Beyond is a tablet app for 11- 13 year olds, created while participating in the Creative Jam conducted by Adobe and NASA for designers during their bootcamp.
We were a team of two (The Jam Theorists). As we had a very short turn around time to create polished high fidelity prototypes, we shared the following tasks between us as we went through the design process- UX Research, Persona creation, User flows , Task analysis, Ideation, Prototyping and Testing.
One Week
The challenge is to help kids, to learn more about space exploration by teaching about a single or multiple NASA JPL missions. It can be an Android tablet or Apple iPad app that provides an engaging way for kids to learn and share space stories, facts, and topics.
This app experience is to be designed for kids between 11 to 13 years old. It may include gaming, gallery, educational content, or any combination of functions that would help them learn more about the latest science, robotics, and spacecraft.
We created an immersive tablet game with an underlying narrative game play.
The user would be going on an exciting mission to different planets in the solar system .
Playing these mini games will teach our audience the different missions that NASA sent to various planets.
But first they need to build their spacecraft by playing many mini games.
We explored two games that are popular with the age groups of our audience- Among Us and Blooket
The questions that we wanted answered during this stage were
What format of games was most popular among children in this age group?
What was the visual aesthetics- the color, look and feel that appealed to this age group?
How is the problem of making educational content "fun" solved currently in the market?
Our key takeaway's from this stage were:
Children in this age group liked bold colors with illustrations that had thick outlines
Game formats with mini games appealed to this age group
User Interviews
We conducted 2 face to face interviews
Our objective was to understand-
How our users usually learn about a new subject?
What types of games do you usually play?
What we learned from this step:
Users at this age usually ask advice from peers
They liked playing different games and not just one type of game
At this point we were leaning towards a mini game approach for our app to teach new information
We created two user personas considering two different goals of the users at this age.
Charles needs a way to explore the topic of science in a fun and engaging way, because he is growing older and becoming increasingly interested in the world around and above him. We will know this to be true when he engages with the app more completely.
He is only 10 years old and thus, his main motivation is overwhelmingly to have fun and spend time with his friends
Loses attention very quickly when it feels like he’s studying
His friends like to text him a lot, and he loves distractions
Usually likes to spend his free time after school playing with his friends
The time he most plays on his phone is in the evening when he is at home
When he uses his phone, it is usually to watch YouTube videos or play games
“I think that there’s a lot of cool stuff out there that I just haven’t seen yet.”
Abby needs a way to study JPL missions for a state competition, because she is intelligent, competitive, and wants to win. We will know this to be true when she produces something that is interesting and informative for her competition.
Science is not her favourite subject
She will complete a task if asked to do it, but may only do the bare minimum to pass
To assure long term engagement, Abby needs something that intrinsically motivates her rather than extrinsic motivation
Usually the first to raise her hand in class
Does not particularly enjoy studying, but is willing to do it to receive the benefits and praise
Abby’s friends are less interested in studying than her, so she is less likely to share her achievements on an app about JPL
“I just want to get into a good uni and get a good job.”
What we learned from this step:
From the previous step our solution was leaning towards mini games.
This step gave us an idea to include project based learning in the solution.
Our biggest problem to solve was how do we keep the users engaged while assimilating a lot of information about each mission? So these were our solutions
Using the idea of project based learning, each NASA mission was to have many mini games.
Each mini game will teach one concept about the mission in the form of interactive play.
Low Fidelity Wireframes
We started with the homescreen that would give a quick idea of all the planets NASA sent their missions to.
Users would get to explore each mission by building rockets.
When all the mini games are completed, the rocket is finished and the next planet and mission can be explored.
They can build a part of the rocket when one mini game is completed.
We spent the most part of the week polishing the illustrations, high- fidelity wireframes and the prototype. We aimed to create meaningful interactions and animations that evoked the feeling of floating in space.
Please find a clickable prototype here and feel free to play around!
We conducted 4 in-person usability tests
Our objective was to -
Test for the usability and flow of the app
Test if the app could be understaood and played intutively.
Key Iterations:
As the game had many levels, we found that users did not fully understand the depth of the game until later in the game. So we increased the interactivity through staged onboarding and incorporating voice.
At certain points of the game users did not know what to do. So we added timed animations like arrows or other cues guiding the user to the next step of the game.
It was hard work and we spent many a late nights during the week. But it was worth it.
We finished the project with 12 hours to spare and got free subscription to the Adobe Cloud Suite for 6 months worth $300
We got a score of 21 out of 25 for Innovation with an overall score of 75 out of 100
We were ranked top 50 out of 200 entries.
Effectively collaborate with a team member
Use Adobe XD at an advanced level incorporating effective workflows and animations.
Choose different methodologies for a design sprint while going through the design thinking framework.