Frankenfix
Design thinking game for 4th grade and up.
FrankenFix is a game designed to be affordable and to inspire creativity in kids.
We believe that creativity is a skill like any other, and learning how to go through the design thinking process can help kids excel in humanities, sciences, and the arts. It will encourage collaboration, failure, perseverance, and the spark for learning. We have tested the game with various Rhode Island schools.
I designed the play-flow experience with a psychology student from Brown University, and also created the children's illustrations below.
Problem
How can we design a simple and affordable game that teaches kids applied design thinking methodology?
The Providence Public School District (PPSD) has been struggling with low school performance for the past few decades, and is ready to try a new approach.
68%
of Providence schools found to have made insufficient progress in raising academic scores since 2006.
55%
of Providence schools were still identified as "needing improvement" in 2016.
62%
of elementary schools continue to cut creative courses in exchange for STEM curricula.
The Providence Innovation Zone is an initiative undertaken by the city to boost scores of the lowest performing schools through a 2-year period of experimentation. If the school fails, they close.
Designing a classroom game that’s affordable and adaptable for the Innovation Zone schools will help these underfunded schools foster STEAM environments in STEM-heavy classrooms.
Ideation & Prototypes
The first prototype sets up our overall gameflow:
Guide players through the steps of design thinking: observation, research, prototyping, testing, and presentation. The total time was determined by average duration of after-school extracurricular activities.
Initial Playthrough Path
Realizations
Some issues we ran into regarding this iteration during testing were its time consumption, lack of instruction manual, and its inability to be played without a supervisor.
No Instruction Manual
Needs Supervision
Takes too long
Original Branding: First Logo & Colorways
Colors were decided based on attention-grabbing levels. A rounded typeface presents a fun, childish, and approachable product. Designed by Arnon Karnkaeng
Iteration #2
Packaging designed in steps to direct players to play in a level-based system.
A spinner was used to pick Feedback, Group, or Process cards. Opening each level reveals directions for that level.
Critique at bottom. Users had to flip the box over to access the cards, which is an inconvenience.
User Testing
Throughout our numerous testing sessions and prototyping, we’ve received very helpful feedback from students and teachers through Google Classroom (G-Forms).
West Broadway Middleschool
Kickemuit Middleschool
St. Michael's Country Day School
William D'Abate Elementary School
Final Playflow
Understanding the User + Defining the Problem
User feedback leads kids to change their design solution
Team dynamics are changed to encourage co-operation under stress
The design solution’s execution process is changed to test critical thinking.
Teams critique each other’s work to build presentation skills
Final Product
Product Form
Die-cut cardboard packaging layout, labeled.
Instructions
The goal of the instructions is to empower kids to easily facilitate the game under a time restriction. The average class time is 45 minutes, and Frankenfix can be played under 30. In addition, the language and vocabulary of the instructions have been simplified to a 4th grade reading level.
