie, it couldn’t be opened from iPad.
Do people remember to play games when anxiety occurs??? Is there any way to combine social media and gamification to make people smile or laugh??
Week 2
‘’ What kind of content that makes people laugh when scrolling through social media? 71% of Consumers Watch Videos on Social Media to Laugh One of the great joys in life is laughter, and when it comes to consumers on social media, 71% said it is one of the reasons they watch videos. The 2018 Sprout Social Index report surveyed consumers and marketers to determine where in the funnel social marketing effort must be targeted. It is critically important to define this target because social media is no longer an optional marketing channel. For small businesses, mastering social marketing is even more relevant because it is an easy and affordable way to reach your target audience. Whether you do your own social media marketing or hire professionals, today’s digital ecosystem allows you to extend your reach with few limitations. When addressing how organizations must approach social marketing, the Social Sprout report says social media is a personal platform. One of the primary reasons people spend time on social media is to interact with family and friends. And this has to be taken into account when a marketing campaign is being developed.
The company says, “As brands put together campaigns and messaging, they must remember that they are guests at dinner, not members of the nuclear family: their role in user feeds is delicate, valuable and should be treated with great care.” The Sprout Social Index resulted from a survey of 1,253 consumers and 2,060 marketers. The consumer survey was conducted by Survata online between April 12, 2018, and May 1, 2018. The survey for marketers was conducted via email by Google Forms, between April 4, 2018, and May 1, 2018. Key Findings – 2018 Social Media Marketing Statistics As for what consumers are looking for when watching social videos, laughter was number one at 71% followed by a good story at 59% and inspiration at 51%. 2018 Social Media Marketing Statistics
As for the technical reasons consumers choose to watch a video, factors include the contents consumable length, captions or description, and ad vs. organic feel. If you want people to watch your videos the most common watch time should be 1-2 minutes and the preferred platforms are YouTube at 49% and Facebook at 40%. With sharing being one of the goals of social marketing, the majority of consumers or 74% said they share branded content. But in order to share this content, it has to be entertaining, inspiring or convey knowledge to friends.
Insights. Does people remember to watch videos while anxious?
Week 2 Sketches!
feedback: Search about dopamine! Nick also suggested to take a look at Simon Sinek, the danger of social media and do more research regarding social media and addiction.
Week 3
“ why people are addicted with social media?�
Article 1 Social media affects the human psychology in unprecedented ways. They activate rewarding centers in the brain, by directly involving the concentration of dopamine in the process. For those who don’t know, Dopamine is a chemical, which regulates feelings of pleasure, seek and desire in a person. Being on social networks increases the secretion of the aforementioned hormone, generating irresistible addiction. In a recent research, it was revealed that people found it easier to refrain themselves from tobacco and alcohol, as compared to social media.
Talk by: Simon Sinek, the danger of social media Simon Sinek shared about how technology and social media create a significant influence on millennials nowadays. Social media becomes an addiction for them as when something good comes up from the devices, it gives a pleasant feeling, and they keep wanting it from their devices. The feeling occurs because social media stimulate the brain to produce the addictive dopamine neurotransmitter. It is a chemical in our brain that also contains alcohol, drugs, and cigarette. There are limitations in consuming alcohol and cigarettes in government law while social media use freely. As a result, people get access to social media quickly without even realising that it has the same effect with the drugs. The feeling could cure high stress. As the closest devices in daily life, they will browse social media more often to look for refreshment. As a result, the addiction caused them to want everything instant and fast. This lead to another problem as some things take time and patience to build on, and the current generation wants everything to be instant gratification. If they failed to achieve, they would blame themselves — the main reason for the rise in suicidal rate, mental health problems within millennials. The worst case is, they never willing to find joy or happiness. They don’t have fulfillment in life and walk through it, thinking ‘that’s fine.’
One key thing to take note is to help millenials how to be patience. The impatience culture brings them dissatisfaction as the truth is, something matters such as jobs, skill sets, a deeper relationship, takes time. They need to learn how to remove the temptation of accessing social media to understand about being patience for the essential things in life. By resisting the desire, it will help them to teach patience and also balancing technology usage in their life. As a result, forming a more in-depth relationship could happen as they interact with people in-person and being there consistently.
The key is not in social media, but how people stay calm and positive despite looking into social media??
There is one thing that every human being want to achieve: to be happy What does happiness mean? Do you find happiness in social media? What makes you sad in social media? Does people prefer to chose game or social media? What kind of game could help them playing instead of looking on social media? How social media and game relates to each other? Does the game has a similar effect to social media?
