Speed Maps
Overview
Using the concept of play, this project required each designer to come up with a way to translate or recontextualize one or more experience into a different format. Because a lot of games involve speed, I decided to translate speed into something visual.
Speed Maps is an exploration of speed in an interactive app. Each game is a different visual representation of speed and corresponds with an animation. Using After Effects, I communicated the concept of the game through the documentation video. The speed maps that users generate by playing the games are an expression of their performance throughout various challenges.
Client: Design Challenge
Length: 4 weeks
Completed in: Fall 2022
Role: End-to-end design including research, content organization, storyboarding, iteration, wireframing, prototyping, user testing, and final presentation.
The Challenge
The challenge was to find a way to translate speed in a way that was gamified while making sure I was taking full advantage of the mobile device format. Mobile devices offer a lot of unique capabilities especially when it comes to gaming. Therefore, creating an experience that was more interactive than just testing how fast a user could complete a task was my main focus throughout the conceptual development of this project.
Design Process
Research: I gathered inspiration from many different iPhone games. When testing out games, I also kept in mind that my intent was less to stress the user out with a time restriction and more to just translate their given speed. The result would be something that was both linked to their performance but also playful or delightful to watch.
User Testing: After creating an initial idea for the format of my game, I used bodystorming to test the user experience: their general understanding of how the game works and feeling or enjoyment when playing. Below are screenshots of my process, questions I asked each participant, and answers from 2 users.
Wireframes:
Major Considerations / Design Pivots:
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Using the results from the bodystorming exercise, I came up with the number of games and tried to cover as many actions possible on an iPhone as possible.
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After a second round of testing and feedback, I decided to change 2 of the games from their original illustrations so that they matched the abstract style of the other animations. Below are the before and after illustrations.
Reflection
This project pushed me to use a more conceptual approach when coming up with a design solution. Because my prototype was a game, it didn't have as many required functionalities as many other digital designs that I have worked on. Because of this, I learned a lot about the value and importance of user testing at various stages in my process. Also, the feedback on my final presentation made me realize that documentation can really help users visualize an idea. Although I wasn't able to make this game fully functional as an app, I thought the documentation video did a good job explaining my intentions for the final product.