Week 3 Progress: 2/5 - 2/12

1. My goals for this week were:

This week we had 30% presentations where we were required to show off what we have been working on for the last few weeks. I have been spending a few weeks trying to finalize my work from last semester, so I am a bit behind. I wanted to spend a lot of time coding so that I had something technical and visual to show people. The link to my GitHub is here. But, these videos better showcases what exactly I have made this week!

Adobe XD / Visual Video: This video especially focuses on what makes up the tutorial.

https://vimeo.com/912347760

Unity / Code / Technical Video: This video especially focuses on how the fish as GameObjects interact with the code, environment, and player. Tracking goals, adding fish, and having properties is showcased.

https://vimeo.com/912348133

I also spent a little bit of time this week drawing and working with the steakholder, Olivia. These are the sketches I drew up made from the results of the most common "fish tank" related aquatic animals. I asked Olivia which ones she liked and put a small tally next to it. I asked her to just focus on the style of animal and not so much the color.

Then we talked a little about the quiz and I took some notes. A lot of it reiterating the feedback I was getting from others. Super important coming from the stakeholder too.

Her answers were especially interesting because she didn't really seem to be sold on the social aspect actually being helpful and she really didn't have much other logic besides she did the things she wanted to do and didn't do the things she didn't. But, her opinion still mattered to me and I tried to see if she could offer anything else like design advice / inspiration. 2. Although I didn't complete all of them again (mostly skimped on the visual design this week for coding) I feel as though I am way closer to 30% than I have been! I was able to make a Unity wireframe for the game's basic interactions between user and fish. I coded a tutorial, but mostly showcased what it would actually be like in the updated Adobe XD file. It was important for me this week to get in contact with my younger sister, Olivia who just turned 11, and ask her opinion on what she thought of my survey and project. I had a video call with her where we went over some drawings and her survey answers. I asked her a few more specific questions to try to get her to open up a little bit.

But, overall I got some information I could work with and got started on my coding. She had mentioned that she was completely lost when I showed her the Adobe XD file. She did not know where to click or what to do. I realized I needed more help buttons and a tutorial, which Annie also suggested. I made sure to include both of those in the newest version of my Adobe XD file, which can be found here. I did not get the chance to test it with her yet, which will be important going into next week, but I did get enough done where I felt as though I got a lot done. I am late with the turn in but I am hoping I made some major clarity changes that makes people feel more confident and understanding with my project. 3. Olivia gave me some feedback like I had mentioned before, which I took into account as I was making the visual file and the code file. However, I also took some of the feedback I got from the minimal amount of people who did my survey. I took the majority vote on the most popular fish and animals and sketched them out this week for my design and thinking of future species related rewards. I also asked Olivia which ones she liked out of the bunch and if she had any other favorites. I also spent some time working with my mentor and he went over my last Adobe XD file and tried to pinpoint the most alarming issues that I could fix before the presentation came. One of those was clarity, as he also suggested a tutorial. But, he also wanted me to make the UI much less complicated as a way to make it more accessible to all people (also just because some of the windows open in a whole new window when they could be a pop-up.) Lastly, Annie suggested I spend a chunk of time making a good tutorial that is understandable, and through the implementation of "?" buttons that explain things and a required tutorial, I think people will be way less confused. I suppose I will see when I do my presentation. 4. The most surprising thing about this week was probably the fact that Olivia thought that using an app like that with her friends may actually be distracting for her because she thinks friends are easy to be social with but hard to do serious work with sometimes. She said she would get distracted. I am still considering adding local play and if she really feels that way then there's always a chance for her to play by herself as well, providing both options for both types of people.