> how does the game evoke audience’s emotions? to become something they would take a look when they feel anxious? Take a look at the games in the app store!
Game 1
Why 2048 Game So Addictive Listen up, 2048 addicts. There’s scientific reason why none of us can stop playing.
But why can’t we stop? Judy Willis, a neurologist and adjunct faculty member at the Graduate School of Education at University of California, Santa Barbara, explains the neuroscience behind our 2048 addiction.
It’s all about Dopamine. As far as neurotransmitters go, dopamine is one of the most famous. It ferries information throughout your nervous system every day. But when it builds up, the brain goes into hyperdrive. “Dopamine is the one of the most compelling neurochemicals—and the most addictive drugs—that we know of,” Willis says. Dopamine boosts pleasure and perseverance while decreasing stress. Winning a bet, succeeding at work, and even snorting cocaine can send your dopamine levels soaring. While that dopamine-driven mixture of pleasure and perseverance is what makes athletes play harder, it’s also what pulls drug users into addiction. The same goes for 2048. “Games like 2048 offer players two of the biggest dopamine boosters,” Willis says, which are: 1. The power of prediction: “The brain loves to make predictions,” Willis says. “In 2048, every 2 or 4 that you move is a prediction—you’re not sure it’s the best thing to do—and the game offers limitless chances to make another prediction.”
Willis points to studies conducted by James Paul Gee, which have shown that predictions still result in a dopamine boost at an 80 percent fail rate—that is, even if you botch your 2048 scoreboard eight times out of 10, your brain will still demand that you keep on playing. The effects of dopamine ensure that even when you fail to reach 2048, you’ll remain relatively calm. “Instead of being stressed out, the brain is so comfortable that it doesn’t want to quit,” Willis says. 2. An achievable challenge: If a game is too easy or too hard, dopamine levels stagnate. For the optimal boost, Willis says, a game needs to be challenging but beatable. “’Achievable challenge’ are the key words,” she says. “That’s what will give you the biggest dopamine boost.” Those of us who (by sheer luck) have attained 2048 know that the coveted goal is both challenging and possible. Which means that we can’t work or sleep until we win all over again. “It feels so good to achieve a challenge that they keep on playing,” Willis says. -> however, it has negative effect. Such as reducing performance office work, due to the addiction. In the game, the dopamine effect make people rush to create / combine the same number.
Game 2
two - dots
Unlike the original game, dots, two dots has levels made by humans. Each levels trains our cognitive skills to solve the problems. However, this game also gives frustration and accomplishment feelings for the audience. What can be applied on this game: it is so therapeutic when the dots disappears and we reach the level goals. The music & interaction works well. I feel this is one of the reason why people keep playing the games.
Game 3
Monumen Valley In one screen, I needed to rotate the path so that Ida could walk upside down and reach a switch. Later, I had to tackle a structure that had me walking upside down, right side up, and sideways along the walls, in a pastel version of an M.C. Escher painting. The architecture intimidated me, but every step to the solution was subtly telegraphed. An obvious first switch led to a path toward a sideways staircase and another switch, and so on until I found my way to the top of the structure in a very natural progression. Solving puzzles in Monument Valley always felt intuitive in this way. This isn’t to say there’s no challenge to the game — there’s nothing obvious about later puzzles, which are as complex as they are beautiful to look at. But I never felt strained or frustrated — my experimentation always flowed towards an inevitable solution. Playing it felt effortless, and that sensation was refreshing. - taken from Monumen Valley Review -
Insight:
The whole experience matters. Monument Valley is easy to use with relaxing music and spacious design interface. The in-game experience makes people keep coming back to play the game even though they have finished the storyline.
Learning point: The game experience relates to people who seek for calm and relaxing feelings. This probably the reason why Monument Valley won the Apple design awards in 2014.
after a while... There’s a relation between psycology and user experience in the game!
Article 2
Joe leech -> the psychology of decision making in the ux Joe Leech shared about how he design experience for people. He started with the example of the use of ATMs around the world and how it different from Argentina. Tourist often left their atm cards in Argentina, this is because of a different way of doing things. What people think is the end of the process, it’s not in Argentina. So what is a good design? He gave out an example of how does a user need to spend 1hr in completing the transaction of a cruise website. The messy content makes them unable to complete the transactions fast. A good design is a design that could include both users when they are in a hurry, and they’re slow in deciding are the better design for user experience. By looking through how people think fast and slow, You don’t need to search psychology of persuasive design to create a useful project. He refers to the book of thinking fast and slow, and also his own book of pocket guide psychology for designers. ce office work, due to the addiction. In the game, the dopamine effect make people rush to create / combine the same number.
