Explore! Interactive
Explore! Interactive is an educational iOS game that uses augmented reality (AR) to teach STEM concepts to elementary and middle school students. At the time of the project, the app was in its beta stage.
Role: Domain Research & Synthesis | User Testing | Interaction Design
Photo courtesy of LearnWithExplore.com
Background
The game’s first challenge taught students the basics of energy by asking them to build circuits with animated light bulbs and batteries. Using AR technology, the digital interface superimposes onto a table surface where physical playing cards (representing batteries) are placed. Employing AR meant that students could complete the challenge without the dangers of real-life circuit building.
The Challenge
Be quick to engage 3rd to 6th grade students in a class environment
Teach students how to use AR alongside physical playing cards
Encourage students to keep trying after an error is made
Design Considerations
Kids may have shaky hands and short attention spans in class
Their behavior can change when placed into project groups
Augmented reality was still an emerging technology in 2019
Domain & Competitive Research
Augmented Reality — culture and technology
STEM Field — science, technology, engineering, math
Gamification — the use of games in education
Insight: While the U.S. continues to fall behind the rest of the world in STEM scores and careers, evidence suggested that early exposure to STEM topics better equipped children for later learning. That requires integrating games into the classroom, which several products and companies were already on board with.
Designing for Brody & Bonnie
Our student Brody is a 3rd grader who:
Likes science class more than any other subject
Prefers interactive science projects over worksheet-based assignments
Enjoys showcasing his creativity and work with friends in class
Isn’t fond of super competitive games with only one chance of winning
Insight: By the time Brody becomes a freshman in high school, he’ll have decided whether or not he is a “math or science person”. This means that at some point in junior high, there’s a chance he’ll lose his childhood interest in STEM.
As a teacher, Bonnie has several responsibilities:
Teaching and preparing lessons
Grading homework and assisting students
Communicating with parents
Responding to administration requests
Insight: Lesson prep is last on Bonnie’s task list, so she’ll search for quick tools to keep her students interested while advancing curriculum requirements. After getting approval to use outside tools, Bonnie still needs help implementing the game in the classroom.
How might we create a supplemental tool for teachers’ STEM lessons in order to engage their students in a fun and meaningful experience, and build positive connotations to STEM that encourage further exploration?
Concept Designs
Design decisions were stacked against four principles:
Fosters Growth — content should be challenging and allow room for trial and error, leading the way for growth, development, and a sense of accomplishment
Easy to Implement — the product should allow teachers to implement it at their discretion without time commitments or specific curriculum requirements
Drive It Home — design will aid in progressing the game through storytelling, incentivizing users to continually achieve new goals and encouraging recallability
No Experience Needed — the product should suit the individual learning level of students and inspire them to experiment with concepts inside and outside the app
Are We Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
We tested a digitized version of our prototype at the Pop-Up Science Fair in Homewood, IL, an interactive (and very well-attended) summer science event for local K-12 students. It was a high-energy environment — the kids were excited to share their many ideas with us! Our young and imaginative testers moved quickly through the prototype, often answering the questions before they were even posed.
Onboarding Experience
Our solution incorporates the backstory of Explore! Interactive, whose main protagonist is Atom, a futuristic robot that was scrapped together by underground scientists and engineers. Atom is tasked with defeating the evil Dr. Stonebreaker, the owner of Stonebraker Industries who aims to replace the human race with robots. Dr. Pixel leads the rebellion from the inside of Stonebraker Industries itself. In playing the game, Brody’s goal is to help Atom and Dr. Pixel succeed.
We decided to shift focus onto Brody the student after seeing how independent kids could be at the science fair.
Results from Usability Testing
Instructional flow was quick and easy, so additional steps (elevator floors) could be added to the game as needed
Character selection brought forth the most excitement from users despite its limited customization
More illustrations and labels were needed to convey to users that they were in an elevator, speaking to the story element
Speech bubbles were text heavy and the toolbox task relied on visual color indicators, so to increase accessibility, audio and haptic components would need to be integrated into the design with further testing