Project Overview

MoodMiles is an app that enables young adults to take charge of their mental health through a personalized physical health program that is tailored to the user’s physical capabilities. Waverly students watch as a cutscene explains the premise of MoodMiles. This review covers the impact and understanding of the app and its instructions.

Room and Procedure Description:

Abrams Planetarium. 1st Floor, Front Entrance.  Brightly lit.  KCAD Students presenting Revolutionary War Game card designs on Wacom Cintiqs to 7th grade students and their teachers. Waverly students tap through Snooze the Sloth’s guide to the game.

Patterns from observed behavior:

“Makes perfect sense, it's pretty good.”  (Student response after inquiry about how they understand the game and its instructions.)

Engagement was high, the students were nodding and comprehending the game while seeming excited to learn about the different aspects of play.

When attempting to swirl the screen for Snooze’s attack the player became confused and another developer had to assist the student in understanding how to follow the pattern to finish the attack.

Students were impatient for the game to truly start, they bounced their feet while waiting for the video to finish explaining how the game works.

Some students from each group tended to dominate the post game conversation and even when asked their opinions some of the quieter students were hesitant to share their thoughts.

Students responded most positively to the step counter, enjoying the physical action to the gameplay.

Patterns from interviews:

Students had a difficult time understanding exactly what the enemy was and if the animal friends were there to help or if they were something the player also had to defeat.

Students said they understood the game when asked, yet when they were playing they showed signs of confusion, asking follow up questions and furrowed eyebrows showed they needed us to guide them on how to play.

They worry that the game could become repetitive if someone is trying to continuously overcome the same boss.

Students really enjoyed the fact that a video game could be used to help their mental health in an active way instead of just being used as a distraction tool.

Students were able to find potential problems and identify solutions as well as suggestions on what else might be fun to include to keep the game from becoming monotonous.

Patterns from Round 2 of Interviews:

U1 didn’t understand that they had to click out of Bruno the Bear to continue the game

U1 didn’t understand they had to keep holding down the circle and follow it during Snooze’s attack

U2 didn’t understand they needed to click the arrow without instruction from the game designers

U2 wanted the tapping section to be clearer; the student stated it was “a little vague,” and there was no instruction on “how you had to tap the little animals twice”

U3 struggled to read the text “text is too small and font isn’t readable at the current size”

U3 worried that Snooze the Sloth could make users anxious about the fact that they had set a sleep mode, yet aren’t falling asleep

U3 worried that the game doesn’t make it clear that negative feelings aren't bad, they just need to be in control/balanced

U4 enjoyed the game and said it was a “Self-explanatory” game

U5 stated that they would like the game to “Reword Zippy’s inhale instructions” as it wasn’t written that they needed to follow the screen's guide