Article 2 What makes a great mobile game is that it can make your queuing experience at the most crowded local cafe seem too short, or that it can transform a subway commute into playtime you look forward to each morning. While those are subjective measures, there are a few qualities we think separate great mobile games from the rest. -With any mobile app, the first impression is the lasting — or last — impression. When a user downloads your app, the onboarding experience plays a big role in whether they stick around for everything your game has to offer, or whether it goes straight to the digital recycling bin.
Now remember why mobile games are unique in the world of mobile app development. Users aren’t downloading your game because it serves an important utility in their professional or everyday lives. Apps that entail work communication, document management or other important functions have a bit more room to get away with awkward onboarding experiences, because the benefit is worth the initial, frustrating learning curve. However, mobile games are downloaded, for the most part, solely as amusement. They’re a way of killing time, but not of wasting it, and if the player isn’t sold in the first few minutes of use (or is otherwise hopelessly confused as to how to use the thing), your app will be closer to “raw brussel sprouts” than to “candy” on the spectrum of scrumptious addictions.
Case Study #1
Mobile App Onboarding: Keepihng It Simple With Peggle Peggle is the perfect game for busy people who feel like taking a break from thinking too much. Why is the beaver so obsessed with rock and roll, and why is he hanging out with a literal unicorn, an alien and an anthropomorphic flower? Just don’t think about it too much, and you’ll quickly become addicted to clearing colorful boards with pinballs (and hearing the triumphant strains of Beethoven’s 9th when you succeed). Fittingly, Peggle doesn’t force you to think too much when you first download and start learning the game. The tutorial guides you through gameplay quickly and succinctly, and then throws you into the action with a very basic action: shoot a ball at a peg. The onboarding experience continues as you go through each level, adding more types of bonuses and multipliers, and gradually scaling up the difficulty so that the level of challenge is always perfect for the level of proficiency.
Insight:
That’s what you want to aim for in your initial walkthrough. As we’ve written before in 7 Apps That Excel at User Onboarding — and What They Do Right, great game tutorials can serve as a great template for other types of mobile app onboarding experiences, because they’re so focused on the target user behavior and getting the player into the action as soon as possible, while gradually “leveling them up” (see what we did there?) to new features as they’re ready. Whether you’re pulling a lever to line up matching symbols or lining up four of the same gemstone in a row for a powerful multiplier, gaming is all about performing a specific action in order to receive a reward. Your brain releases dopamine, a feel-good chemical also implicated in falling in love, when you earn that achievement. And if gambling can be addictive, it follows that other behaviors that lead to the brain’s “reward” response could also potentially be addictive, like breeding digital frogs on your iPhone.
“ Gaming is all about performing a specific action in order to receive a reward. A dopamine will be released when we earn the achievement. “
Research Plan: Through this speculation, I wanted to identify more clearly to the audience if the statement from media is true including their reason for being anxious and negative plus how they manage their emotions. I’m planning to do a survey to 20-30 users and interview in person to some of the specialist, (psychologist or psychiatrist) to get to know about the current youth mental health problems and how to help them in the worst scenario.
Primary Research The 1st stage of the survey conducted to have a better understanding of the target audience. In this stage, I wanted to know which age group has the most anxiety rate between children - young adults?
Research Questions: I started with the assumptions of youngsters in Singapore are anxious over academics, and their hectic daily work lives. The statement based on the news mentioned: “Singapore Millennials and students age 16-25 years old feel pessimistic about their life and suffer from a high level of Anxiety.�
Survey Questions: 1. What is your gender? 2. How old are you? 3. What is your occupation? 4. Have you ever feel anxious before? 5. What makes you feel anxious and pessimistic? ( choose which one that relevant to you, could be more than 1) A. First day of school B. Meeting new friends / colleague C. Before final exam D. Before presentation E. Something bad happen with your loved one F. Saw suspicious person behind your back at night G. Other‌ 6. What do you do to overcome anxiety? A. Pray B. Meditate C. Talk about fun or exciting topics with friends / people D. Check social media E. Play mobile games F. Biting nails or lips G. Other.. 7. Does the way (previous question) are always effective in overcoming anxiety? A. Yes B. No 8. Depends on the scale of the problem Do you think everyone has anxiety feeling within themselves? A. Yes B. No 9. Do you think anxiety brings negative feelings? A. Yes B. No C. Maybe
Feedback: Answers from 34 respondents from 61.8% females age between 16-25 years old: All of the respondents have ever felt anxious in their life. Before presentation and final exam (school related) are the most common scene for people, to feel anxious. Most of the respondent meditate or check their social media to reduce anxiety feeling. 77% of respondent said the effectiveness of the tools in overcoming anxiety depends on the scale of problems Unprepared, uncertain outcomes, new situations, overwhelming tasks, too much pressure are the reasons behind the user unable to overcome their negativity.
