Semester Refelction

In my very first post, I defined a prototype as "a basic, physical model or representation of an idea. It can range from simple shape to a full-scale working model."

While this definition is correct, it is extremely limiting! It definitely did not prepare me for the course as it narrowed my scope and understanding. As Digital Prototyping has progressed, my views and understanding of the work that goes into developing products has deepened and I appreciate the process of prototyping far more. I enjoyed the iterative nature of the course and felt that it taught me a lot about what to look at when developing a product, how to approach testing and improvements, and about development and design in general.

This course has been both rewarding and taxing, with my initial video prototype concept not fully meeting the criteria for an interactive wearable technology, but I was determined to learn from the feedback and enjoyed the different approaches to prototyping, especially exploring physical prototypes with the Makey Makey. 

If you asked me what a prototype is today, I would define it as follows:
A prototype is a physical representation used to measure the feasibility of a design feature being included in a product or program. 

Prototyping is a rich process whereby specific interactivity, physical features, product feasibility, and many other aspects can be tested on their own or combined. The process is rewarding and leads to design iterations and improvements to the design of a product. Prototyping can prove costly if you attempt to prototype the full product, but if undertaken iteratively and planned well, can save costs of the overall project in the long run by testing smaller components or ideas separately to ensure 'parts of the whole' work before finalising the 'whole' and having to make many adjustments and changes that will be expensive and more time consuming. 

TwisterXO Testing Feedback

Users had fun testing TwisterXO during the final workshop. 

On a whole I received positive feedback and feel that there is promise in TwisterXO as a game.

Testing:

Users were presented with the following questionnaire:

TwisterXO

1. How simple was the game to understand? (circle one)

• Easy
• Moderate
• Difficult

2. How fun and engaging was the game (with 1 - not at all and 10 - awesome)

(circle one)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

3. Which game do you prefer? (pick one)

• Noughts & Crosses
• TwisterXO
• Normal Twister

4. Should Twister board body parts be included (left foot, right hand, etc)?

• Yes
• No

5. Apart from increasing the size of the board, what affordances could be added to increase the level of excitement and engagement?

_________________________________________________________________________

6. What is one thing you would change about the game? Think big, think wild, think extreme.

_________________________________________________________________________

Feedback:

I received feedback from 6 players and the response based on the questions was positive.

1. All of the users found the game and concept easy to understand without needing much explanation to start playing.
2. Based on all the players' ratings, the average level of engagement was 7.
3. 100% preferred TwisterXO to the original games.
4. Only 1 of the players suggested adding this element and only as part of increasing difficulty or levelling up.
5. A number of ideas were given:

• Sound for improved feedback (67%)
• Automatic spinner and sound (50%)
• Challenges to level up (4 in a row to win instead of 3) (33%)
• Introduce more players (33%)

6. In terms of taking the game to a new level, some ideas surfaced that could be fun to explore further:

• Make the game in a 3D space, so players can use the walls and ceiling to play too
• Get players to do a task to win (e.g. tap foot) 
• Place the mat on a balance board so players must stay in balance and think about their next move.

Based on these findings, I think TwisterXO holds promise as a commercial game.

I envision the final version having each player wear a coloured bracelet that identifies them to the board. The Twister Tiles respond to touch and the colour changes to match that of the person touching it and give haptic and  a soft beep sound as feedback when they touch. When one player has moved, a spinner spins automatically and announces the colour the other player must choose. On winning, the entire board will vibrate, the tiles they linked as 3-in-a-row will all be lit up in their colour and the other colours fade to grey.