Week 2 Progress: 1/29 - 2/5

1. My goals for this week were plentiful in my attempt to catch up and also simultaneously work on as many things as I possibly could.

2. As far as what worked this week, I think it was overly ambitious to create THIS many goals especially as we were also working on UX this week, but the many goals allowed me to focus on a few key ones that provided me with some decent progress and the ability to connect with people and ask them questions. I completed most of the goals, but the biggest failure this week is not creating another Adobe XD rendition. I got started working on it a little during the middle of the week and that really helped me. I should've done more midweek, but I definitely tried. For the progress this week, I focused on creating some visual assets that would help me in my survey, starting with moodboards that can be found here:

Each are different and I tried to showcase a cool tone, warm tone, and mix of colors and styles. Then, I created the survey in which I sent out to as many people as possible. Not many people replied in the amount of time I gave them (which Annie warned me about), but I got a response from my younger sister, Kennedy, which was very helpful as she was the closest in age to the 10 - 16 age group. I will be seeing her later tonight, so I get the ability to get a photo of her interacting with my original Adobe XD prototype. From the responses, I can tell that more people like the cool tone theme and the mix of cool and warm tone. It was a 50/50 for the 3rd and 1st moodboards, so I will be remembering that as I work on visuals. But, as of now, no one from the 10 - 16 group has responded, so I will have to take the opinions with a grain of salt. 3. I integrated feedback from Annie by trying to get started earlier in the week. I also integrated the feedback from my peers by sketching up another design layout idea for the next Adobe XD creations. (Although I did not create a new one this week, I will be full force in design next week so I will then!)

Many people liked the cool tone mood board, so I will be taking their advice and using the juxtaposition of the fish colors to offset the coolness of the water and theme. But, the UI will remain blue then, because that is what they find most satisfying. They also gave their opinions on what they find to be the most helpful when they are creating goals and habits, which I will integrate as much as possible within my design. A few people were confused by the initial Adobe XD design I presented them in the survey from last semester, so I need to focus on making sure my UI/UX is as clean, simple, and understandable as possible. Finally, I turned my focus to the wireframing of the actual game. I can still work on code while I am figuring out the visuals, so I started the GitHub repository for my project as well as added some initial scripts with descriptions. This download will work if you want to download it.

https://vimeo.com/910128838

4. What surprised me this week is just how productive you can be piecing things little by little even if you don't have the best start in the week. Also, I definitely thought certain moodboards would do better than others but it was unexpected more people liked the fully blue / cool tone moodboard instead of mostly a mixture. UX/UI Week:

Document:

The full list of data as it currently stands at 10 AM on 2/5 is located here. More people will be replying later.

Summary: I touched on it a bit already but I asked a variety of questions in a survey as well as presented my peers with imagery that I thought best describes the moods I am going for. I asked them about colors and goal completion tips as well as made them try my initial Adobe XD design for peer feedback and advice. I also touched on the fact that not many people were able to respond in the amount of time I gave them (totally my fault), but I did get a small handful of 3 responses from people who are 22 or younger (able to remember younger years easier) as well as my sister responding who is one of the closest ones in age. The feedback on the Adobe XD model was that it looks nicely put together but:

My participants are having trouble navigating my layout, as it is either nonintuitive or confusing with no help buttons available. So, I need to remember to include some helpful "?" in my next functions so when people get stuck, they can continue. I think some of it has to do with the fact that I am sharing software with people that they may not know how to navigate as well as the fact that its not really completed fully in the walkthrough as well. Many of them gave great specific tips that applied to them! Some also left some encouraging advice quotes which I am hoping to fully involve most of the quotes within the game. I learned from research that if you build adolescents' confidence as they complete their goals, then they will be more likely to continue to try, form goals, and eventually habits. So, I want the fish to have some "voicelines" that have come from real peers and adolescents and have helped someone once before.

Lessons Learned:

• Make sure to send things out early.

• Peer advice allows you to see things from a different POV and get different ideas!

• I will be using all of this information to shape how users interact with the app.

  • It will first be used in my newest Adobe XD layout drawings as you may be able to see me reasoning in my newest layout drawing with the information we got from others.

• Adding new animals: some people suggested some great ones like axolotls, whales, and sharks.

  • Potential new rewards

• Adding new "voicelines" / encouragment.

• Making sure the design layouts make sense to my users and are accessible to all.