Week 3 Sketches!
Week 4
How the game will look like?? Pictures on the right are the sketches for the characters the games. Initially, I wanted to use circular shapes to give a friendly vibe.
Sketches of gameplay Level inside level mode. Every time the user complete 1 level, the background will become the next level. idea #1: what will happen inside? A: Oon need to go out from the balloon! How will it work? A: need to bust the balloon, maybe using music? And they need to follow the music rhythm?
Nick’s comment: Do testing on the game, will it work??
More about games...
Pin Out One of the main reference game. As I wanted to create a game with pinball inspired. I love the neon color combination! it is suitable for young adults and also teenagers.
KAMI 2 One of the stress relief game! the gameplay is about make the whole screen in same color!
Paper.io One of the addictive mobile game application. It only requires the user to build and conquer land as big as they can! They will get certain reward once they have achieve something in the game.
Grab Games I feel this is the most addictive games inside Grap application! Altough it looks simple, but the sound and the feel of the kueh jumping around gives the sense of accomplishment.
Prototype 1
2
Characters : I feel the previous character are too kiddy for 17-25 years old target audience. So, I did a bit of brainstorming figuring out which shapes are the best character!
Level on the games :
based on Anxiety rate Understanding GAD - and the Symptoms Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by persistent and excessive worry about a number of different things. People with GAD may anticipate disaster and may be overly concerned about money, health, family, work, or other issues. Individuals with GAD find it difficult to control their worry. They may worry more than seems warranted about actual events or may expect the worst even when there is no apparent reason for concern. GAD is diagnosed when a person finds it difficult to control worry on more days than not for at least six months and has three or more symptoms. Learn more about symptoms. This differentiates GAD from worry that may be specific to a set stressor or for more limited period of time. GAD affects 6.8 million adults, or 3.1% of the U.S. population, in any given year. Women are twice as likely to be affected. The disorder comes on gradually and can begin across the life cycle, though the risk is highest between childhood and middle age. Although the exact cause of GAD is unknown, there is evidence that biological factors, family background, and life experiences, particularly stressful ones, play a role.
Sometimes just the thought of getting through the day produces anxiety. People with GAD don’t know how to stop the worry cycle and feel it is beyond their control, even though they usually realize that their anxiety is more intense than the situation warrants. All anxiety disorders may relate to a difficulty tolerating uncertainty and therefore many people with GAD try to plan or control situations. Many people believe worry prevents bad things from happening so they view it is risky to give up worry. At times, people can struggle with physical symptoms such as stomachaches and headaches. When their anxiety level is mild to moderate or with treatment, people with GAD can function socially, have full and meaningful lives, and be gainfully employed. Many with GAD may avoid situations because they have the disorder or they may not take advantage of opportunities due to their worry (social situations, travel, promotions, etc). Some people can have difficulty carrying out the simplest daily activities when their anxiety is severe. https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/ generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad
There are 3 types of GED (Generalised Anxiety Disorder) such as: Mild, Moderate and Accute. *how to make the facts as levels?
Sketches!
Week 5
Pin-Up Session:
trial-error
The programmer and I were discussing the gameplay and the controller. Above are the sketches of how the controller will look like.
However, the challenge in this format is how to make the level not too easy and challenging?? So people will keep coming back playing?
using smartwatch! On the brainstorming phase, I was thinking to explore the idea of technology to make people’s life easier. However, I decided not to use it due to the opposite impact of the main objective.
