Summary:
This week (Mar.21-27), our product took in accessibility features into consideration.
What we have done:
This week witnessed the return of the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco. Two of our team members, Jeffery and Shan, attended. There was a reunion with ETC alumni (image attached).
Playtest with Brenda Harger (03.19)
Brenda Bakker Harger is a theatre director (MFA Carnegie Mellon University), improviser, and professor of Entertainment technology at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center where she teaches improvisational acting and leads diverse interdisciplinary projects. As our project consultant, she brought up a few points that make us re-consider the decision of Culture Lite, as she believed that digging deeper in culture identity with aspects like ethnicity and sexuality can make the activity more impactful. Keeping only six aspects in Music, Food, Hobby, etc. might not be as meaningful. Although we valued this comment, we decided to keep Culture Lite considering client’s and instructors’ needs of fewer and lighter aspects.
Client Meeting (03.21)
This week’s client meeting again focused on question phrasing during gameplay and will be finalized once backend features have been completed.
Instructor Meeting (03.25)
Several stretch goals have been brought up during this meeting. One additional feature could allow the facilitator to customize categories in the cultural wheel and the wrap up report (images attached) to better guide the group discussion. These will also be considered once backend features have been completed.
Programming
Looking at frontend implementation, the graphics and user interface has been updated based on playtest feedback (screenshots attached). For example, touch movement has replaced the joystick for more intuitive interactions. All screens have been fixed to portrait orientation, instead of rotating between portrait and landscape. Backend server and algorithms for puzzle and team generation have been iterated to accommodate a scaled audience.
Art/UI/UX
To make our gameplay more accessible from a visual perspective, colors from the cultural wheel have been updated and approved by the contrast checker (images attached).
Page design for login and building player’s cultural wheel has another iteration (screenshot attached).
What we plan to do:
A few major playtest plans are happening next week with an increased number of guests.
