Case Study: Tick Tock Tax Trivia


CHALLENGE

Design a game that would be part of the client’s 365-day on boarding
program for all new hires. The game would be facilitated on one of the
last days of the of the program. The idea was to create an interactive, real-time, high energy, multi-player quiz game where individual learners
and teams would compete for the highest earned points. At the same
time the quiz would assess the learners’ knowledge, reinforce the
materials and promote networking and group team building

Project type: Pub Style Trivia Game

MY ROLE

  • Creative Director
  • UX Designer

WHAT I DID

  • Requirements Gathering
  • Wireframes
  • Screenmaps
  • User Interface Design
  • Usability Testing
  • Demo

Requirements Gathering and Goals

To start the project, we first needed to understand what the goals of the project were and how they would transition into the game itself.

The main takeaways were:

  • Use technology to increase interaction and engagement in a large group setting (200-400 learners)
  • Lesson framework: Users can take lessons and access learning tools
  • Two different modes of play: an asynchronous “teaching” mode and synchronous “gaming” mode. The major difference being, in Teaching mode, learners answer sets of questions at their own pace. In Gaming mode, all teams answer questions in real time
  • Create a facilitator mode that allows for a facilitator to run the game by releasing a series of questions and have the ability to load the questions into the game through XML, as well as show feedback and results
  • Use a leaderboard to show the overall points for each team and show the top ten teams in real time.

Requirements Gathering and Goals

To start the project, we first needed to understand what the goals of the project were and how they would transition into the game itself.

  • Use technology to increase interaction and engagement in a large group setting (200-400 learners)
  • Lesson framework: Users can take lessons and access learning tools
  • Two different modes of play: an asynchronous “teaching” mode and synchronous “gaming” mode. The major difference being, in Teaching mode, learners answer sets of questions at their own pace. In Gaming mode, all teams answer questions in real time
  • Create a facilitator mode that allows for a facilitator to run the game by releasing a series of questions and have the ability to load the questions into the game through XML, as well as show feedback and results
  • Use a leaderboard to show the overall points for each team and show the top ten teams in real time.

Wireframes and Screen Maps

Our biggest goal was to create an intuitive interface that was easy to use
and only contained the necessary components:

  • The question and possible answers
  • The maximum point value for the question
  • The timer set at the maximum time, counting down to zero
  • Their total score
  • Their team/individual rank

This would allow the user to focus on the gameplay and not be
distracted by the interface.

We created screen maps for each mode to show each screen type and action in the experience. This was a crucial step as the game flow had to go back and forth between the facilitator and the users.

For the facilitator mode we needed to ensure it was easy for the tfacilitator to control the game (stopping and restarting), show feedback, see progress and project the leaderboard. We used pie charts and colours to help show the percentage of users that answered the question correct and when they had completed a question.

Wireframes and Screen Maps

Our biggest goal was to create an intuitive interface that was easy to use
and only contained the necessary components:

  • The question and possible answers
  • The maximum point value for the question
  • The timer set at the maximum time, counting down to zero
  • Their total score
  • Their team/individual rank

This would allow the user to focus on the gameplay and not be
distracted by the interface.

We created screen maps for each mode to show each screen type and action in the experience. This was a crucial step as the game flow had to go back and forth between the facilitator and the users.

For the facilitator mode we needed to ensure it was easy for the tfacilitator to control the game (stopping and restarting), show feedback, see progress and project the leaderboard. We used pie charts and colours to help show the percentage of users that answered the question correct and when they had completed a question.

User Interface Design

Using the client’s branding guidelines and the wireframes we moved into
the user interafce design phase. For the game visuals and interface, we used a clean, modern game look. We used animation and sound effects to help enhance the UI and gain the user’s attention.

For the two different modes, we used contrasting colour schemes to
make it simple to differ one mode from the other.

Gaming Mode

Teaching Mode

Result

The game was a total success. Users were engaged and teams took full advantage of this networking opportunity. It reinforced all the concepts learned and the value of team-based problem solving. The client continues to use the game for other training programs within the organization.

The best part was that we won Gold in the Best Use of Games for Learning category, Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Learning Awards.

Check out the demo for a full simulation of Tick Tock Tax Trivia.