Gamifying a cognitive assessment tool: ACE Explorer
Overview
Neuroscape Labs at UCSF had an existing iPad app they had been using to measure cognitive abilities in children. Upon receiving a grant to upgrade the product in anticipation of its release in certain public school districts, I was tasked with improving the user experience to make it more appealing to middle-school aged children.
Objectives
ACE (Adaptive Cognitive Evaluation) testing suite existed as an iOS application available on iPad devices. It was actively used to conduct pre and post-assessments for a variety of cognitive interventions and measured things like reaction time, working memory, attention, and goal management.
I was contracted to help create an improved version of ACE using Unity Game Engine with the intention of deployment on a range of iOS and Android mobile devices. The project goals also included:
Introducing a unifying theme/fiction to ACE to increase user engagement
Updating the visual style to appeal to the target age range
Improving feedback mechanisms
Incorporating audio feedback
Assembling a Team
Through my network, I pulled together a team of sub-contractors to be responsible for various aspects of the project. While I would lead the overall creative direction and UX/UI efforts, I found a game designer, an illustrator, an audio engineer, and a Unity developer to help bring the experience to life.
Research & Discovery
To begin the project an in-depth analysis of the existing application was conducted, focusing on user flows and interactions. This audit was based on industry-leading UX and Interaction Design best practices.
Previously gathered user feedback was reviewed to gain insights into pain points and areas for improvement.
Additional research was carried out to explore popular game themes and art styles that would resonate with the target audience.
Design & Prototyping
To create a revitalized user experience with a coherent theme and engaging narrative, I collaborated with a skilled game designer. We presented two options to our stakeholders and moved forward with the “ACE Explorer” theme.
A comprehensive game design document was crafted that outlined screen flows, character dialogues, and reward mechanisms, ensuring a holistic vision for the project.
Game Design Synopsis
Players start off in an ancient jungle temple with mysterious crystals in it. When they tap on a crystal they discover a mini-game. After they play each mini-game, they return to the room and the light from the crystal transfers to a mysterious structure in the middle of the room. Once they’ve finished all of the mini-games, a portal opens and they are transported into a new world with unique music, art, and backstory where they can see their final scores for all of the mini-games categorically organized into Attention, Working Memory, and Goal Management skills. Upon each play-through of the game, they will discover that the portal takes them to a new world each time, instilling a sense of curiosity and tapping into the players’ sense of adventure.
Leveraging the Octalysis Gamification Framework
The primary game design tactics we used can be tied to the Octalysis Gamification & Behavioural Design Framework created by Yu-Kai Chou. Octalysis consists of eight core drives that influence human behavior and engagement.
Core Drive 1 - Epic Meaning & Calling
The mysterious crystals and the portal opening create a sense of intrigue and mystery, giving players a feeling of an epic adventure or calling.
Core Drive 2 - Development & Accomplishment
Each crystal's mini-game provides a challenge and a sense of accomplishment upon completion. Seeing their scores progress over time provides a sense of accomplishment.
Core Drive 4 - Ownership & Posession
As players complete mini-games, they "own" the progress they've made in transforming the central structure. The gradual accumulation of light and the unlocking of the portal reinforce their sense of ownership and possession over the in-game space.
Core Drive 7 - Unpredictability & Curiosity
The randomness of the portal's destinations and the mysterious crystals intrigue players' curiosity. The desire to discover new locations encourages them to keep playing.
Core Drive 8: Loss & Avoidance
Once players start engaging with the mini-games, they might experience a fear of missing out (FOMO) if they don't complete all the mini-games or discover what happens when all of the crystals are unlocked. This core drive encourages them to finish all of the games to avoid missing out on the full experience.
Low-fidelity wireframes were constructed using AxureRp to illustrate the direction, gain alignment for the team, and ensure the theme concept holds up when fleshed out in detail.
These wireframes were used in a small usability study to inform our direction and validation some of our assumptions.
UI Design & Asset Development
A moodboard was created on Dribbble to gain alignment for the visual style we were aiming for.
I used Adobe Illustrator to design a component library and set of icons to be imported into Unity to produce the user interface.
In parallel, I collaborated with the sound designer and illustrator to produce the complete collection of audio files and non-UI art assets & ensured they were organized optimally for implementation.
AxureRp was used to create a clickable prototype/design spec with all necessary details for implementation.
“It's amazing what you have done with Axure, that saves us a lot of work and iterations, plus the game is looking great.” - Unity Engineer
Outcomes & Learnings
Once the app was completed, a user testing session was conducted on-site, involving 60 students from grades 6 to 8, some of whom had prior exposure to the earlier version of the app. Guided by a team of 6 facilitators, the sessions were expertly coordinated to ensure comprehensive coverage of learning goals.
The redesign received an overwhelmingly positive response from participants, demonstrating improved engagement.
“Overall much cooler.” - test participant
“Really cool game! Gives lots of back story” - test participant
“I love the look of the game and the alien world” - test participant
“Kids seem much more engaged with this version of ACE.” - facilitator
Additionally, valuable constructive feedback was also collected, offering UCSF insights for ongoing product evolution.
We learned that some of the sound effects were disliked, so we were able to replace them for the final version.
We received valuable insight into how effective the mini-game tutorials were, which enabled us to improve the instructions since there would be no facilitators in the live version to assist with questions the participants had.
Certain gameplay mechanics were adjusted to correct for some difficulties participants were having. For example, one game required the player to trace a shape on the screen, but when test participants did so they struggled to hold the iPad steady.