Twisted in Time
There is a need for more representation in the content that is being taught to kids in schools. This has made it imperative to learn about people of color who have also helped shape our history. That being said, our idea is to create and design an interactive and educational board game that gives children the opportunity to learn about individuals they may not be taught in curriculum based education. We will include environmental, societal, and historical facts and figures that are normally only touched on during Black History or Hispanic Heritage months, if at all. Making this knowledge more available to children is beneficial to all ages, races and ethnicities. We believe this will teach kids about people who have had a major impact in society in both a fun and creative way. In a team of three we created this project for school. I was the art lead, I oversaw the content, user, design and figure research. Other aspects I was in charge of included the game story, digital illustrations, animations, packaging, mockups, and had a hand in the protoyping.
Finished Prototype
Research
We explored the current market trends, potential competitors, and identified user pain points.
In our research we found that there are no national or social studies standards to mandate what topics or historical figures must learn about. Studies show that there is an increase in minority students in student populations, but the curriculum is not reflective of that. Teachers often lack the content knowledge to effectively teach Black history. Existing curriculums, lack Black perspectives and sanitize versions of Black history. Stanford University researched data where students who were at high risk of dropping out were enrolled into one of the state's ethnic studies programs. These students earned 23 more credits toward graduation, on average, than those who did not.
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We also surveyed a range of teachers from different areas, and different student populations. We did make sure they taught our target demographic of elementary students between the ages of five and ten. Below is the survey, results, and direct quotes from the teachers.
Based on our results we came up with three potential users: a child of a minority background, a child not of a minority background, and a teacher.
These are the original moodboards for our brand and gameboard. Following that are original sketches of the minority figures included in our game, and iterations.
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Below is our game story and user journey with the app and gameboard.
Here is the flowchart for our app. The rectangles represent actions. The parallelograms are choices the user can make. The diamonds are pages.
Lo-fi Sitemap
Hi-fi App Sitemap
Final Character Designs
Below are the final historical figures and their 'accessory' which showcases what field they were in.
Below are the final character environments , with and without their accessory. There are also animations used throughout the app.
Hi-fi Designs
App Mockups
Below are the main pages that users will see through one round of gameplay.
Brand Guide
Typefaces, colors, and assets used.
Brand Mockups
Game Play Through
App Prototype