Game control designer

A Makey Makey is an invention kit that allows learners to design their own computer game controllers. Buttons can be made from any material that conducts electricity.

Check out this video for some ideas on how it can be used.

Students create a set of Makey Makey buttons and use it to play a game. Next, they exchange controllers with other students and reflect on which controllers were intuitive and which designs proved more user-friendly and accessible.

Students' first design will sometimes be  unintuitive and difficult to play. 

Here is a typical example of what a student might make. It is difficult to tell which piece of fruit represents which arrow button. Does the banana function differently to the orange, capsicum, or lemon?

With a better understanding of more appropriate ways to design a user interface, designs such as this become more common.

It is clear which strawberry represents which arrow direction. The kiwi fruit are visually distinct from the strawberries by shape, colour, size, and positioning, indicating they have a different function to that of the strawberries.

However, tapping the strawberries could get messy quickly in comparison to the harder fruit above.