Balancing Engagement and Expectations in an Educational Game
Capstone TEAM
Design Lead(Me), 4 Product Designers
My responsibility
Product Design, UX Research
TIMELINE
6 Weeks, 2024
Summary
Faced with conflicting feedback from clients and users about the in-game currency system in an educational math game for K-5, I designed an optimized reward system that balanced child engagement with parental approval. This solution led to a 85% increase in parental satisfaction rates.
Context
Mathventures is a K-5 math game designed to make learning math engaging and fun.
Our team inherited the project from a previous capstone group that had already developed an engaging game experience.
Problem
Clients and users hold contrasting views on the current in-game currency system.
challenge
How can we redesign the reward system to maintain engagement while addressing parental concerns?
Research
I conducted focus group interview with nine kids aged 7 to 12 to understand their perspectives on game reward systems.
Key Takeaways
đ Visible Progress Boosts Motivation
Kids stay engaged when they see their growth through progress bars, badges, or milestones.
đ Frequent Rewards Sustain Engagement
Frequent, tangible rewards (stickers, unlockables) reinforce positive behavior and sustain engagement.
đ¨ Personalization Enhances Enjoyment
Customizing characters, themes, or difficulty levels gives kids a sense of ownership and excitement.
Ideate
Before designing solutions, we mapped the entire user journey to pinpoint friction points and opportunities for improvement in the current coin-based system.
Idea 1.0: Remove Coins â Direct Rewards
Instead of earning coins, children directly receive rewards (e.g., furniture to decorate their virtual room).
â
Encourages engagement
â Lacks personalization
We brainstormed and later settled on four game mechanics anticipated to enhance our game experience: XP (Experience Points) & Level Up, Collectibles, and Power-Ups.
âI suggested postponing the development of Power-Upsâbonus items for leveling up or providing hintsâgiven our goal of delivering a MVP prototype for quick user testing. Introducing Power-Ups would have added unnecessary complexity and exceeded our development timeline. The team agreed after discussion.
Idea 1.1: Remove Coins â Introduce Choice in Rewards
Instead of randomly assigning rewards, children select their prize from multiple options.
â
Enhances personalization & Maintains engagement
We brainstormed and later settled on four game mechanics anticipated to enhance our game experience: XP (Experience Points) & Level Up, Collectibles, and Power-Ups.
âI suggested postponing the development of Power-Upsâbonus items for leveling up or providing hintsâgiven our goal of delivering a MVP prototype for quick user testing. Introducing Power-Ups would have added unnecessary complexity and exceeded our development timeline. The team agreed after discussion.
Idea 2.0: Replace Coins with XP (Experience Points)
Children earn XP instead of coins, leveling up to unlock new rewards.
â
Strengthens progress tracking
â Reduces reward frequency, potentially decreasing motivation
Final Solution: A Hybrid System
After team discussions and research validation, we combined the best aspects of each idea:
â
XP & Leveling Up â Provides progress tracking
ââ
Collectibles & Choice â Ensures engagement & personalization
Iterate
XP bar
Through a quick usability test with children, we confirmed that the numbered XP bar was significantly clearer, helping users understand their progression better.
Collectibles
Initially, we considered granting one reward per completed game, but user interviews revealed that children preferred having choices. We iterated to a three-option selection system, enhancing engagement.
Design
Part 1 - Challenges & Prizes
XP serves as a measure of player progress and development within the game.
Part 2 - Prizes & Customization
Collectibles are decorative items users earn by finishing games.
Reflections
Usability Testing
We conducted usability testing with 8 kids, having them play both the old and new versions of the game. The new reward system received a rating of 4.5 out of 5, compared to 2.4 for the old version.
85%
increase in user satisfaction
âWhoa, an XP bar! I like it!â
âI love that we get to choose which collectibles we get after finishing the game!â
Client Approval â Overcoming Skepticism
Initially, our client was skeptical about using game mechanics as motivation tools. To address this, we conducted an informal user test with her daughter. Seeing her childâs excitement and engagement firsthand, the client gained confidence in the design, reinforcing its effectiveness.
Lessons Learned
âď¸ Balancing Creativity and Feasibility
⢠Early consideration of constraints ensures ideas remain practical and implementable.
⢠While we aimed for engagement, maintaining educational integrity was equally critical.
đź Empathetic Client Management
⢠Active listening and addressing concerns directly helped turn initial skepticism into support.
⢠User testing as evidence was crucial in persuading stakeholders.
đ Research Beyond the Textbook
⢠Standard UX methods often donât apply directly to child-centered design.
⢠Creative research activities like line judging and design journaling were invaluable.
Contents