User emphaty Map
Call-to Action: 1. Gameplay 2. Storyline & character (how it relates with anx iety and how to educate them to do in their daily routine?) 3. Wireframe of the game
Week 6
level breakdown: Part 1 Part 2
Level 1
Part 3
Part 1 Part 2
Level 2
Part 3 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Level 3 Each of the levels represents the general anxiety stages. However, the level 3 part is still developing, as I couldn’t find the best answer from the resources.
flowchart
Storyline sketches:
Wireframes
Jump
left
right
Tilt to left or right to control the character
Color Scheme:
Sketches
Call to action:
How to bring key message: which is smiling and laughing + positive mind inside the game??? so people can remember about it?
Week 7
Formative Assessment Feedback The smartwatch might not be the best platform to use, and the current gameplay might not be the best way for stress relief.
Aftermath.....
Visiting psycatrist Based on data on internet, Is it true that anxiety has different stages? I’m not aware of that. Each of the individuals has its own story and fears, so it is very diverse. What makes most of your patient feels anxious? The concerns are diverse. It could be Family issue, friendship, academic pressure, previous experiences and many more. It depends on each individual and stories. Does some food or actions can triggers their anxiety?? For example coffee? Is there any example?? Not really; coffee just increase the heartbeat actually. Usually anxiety comes from the person mindset and point of view. What kind of anxiety conditions that you recommend for people to visit doctor? When the person can’t cope with the world anymore due to the anxious feeling that has disturbed patient daily life.
One of the reasons behind the interview is to know the limitation of mental health. So, we could design the user specifically until a certain level of mental condition.
How do you usually treat patient who’re having anxiety? Cognitive, psikomotor? Or through medicine?? Or therapy? There is a therapy called cognitive behavioural therapy which usually done by psychologist. The therapy aim to switch the perspective of patient from negative to positive mindset. What is the most effective ways to treat patient and how does it feels? The cognitive behavioural therapy. As we inject positive thoughts slowly to the patient by helping them to identify incorrect words and teach them more positivity. Every session is recorded, so the phycologist could keep track of the progress. The other method is applying mindfulness therapy, where they need to concentrate and train their problem solving. Usually could be in a form of board game.
What makes them Relax or calm or forget about their anxiety??? When they are concentrating, especially during therapy. They tend to feel more relax. After therapy, Is it easy for them to actually generate positive thoughts…..? How do you usually recommend people to take care of their anxiety? Based on the record and each individual progress. It couldn’t be measured as it was very diverse record. But usually around 3-6 months. Interview is conducted in March, 14th 2019 with Dr. Sung Min from IMH (Institute of Mental Health).
Insight: Anxiety could overcome by switching the negative mindset to the positive. The method of cognitive behavioural therapy applies to anyone to deal with negativity
Ball-on Concept The initial concept of the game is to tell the user how to overcome negativity. The balloons represent our negative thoughts inside the mind. To overcome it, I was inspired by the analogy of ‘a locked room full of balloons.’ To be able to breathe inside the room, we need to take the balloons and burst it. So there is room for oxygen around. The gameplay will be about bursting balloons using weapons. Stress management activities inspire these weapons. There are various activities will be unlocked and combined as the level goes up. Both images in this page are the first draft of the idea and how the balloons will look like in Unity Engine.
Drafts:
Flowchart Splash page
sign in
Sign in valid
user selects log in
login / sign up page
user selects sign up
later
yes
sign up page
yes additional info / bio
sign up page
no error
yes
home page edit your avatar
Key :
start game
exit game
Display page
how are you feeling?
if the user press the unlocked tools
Exit game
your score
game!
tools
reward
customize your tools
unlock your tools
Computer Decision
User Decision
Error message new tools unlocked
Week 8
User stories: 1st User Storyline:
2nd User Storyline:
1. User saw video ad on instagram, and curious about what’s happening with the ads 2. Swipe up from instagram, di rectly direct to the app store / play store 3. He/She downloaded the game from play store 4. Opens the app, splash screen appears 5. Tap the rocket and animation rocket goes up start playing 6. Background story of ‘project balloon’ playing 7. Welcome to the observatory!’ page
1. User play for the 2nd time 2. tutorial they have unlocked the character! 3. user choose one of the character to play the game 4. User play the game
MVP: Game! The Game :
Where user need to collect particular colors of the balloons to make the rocket fly!
Rocket features :
A collection of balloons which the user need to unlock everyday to discover different features of the balloons.
The current user stories feel uncliear and not detailed, maybe we should try to detailing out?
