DELIVERY
Mindscape is a card game for teenagers to learn about sharing personal content on social media, as it gives a guided and awareness experience.
Designed for teenagers 13+, with up to 4 players mindscape encourages young youth to think twice before sharing and posting personal or emotional content online as it can lead down to constructive consequences.
LET’S PLAY
Choose your cards
Each card represents a clue about the subject that occurred in an online event. In total there should be five cards, one of each colour.
DESIGN PROCESS
Researching the problem
I started this project focusing on users that were 50+ struggling with their use of social media. I wanted to gather information about older adults and their confidence level when it came to interacting with social media functions and the use of online privacy without needing assistance. I conducted several user interviews to prove my hypothesis on this subject and secondary research to further support it.
Solve the story
Each set of cards contains multiple icons or illustrative clues for a user to guess what significance the card represents.
Interview quotes
"In some ways yes and no but I click on the icons, and I find out what they are, I sort of explore a little bit."
01
Connecting Right vs. Wrong
Users are aware of what they post based on their purpose for using social media. Whether that’s for family, business, etc. They avoid controversy and exploit posting
02
Free Navigation
Users fiddle around with their chosen route until they are satisfied, without having the need to ask for assistance.
03
Social Media Features
Users don’t participate in what each social media platform has to offer. Such as groups, marketplace, and games. etc.
Win the game
The player that connects the story of the online event first wins the game
Interview quotes
" I typically wouldn’t be involved in any groups on Facebook. That would be my last resort. I don’t have anything to say or share on a regular basis on something like a group.
Pivot! Pivot! Pivot!
After confirming that there was no significant issue with older adults and their use of social media, I realized I was looking at the wrong target audience. Instead, I quickly switched to looking at teenagers and their use of social media engagement and online privacy.
(Revaluating my target audience I was able to only conduct secondary research that included the use of online articles and observational research of social media apps and the teens I worked with at my part-time job.)
I was interested to understand what causes and prevents, a teenager as they engage with social media. I created a visual anecdote grid that showcases barriers that a teenager can face by being online, and some possible actions during social media encounters.
Users
Underestimate the consequences of their online privacy Find they are restricted to full social media experiences Listen to their peers for advice more than their parents Believe they are more than capable of handling their privacy online by themselves
Needs
Take privacy of their online life more seriously Understand the uses of social media privileges & consequences
Insights
The user is super active on social media, but is not careful enough about what they post, what they like etc.
Brainstorming
I wanted to start exploring possible ideas that can help create an engaging experience for teenagers to learn from. Focusing more on the number of ideas rather than the quality.
Stroke of inspiration
Knowing that my target demographic was teenagers I wanted to find the best suitable solution that can make something exciting enough for youth to engage with. Observing such games teens play today, I was inspired by cards against humanity to create a card game as the best option to push forward with.
As with any game, there should always be a storyline for user engagement. I started drafting out storylines that would be taken seriously enough to grab my target audience's attention, along with thinking about how I wanted to unfold the structure of gameplay.
I conducted a user testing session by recruiting 6 participants to play the game, and receive feedback in order to continue to push design implementation. I had users try to solve the significance of each colour card , guess what it meant, and allow the user to connect the storyline together.
Tasks
solve the meaning behind each colour card
connect the storyline based on the clues & user assumptions
Metrics
How long it takes for a user to connect the meaning and storyline of the cards
Completion of the game
Scoring
Instructions & clarity
Visual aesthetics
Task difficulty
FINAL LOOK
After recieving feedback from initial user testing and making necessary changes to tighten up design structure, this is the final design I decided to go forward with. Keeping design aesthetics consistent, mindscape shows a fun, clean, and positive look to attract my target demographic.
MINDSCAPE
THESIS PROJECT
OVERVIEW
During my fourth-year thesis project, I focused on teens protecting themselves from social media. I designed an interactive game where users can have a chance to solve storylines of online incidents and learn from the consequences that it can bestow if they are not careful.
BACKGROUND
Social media plays a huge role in today’s society. As teenagers are constantly checking up on their social media, they don’t appear to be as mindful enough when it comes to their actions & judgement online.
THE CHALLENGE
Teen struggle to know the privileges and consequences
of social media engagement. It's easy for teens to get
caught up in peer pressure without recognizing what is
safe to share online.
Research findings
Prototyping and user testing
Testing Feedback
“solve the meaning behind each colour card connect the storyline based on the clues & user assumptions.”
“The hints are not obvious but not impossible.”
“The overall game was good but was confused around the format you wanted me to give it in? If anything I read it backwards.”
DURATION: 8 months
ROLE: Art Director & Production
TOOLS: Figma, Photoshop & Illustrator