StepUP!, a gamified app to educate the public regarding urban planning policies in Singapore.
My Role
Sole UX Designer
Project Timeframe
~ 1 month
Tools Used
Figma
My Impact
In a short span of 1 month, I created eye-catching and fun UI screens as well as a working prototype to present to URA. This also included conducting research on content to include (UX writing).
The Problem Statement.
"How might we create a game that teaches urban planning to the general public of Singapore, at the same time ensuring that it is enjoyable so that they would constantly revisit the game again?"
In response to the problem statement, StepUP!, a captivating and interactive mobile app game that draws inspiration from the likes of Pokemon Go was developed.
This application strives to strike a harmonious balance between being informative and captivating, all while maintaining user-friendliness. To achieve this, game features such as multiplayer functionality, rewards systems, and augmented reality (AR) elements were implemented. The app's design is intentionally playful and lighthearted, tailored specifically to resonate with the primary target audience: students.
Market Research.
As I did not have much experience when it comes to game design, extensive research was conducted to understand what attracts consumers to games. I particularly focused on Pokemon Go, as our game concept is similar to Pokemon Go's VR aspect.
Other educational apps such as Memrise and Duolingo were also looked into as StepUP! aims to be an educational app regarding urban policies for the public. In this aspect, I particularly focused on how information that can be deemed as "dry" is being conveyed to users so that they would not get bored.
Pokemon Go
Duolingo
Some important takeaways from the market research include:
1. Rewards System
Human beings generally tend to be attracted to rewards and incentives. Any form of reward system such as a tier level, collecting badges and trophies entices users to be hooked and continue playing the game.
2. Usage of Colours and Tone
When it comes to gaming apps, a lot of colours are present and they are often vibrant and eye-catching. In terms of the general tone of how content is being conveyed, it is usually playful and in short sentences so that users' attention won't be lost.
3. Multiplayer vs Single Player
Pokemon Go allows for multiplayer so that friends can come together to play. For Duolingo, they have introduced "Friend Quests" where friends can challenge each other on different quests every week. The choice of multiplayer adds an extra depth to the game itself.
Meet our user personas.
John, a current polytechnic student who has a keen interest in urban policy planning is the primary target audience. He represents students/public who are interested in learning more about what goes on when it comes to policy planning.
Timothy, a secondary school student who loves to play games is our secondary target audience. He represents the rest of the student population as we aim to educate students who are not interested/have no idea of what is policy planning through our app.
Research, research and more research!
After identifying our target audience and creating the user personas, the team spent the bulk of the project timeframe conducting research on what content to include in the app. From looking at news, and reports to official websites, we sieve out important and insightful information that we can incorporate inside.
With the content we have, we brainstormed ideas on the type of "games" we could include and eventually came up with quests for players to embark on. Players have to form a team of 3-5, where they will head down to specific locations to solve the quests. The types of quests vary from location to location.
The locations we have included are places where trade-offs in urban policy planning play a significant role. For example, Clementi Forest was chosen because there was a debate by the government on whether to conserve it or build HDBs to tackle housing needs (there was a petition by the public to conserve). Embarking on this quest allows players to understand the tough decisions behind the scenes in urban planning, and factors policy makers have to consider.
Final UI Screens Created
Reflection and Final Thoughts...
As this was a short project with URA where the focus was more heavily on the content being delivered, there were various aspects of UX design that was not performed due to time constraint. Given more time, I would have liked to conduct user interviews, a more in-depth competitive analysis, and usability testing with the prototype to gain user feedback and thoughts.
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With that being said, it was a great experience to have my hands dirty on designing my first-ever game! It was indeed a fruitful learning experience for me and I have managed to improve on my UI design skills through this project.