Finalised user stories: 1st User Storyline:
1. User saw balloon page on instagram and curious to try 2. User go to the link from instagram, directly go to the question page 3. She found her balloon from the question page and interested to play the balloons 4. He/She downloaded the game from google play 5. Opens the app, splash screen appears 6. Click on the balloon to start 7. User tab the balloon 8. Play the game 9. Use success, earn miles from the stage 10. Back to the homepage where rocket feature unlocked 11. User exploring the rocket feature 12. User tab to one of the daily task (the selfie task) 13. User unlock the balloons, he/she feel surprised after seeing the balloon 14. User press the share balloons button to be shared on social media!
2nd User Storyline (user explores only the rocket feature) 1. User feel he/she need a little break from computer screen and projects 2. User play for the 2nd time (open the app) 3. They go directly to the home page 4. User decided to choose their balloon first before playing the game. The indication of ‘daily task’ balloon reward has expired in 24hrs 5. However user found something blinking! The daily rewards section are shining, meaning something new waiting! 6. User curious, open the daily rewards section 7. User get their balloon of the day (reward) 8. However user don’t feel like to play with it. he/she wondering why the balloon in daily task has expired So they open the daily task section They saw different task from yesterday 9. Today task is: ‘Listen to your friend’s favourit playlist on Spotify!’ 10. User start the task!
Survey Phase 2 Based on the survey phase 1, I wanted to know deeper about the specific method that people use to overcome daily anxiety and negativity in their life. In this survey, I stated all the possible activities, so the respondents could easily choose which one that relevant to them.
“
What are the activity that you do to handle negativity?
1. (eating habit) What are the activity that you do to handle negativity (i.e stress or anxiety?) A.Eat good food B. Have some snacks C. Cook indomie D. Get some fresh fruits E. Have some fresh juice F. Cooking at home G. Baking H. Other…
2. (sleep) A. Take a nap B. Take 4 hours of sleep C. Take 8 hours of sleep D. Other…
3. (drinks) A. Drink bubble tea B. Drink hot tea with sugar C. Drink coffee D. Drink alcohol E. Other… 4. (sports) A. Jogging B. Swimming C. Running D. Go to gym E. Do material arts F. Yoga
“
5. (relationship)
8. (game)
A. Talk to a friend B. Talk to a group of friends (3-5 people) C. Talk to strangers D. Talk to parents E. Talk to siblings (brother/ sisters) F. Talk to partners (boyfriend/girlfriend) G. Other..
A. Play mobile games (candy crush, monument valley, fruit ninja,etc) B. Play rpg games (final fan tasy, dota, etc) C. Play board games (uno, monopoly, etc) D. Other..
6. (shopping) A. Buy new clothes B. Buy makeup C. Buy new pair of shoes D. Buy bags E. Just shopping in general, objects are varied F. Others…
7. (books) A. Read fiction novel B. Read manga / comics C. Read magazine D. Read online articles E. Read newspapers F. Read motivational / philosophical books G. Others…
9. (social media) A. Browse instagram B. Browse facebook C. Browse youtube D. Find someone from tinder E. Googling anything that you want to know F. Edit photos (VSCO, snapseed,etc) E. Others..
10. (places) Go to the park Go to the beach Mountain hike/ forests Go for road trip Mall hopping Visit night market Other…
11. (entertainment) A. Watch netflix B. Watch korean drama C. Watch anime D. Watch chinese drama E. Watch stand up comedy F. Watch motivational video (tedx, etc) G. Browse youtube in general H. Watch movies at home I. Watch movies in the cinema J. Watch hero movies (Marvel, DC, etc) K.Watch animated film/ series Others‌
12. What makes the above choices effective to deal with negativity?
13. Is there any possible options above that you might want to consider trying? ( for example i’ve never tired yoga, maybe i will try that)
Results: Based on respondent age 17-23 : 1. Most respondents choose to get some snacks to deal with negativity 2. Take a short nap to become the most chosen option 3. Drink bubble tea become most selected method to deal with negativity 4. Most of the respondent choose to talk to a friend (1 closest person) to share their burden. 5. People choose to go shopping in general, not really have particular habits/ things that they buy while having a bad mood 6. 12 people out of 20 choose to play mobile games such as (candy crush, monument valley, etc.) rather than playing RPG games. 7. 15 out of 20 responses prefer to open youtube rather than watching movies or drama or animated film.
Wireframe
Queee:
Feedback (nick) Check out how people sell the game in the app store! They won’t tell people about the effect of the game (ex: for stress management, depression) but what they sell is the concept and gameplay!
