ARISE
Encouraging patient mobility and smiles through an AR scavenger hunt
Duration: July - Oct. 2020
Team: 1 pm, 1 dev, 1 illustrator
Tools: Figma, Miro
My Contributions
Delivered UX flows & wireframes for the game’s inventory, quest, and login screens
Published a UI style guide to establish consistent design and accessibility standards
Facilitated team-wide workshops to roadmap future mechanics and features
In a clamshell 🦀
The folks at SpellBoundAR believe that play is an essential part of healing. Their newest game, ARISE, sends young hospital patients on an undersea scavenger hunt to keep them happy and active while they’re recovering.
I came aboard in mid-2020 to refresh the game’s interfaces before it made a splash at its clinical trial debut.
Objectives
01
Refresh beta UI elements with playful and visually-accessible theming
02
Identify opportunities for "quick UX wins" that could be addressed before the clinical trial
03
Develop a backlog of mechanics/features to seed future development
Final designs
Refreshing beta UI assets
The previous UI featured illustrated graphics that didn’t translate well to a mobile interface. I developed a simpler UI library that followed established interaction and accessibility patterns while still immersing players in the game.
Main menu
Pre-Refresh
Long reach to access menu for a mobile screen
Confusing mix of gameplay features and settings in one dropdown
Un-themed hotbar with limited personalization
Post-Refresh
Accessible chest menu for housing gameplay features that’s separate from a settings menu
Themed player information with a customizable profile picture
Inventory
Pre-Refresh
Arrow icon with unclear purpose atop the screen
Long reach to access on a mobile device
Small previews of only a few items
Post-Refresh
Integrated drawer in chest UI
Dedicated tabs to differentiate between cosmetics, decorations, and quest items
Larger touch targets with tooltips
Quests
Pre-Refresh
Unclear tap and scroll interactions on quest list
Small preview of AR target
Post-Refresh
Simpler quest previews visible in the chest UI
Added support for sub-tasks and visual representation of quest rewards
New interaction to claim quest rewards (juicy!)
Dedicated help screen for each sub-task with supplementary instructions
Accounts
Pre-Refresh
Difficult for caregivers to manage longer lists
Limited customization options (just name of city)
Outdated branding
Post-Refresh
Additional account data displayed on save file previews (in order of most-recently accessed)
2-tap selection to limit accidental clicks and support deletion
Integration with chest UI to teach new interaction method
Enhanced account creation flow that allows more customization
Process
01
Gameplay flow diagrams
Before diving into the project, I documented the game’s existing mechanics and flows so that the entire team—from sales to development—was working from the same knowledgebase.
02
Research
Note:
Since we were on a tight deadline, I leveraged the team's existing body of research to inform my designs
Child Life Interviews
Our customer support specialist Dr. Tammy Barnes interviewed ~30 caregivers and specialists about pediatric care. Her research helped us understand the hospital environment and revealed opportunities where ARISE could have the most impact on patients’ recovery.
Playtesting
The team had a repository of feedback from previous hospital trials and friends-and-family testing, which revealed urgent usability and accessibility concerns.
03
Design workshops
Using our pre-existing research as a foundation, I facilitated a 2-day internal workshop series to align the core team on the future vision for ARISE.
04
Sketches & low-fidelity
I started designing by sketching simple interaction flows and simple 2D and 3D interfaces.
I then transferred a handful of concepts into low-fidelity wireframes for critiques with my team.
Other projects with SpellBound
From 2016-2018, I designed (and programmed) 5 other AR experiences at SpellBound for short-term patient engagement. Here are links to some of my favorites:
Poseidon’s Plunder (2018)
Myth Card Series (2017)
Magic Portal (2018) - Check out the utility patent, too!
Wrap-up
After my contract finished, ARISE successfully went into its clinical trial with MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital and continued limited testing at CS Mott Children’s Hospital.
I truly loved getting to design for SpellBound again—there’s something magical about how kids light up when they play with new technologies that continues to inspire me as a tinkerer. Best wishes to the team on their next iteration!
Thanks for reading this! 🙌