KITE: Research Roundup
Creating an edutainment board game for a healthcare organization
The Calm before the Storm…
KITE is a world-leading rehabilitation research institute at the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada. Their aim is to research solutions to improve the daily lives of those affected by disability, aging, and illness. Our team was tasked with finding a way to make KITE appealing to potential investors/partners while bringing awareness to the work they do, so that KITE secures funding.
The Problem
How might we showcase KITE’s capabilities so that potential partners will want to work with KITE and collaborate on innovative solutions.
Working Backwards, a Cautionary Tale
Before conducting any preliminary research, our team already had a solution in mind:
Create a Design Thinking workshop (in a box) for KITE and potential partners.
We wanted to create an experience where KITE can showcase their capabilities by co-creating with partners while working on design problems. Similar to design thinking workshops in the UX space.
The user group would be Industry Partners, organizational donors, community leaders, and KITE who (we assumed) would be facilitating this design thinking workshop.
A rude awakening: Constraints
We had this grand solution, but the problem was how we were going to further our research on the topic of design thinking workshops.
We were constrained by multiple things:
Lack of access to our user group (industry partners, organization donors or community partners) for our research studies
Time, we only had 3 months to complete each part of the project
The deadlines, the lack of research participants, and our biggest mistake: letting bias towards one solution mislead us in the wrong direction.
Our (new) user group
We were focusing too hard on just potential partners (those negotiating with KITE on partnership and funding).
Improved goals
The Problem 2.0
How might we get everyone to take an interest in, understand, and connect with rehabilitation in a way that helps KITE secure more partnerships and funding?
Research and Interviews
We conducted one-on-one interviews with a total of 10 participants. We intentionally spoke with middle-aged or older participants as they were more likely to have experiences relating to aging, injuries, rehabilitation and illness.
Thematic Analysis from our Interviews
Insights and Opportunities for Design
The results of our research lead us to these conclusions:
Foster a sense of community
They want a genuine organization that cares about community and uses their resources to improve the lives of people within those communities.
Helping users form personal connections
Storytelling can be used to form these connections between users and KITE. The solution should be interactive with multi-media elements to ensure engagement and retained attention.
Providing information & showing credibility
Include KITE’s achievements and results of past projects in our solution to show the impact they have to increase their credibility.
Challenge users & reward them
Keep our users engaged by challenging them and achieving a certain goal. Our research has shown that "sense of accoplishment" helps motivate them to finish the activity.
The Solution
The solution we thought of was to create an edutainment (educational and entertaining) puzzle game that uses the main goals: interest, educate and connect within each puzzle. Players will have to work together and utilize real research from KITE to solve the game.
There are two components to this game. A physical portion, with handcrafted game pieces and puzzles, as well as a digital portion using Twine to explain the narrative, prompt users for answer input, and give out hints if they get stuck.
Examples of physical pieces we handmade
UX Design 🤝 Game Design
This was a new approach for us, so we needed to use references to build the game ourselves. We played a game using the theme we wanted to recreate (EXIT: The Game) and conducted a SWOT analysis to figure out how to create this game. Additionally, we used the MDA (Mechanic, Dynamics, Aesthetic) framework found in game design to inform ourselves what elements a mystery puzzle game needs to have.
We agreed as a team to try to focus on making sure the game is grounded by KITE’s real research and avoid as much whimsy and fiction as possible when creating the game.
Our team doing research (having a game night) on "Exit: The Game"
Play-testing: So… Does this thing work?
Three rounds of play-testing were conducted (one for each version of our prototype, lo-fi, mid-fi and hi-fi) and we tested with 14 participants aged 19-60.
In our lo-fi and mid-fi tests we found:
We need MORE visuals and less text on our digital component (Twine) so we can increase immersion for the players
The hint/walkthrough needed to be improved to provide more information
Signifiers within the some puzzles were lacking and gave the player no trail to follow
Putting everything together in the final prototype
Final results:
Puzzles effectively taught participants about KITE and interested them to further learn more about the organization.
Improved versions of the puzzles were well received by participants. They enjoyed how immersive and interactive it was, and it succeeded at gaining their interest towards KITE.
Each play-test group had a positive group dynamic through working out the puzzles and then celebrating together when achieved the correct answer.
Images of Puzzles within the game
Reflecting on this project I…
Realized how much work it takes to lead a group of people. I enjoyed being a leader, whether it be providing feedback, facilitating discussions between members or simply planning out our next goals after each deliverable.
Learned the importance of considering any/all kinds of solutions. Any idea can grow and branch off each other, and the next thing you know you have something original and innovative.
Was taught that UX Design can look like anything. It is not just slapping the “make an app” solution on every problem. If your research shows you have to go in an unconventional route then so be it!
Truly understood that the UX Design process is not cookie-cutter. Following conventional guidelines (while they can be a good start) can trap you into thinking inside the box. Pivots happen and obstacles can appear from any point of the process. If you have no use for a UX technique, why should you include it?
In the end I am so deeply grateful I got to work on this project. Our team placed within the Top 3 in the Scotiabank Award to the Wilfrid Laurier’s User Experience Design Program.
Thank you to my team, and every professor that guided us on this journey!
designed with ♡