Sketches
Week 9
Wireframe feedback: I received a suggestion from User Experience Designer that the product doesn’t need a signup / log in button in the beginning. It was supposed to attract user to play in the first place, then lead them to input their personal data to make their gaming experience more personal and relatable.
Refining from
flowchart! Based on the suggestion, the product doesn’t need a sign-up / log in button in the beginning. It was supposed to attract the user to play in the first place, then lead them to input their data to make their gaming experience more personal and relatable.
Flowchart:
UI
Pictures in this page are the initial version of the game. In this page, I did the rough mock-up for user sign up flow, daily task, splash screen, main menu, and how the rocket fly.
Interface in progress..
Visual Guide:
Revised empathy map
Feedback Copywriting needs to be shorter! Check out how ‘Prune’ or ‘Flower’ games copywriting on the app store. They sell the game in 2 sentences! (Nick)
The color scheme can be further developed. Try to break out from the usual game color scheme. (Terence)
Week 10
Logo Exploration
UI progress
(prepare for 1st testing)
some of the UI progress update (splash screen animation, game, ‘how-to’ additional and the character page.
#1st User testing: The first user testing was conducted in a focus group (5-8 people) format, using adobe XD prototype. The general feedback was positive. Audience love the color scheme of the games. However, some user still has difficulties in navigating the link. Especially in on the home page, they keep pressing the two buttons on top ( daily rewards and task) rather than the actual game button. I feel it happens because of the current focal point more into the rocket rather than the actual games button. There is no sign for the buttons, so people don’t know what they should do on the home page. Suggestion is to make signage for the buttons, especially the game buttons. In the meantime, the user also suggested me for the actual game to make the grey balloons suddenly appear on the screen, to give surprise and test user’s concentration in the game.
1st trailer storyboard I was thinking to create teaser for Instagram video! Mainly Inspired by Qatar advertisment that could make people stop for a while and watch!
Terence feedback: color scheme can be further developed :)
and try to work on the characters!
color scheme research
I was looking at the possible visuals that teenagers & youths love and came across to the newly released ‘spiderman into spiderverse’movie. The pop comic graphic style inside the film has inspired me to use the direction. It ties with the target audience’s interest, comic books, and graphic novels.
color scheme updates
First trial, trying out detailing the trailer scene with the new style. However, ended up didn’t use the scenario.
Week 11
color scheme in-progress
the appearance of Balloons Balloons in the game represent our emotions as a human being. Standard balloons have the meaning of ‘standard’ emotions in life. Nonetheless, there are also times where we feel delighted, playful, grateful, and energised! From this fact, the special balloons are born. Those feelings won’t come out without something special triggers our life. It works the same with the special balloons. The user needs to do and accomplished something to be able to unlock the balloons.
“ It is a form of reward after surrounding ourself with positivity! “
Terence feedback: The current illustration version still could be improved. He suggested me to learn about tension line and take a look at Carravagio Paintings to make the whole image stronger than before.
Carravaggio Paintings Based on the painting examples, I have learned that a tension line could give in-depth mood and feel of the painting. What happened in the scenario is emphasised by the lighting effects from the focal point until the least important elements inside.
Post-learning:
Trial and errors of the colors using tension line
Explaination video or ads??? I wonder what should I use to engage people playing the game?? in the following pages, I’ve tried several storyboards and some explanation books to introduce and engage people about the game.
Nick feedback: Video ads are too long! Usually only 15-30s max to attract people. also remember ‘what are you trying to sell??’ based on the project case, it’s happy and fun emotions! He also suggested to create the ads after the product is done. As the main thing of the project is the product, not the advertising method.
Book format: Decided to take off the idea of the book as all of the projects are digitally based. The project will be more inline if I use all outcomes in digital format.
Display: I was wondering about the display if I don’t use any supporting prints. As a result, I have decided to make a phone stand instead! This will make the visitor/assessor understand clearly what is the product about. Below are some progresses on the phone stand.
Week 12
The UI flows:
These are the whole scenes of the application from the beginning until (2nd-time user playing) After a while, feedback informed that it was too crowded and can be more simplified. So I take off (some of the scenes and reduce into 1 action instead of multiple steps).
Streamlining the UI
Below are the finalised User Interface for the game application. Streamlining means cutting down unnecessary pages and make the current pages easy for navigation. It was hard in the beginning as I need to take down some of the illustrations. However, for the sake of usability, I need to think rationally and make the application works the best.
