I redesigned an educational game for kids to be more immersive and replayable.
24
New Locations & Rooms
18
New Side Quests
300%
Increased Game Interactions
450%
Improved Replayability
Project Overview
What - Prototyping a redesign of a popular educational video game for kids from the 2000s.
Why - To provide our client with a prototype for pitching the remake of the game to potential investors.
How - Our team designed the project in collaboration with a kids' research team across 5 design sprints.
Result - A prototype that increased the original game's replayability, inclusivity and turned it into an open world experience.
Client
FJ Lennon
Role
Product Designer
Team Size
4 members
Project Year
2022
Duration
5 sprints (4 weeks each)
Research
Participatory Design
Expert Review
User Playtesting
Tools
Figma
Shotcut
Bamboo Paper
What is Cool School?
Cool School was a popular conflict resolution PC game for kids in the 2000s, which died with flash games.
My goal was to recreate the classic game from scratch for my client as a prototype for the modern audience of kids, so he could present it to the Federal Department of Education and get the game remake project approved.
The Problem
The original game followed a linear plot, where solving in-game conflicts would give you a trophy, and the game would end on collecting all of the trophies.
This linear structure limited the game's replay value, especially in the current market where almost all video games have elements of replayability.
The linear gameplay allowed for limited exploration and interactions
Kids now are more comfortable with tablets and phones than PCs
Diversity and inclusion are more important now than 20 years ago
User Research
We decided to collaborate on-site with the UMD KidsTeam - a research group of kids, to gather qualitative data, test our prototype iterations and get new ideas for the game.
Contextual Inquiry
We observed the kids playing from a distance, noting their comments and reactions, and helping where needed.
Likes/Dislikes Session
At the end of playtime, we would ask them what they liked and disliked, and how would they improve the game.
Layered Elaboration
We asked them to draw on printouts of game screens, letting them draw on top of each other's ideas.
Key Observations
Importance of Identity
Kids associated the game avatar with their own identity
Freedom to Explore
They wished to be as free in the game as a virtual world
Immersive Experience
The game didn't feel relatable or engaging enough
Solution 1: Character Customization
"I want to change my character's shape and color the way I want"
To give them a stronger sense of identity, I designed a feature that let players create their own character.
I added more personalization through apparel shops and their interactions with different characters.
1st Design Sprint
Final Design Sprint
Solution 2: Open World Experience
"More places to go in the game with different designs will be nice, like another world to explore"
To make players feel more free in the game, I redesigned the game as an open world. This would allow the kids to roam, explore, and find conflicts to resolve on their own, also finding many interactions along the way.
Before (1st Sprint)
After (Final Sprint)
Solution 3: More interactions and relatable plots
"You can add side missions to the main quest"
I added quests, rewards, secrets and several in game interactions with characters and objects around the school to make the game more immersive.
Based on our research, and with the help of the client, I also updated the original plots to be more relatable and inclusive to modern kids.
Before (1st Sprint)
After (Final Sprint)
A Refined Game Experience
Original Assets
"I like the avatar style but it didn't let me choose more options"
I drew all new assets for the game using Adobe Illustrator.
I designed player character and NPCs as cute colored shapes to minimize gender, skin, cultural and body shape exclusion.
Motion and Audio
"I want to see them move and talk like real people"
I animated game characters with my team and created cutscenes.
We also added background music and audio for text dialogues to make the game fluid and more accessible than before.
Before and After
Music Room (Original Game)
Music Room (Re-Design)
High Fidelity Prototype
Using our design and research from all our design sprints, we created a cohesive playable prototype in Figma for our client.
Reflections
I discovered many internal biases during research when they were proven wrong.
Working with kids was a lot of fun, and very different than research with adults.
Kids give rich qualitative data when they are having fun, perhaps we should have research playsessions with adults too.
I got to work with one of my childhood heroes as my client. Having him enjoy my work was an experience I will never forget.
What's Next?
Based on what I learnt from this project, I will work on my communication skills to get my message across stakeholders better.
Our client will present our prototype to the Federal Department of Education to get the game remake approved.
The product could benefit from further research, professional graphic designers to polish the assets and good voice actors.
.png)