1. Steps They were four steps in total on ‘how to play’ section. however, I cut down the scene and create into 1 single scene.
Reduce to: One of the main reason is that the interaction takes a longer time, and it is easier for the user to understand using 1 page instead of 4 pages.
2. Discard the backgroundstory Feedback from the audience tells me that the background story is not really important for them. It will be better and more impactful to go straight to the game.
Card-Sorting method:
In this section, i’m finalising all the elements in the game into category. this to make user experience easier to find.
Types of balloons (standard balloons)
Rewards & stuffs (levels):
() original balloons: red, blue, purple, yellow, pink, green ( colours represent human emotions)
Every day, the user will be rewarded with daily login rewards. In the meantime, they also will be rewarded with different types of balloons once they have fulfilled the ‘daily task’ or unlocked other different ’special balloons’ features.
Locked balloons will be unlock in different stages: () star balloons () oval balloons () ball balloons () candy balloons () question mark balloons ‘question mark’ balloons will unlock in every seasonal holiday. The stage will follow the holiday theme and problems.
Levels: Each stage will lead them closer to the balloon land. The first five stages will be only inside the laboratory. Once they reach level 5, 10,15, the background of each stage will be different.
wireframe:
Product: finalising in unity! The programmer and I were working in finalising the actual prototype of the first user. However, there were problems going on, and unfortunately we still need more time to figuring out particular code to connect different scenes in unity to the game scene.
Presentation format How to present the product effectively? This question has been inside my mind since last formative assessment. As I have two projects need to be presented, I wonder how to combine both into one booth?
For the first draft, I was thinking to pin up all the work in a heart shape form. However, prints couldn’t present the app efficiently as there are a lot of motions going on. So, I’m thinking to create a presentation mode with videos and gif to convey the message.
Week 13
2nd testing: On Monday, I did the 2nd testing on my classmate. From a designer point of view, the user experience could be simplified, especially the home page. Adding some animation inside the gameplay would be great!
change splash screen and adding motion in the game!
Finalised ppt
WIP Videos The layout is divided into 3 scenarios/user flow. the left image dedicated for main pages (1st-time user), start from splash screen until the main menu while the center and right are two different scenarios that could happen while playing the game.
Finalising gameplay video for final crit presentation!
Special features of the app: (one of the example of using artificial intelligence detector to make user feel happier!
Article 101
Week 14
social media conveying from emotions or focus on the task..?
social media 1st draft: engage people to discover their current balloons.
Focus on the emotions might not be the best option. Instead, why don’t we ask people to stop on what they are currently doing??
recap week 14 most of the time i’ve spent tidying up whole documents, adjusting the scenes in unity while waiting for the actual code revision from the programmer. in the meantime, thinking on how the social media will look like!
to do: cpj (completed) social media engagement
Week 15
Social media idea: Using the idea of ‘Brain Freeze’ to engage people playing! The idea came because it correlates with how our body works to tell us to slow down. “Brain Freeze” is a body reaction of putting on the brakes, telling us to slow down and take it easy. (Neuroscientist Dwayne Godwin, Ph.D.,. 2013)
Social media planning: Based on my research on teenagers and youth’s interest, most of them use Instagram! So, decided to use the platform to advertise :) Based on TBWA method, what is the distruption of the product???
The way of telling people to slow down and take a break!
Unity code.... There were some problems and bugs occurs while adding the animation and the hover in the game. During this time, the programmer was uncontactable. Luckily, I’ve asked other friends for help!
User testing #2: I asked several people to try out the updated version of the game, and here are their opinion: 1. you may want to include the minus balloon, plus and neutral counter, so people understand how to reach the goal / win the game. 2. Give only 1 or 2 examples of the daily task should be enough for the current version. As the task can be added gradually, focus on perfecting the first user is good enough :) 3. There are several probabilities in the gameplay leads to game over. however, there is no indication of the game over yet.
Week 16
Display Settings: Combining the banyan tree project together with the balloons! As the balloons are emotions, both characters from Banyan Tree also have feelings and conflicts occurs. So, why not combine both of them??
Thank you for reading! Throughout the project, I have learned how to process of game UI/UX design look like! It was not an easy process; a lot of research, trial errors, user testing, is needed to make sure that the design is workable and impactful to the audience. I also experienced how to collaborate and work with people! It requires patience and back-up plans for the worst scenario. Nonetheless, I did have fun playing around with the project! And i hope you could feel the joy as much as I do :)