Week 11

This week we focused on displaying our digital prototypes to our class mates and to gather feedback needed to further develop the game within the following weeks. 

The following photos display the current layout of our game:

We also have a end of level trove data page to show, but unfortunatly we were having technical difficulties with the page, so it was not shown within the digital prototyping element of the class. 

Questions that were asked: 

• Do you like the design layout?
• What do you think about difficulty of the game?
• Do you understand the goal of the game?
• Do you know what elements of the game gain you points or diminish your points score?

Feedback accumulated:

• the users didn't know how to game worked at the start
• many of the users didn't see the 3 hearts/lives system 
• the users couldn't see the star box page box 
• they wanted a bigger screen interface
• the users wanted the trove/star box page to be displayed better
• More noticeable return to game button
• Not very intuitive game , and  we need an indicating system which can tell which fish we can eat

From the feedback gathered we discovered that many of the aesthetic elements may not please all users that play the game but small changes will be made to further develop to aesthetic and functional elements too appease the majority of users. 

At the end of the contract session, the group decided on what further developments of the game had to be done and the plan is for the following weeks. 

In the following weeks we hope to:

- change the layout of the trove pages

- further develop the javascript elements of the game 

- introduce a tutorial page 

- collaborate all elements of the game 

Recently i have been doing the tutorial page, it included the following html pages:

From the feedback gathered, i have discovered that there needs to be a couple more steps added to tutorial. Next week i hope to develop the tutorial page and start the final report.

Lecture:

In this weeks lecture we focused on the different kind of interactions we were shown examples about what today has to hold. We learnt about the different kinds of HCI which included  ubiquitous, ambient, physical/tangle, persuasive and mixed reality/augmented reality. it was interesting about the different interactions and how it is not always just a one-on-one interaction,  

Week 10

This week we discussed what progress we have made over the break. Rachel described how she made developments within the javascript component of the game and how Ailsa had drawn all the fish components of the game.

Within the contact session, the group had a few strong workers to said to our co-workers as much of the trove content has not been finished after a week break. After this we brushed the air and discussed what changes had to be made within the finial application. This included the aesthetic elements of the design and what the potential users wanted to see. 

For next week, we decided what work had to be done to complete the digital prototyping component of this course. Each of us were assigned several tasks that they must complete before next week. 

My tasks:

Start developing the tutorial page and start the finial assignment project.

Nik tasks:

Finish off the Trove components of the game and make sure everything is corresponding with the layout of the established java script layout. 

Ailsa tasks:

To draw the remanding fish for the game.

Eric tasks:

To help Nik with completing the trove components of the game.

Rachel's tasks:

To complete the Javascript, HTML and CSS components of the game for next weeks Digital prototyping assessment. 

Within the lecture we learnt about how to deliver and produce our finial assessment tasks for this course. This include: 

• The Major Project Final Delivery 
• Portfolio
• Online Reflective Journal 

Within the lecture, we saw a number of examples of the portfolio project and how they should be represented. My stress towards the portfolio project is developing as i don't know a lot of javascript elements and may struggle within the development of this assignment. Besides that component, i think i will throughly enjoy the development of my portfolio as i really enjoy developing websites. 

Reading the criteria for the major project, i have been able to gage the professionalism of the final assignment and how much detail has to go into the final project. Within this assignment, i will be focusing my major attention on this part and make sure all information in accumulated for this component. 

Within the online defective journal, i hoped i accumulated enough information each week to fulfill the criteria. In the following weeks, i will be going through old lecture slides and notes to make all information is correctly displayed within the blog site. 

Colour scheme for portfolio: 

Inspiration for Portfolio:

The inspiration for my portfolio is girly and fun. I want all the colours within the portfolio to present me. 

The two photos i have shown above display the inspiration for my portfolio. 

Week 9

This week was the PROGRESS demonstration week. aahhhhhh... it was scary but overall i think the demonstration went well. The whole group contributed well to the tasks assigned to them. It took a while for me to complete the progress document but we finished it! We all decided to speak all together at the presentation. We wrote a speech and demonstrated the application as well as we could. 

This week, we discussed our part B assignment and what had to be finished to get the assignment done. We decided on the final dates for our project and what had to be done by when.  

We collected everyone tasks that had been implemented for the final application and finalised on all the changes that have been made to the initial concept. 

Changes that have been made to the initial concept 

Interactivity

From the feedback given, there are many changes that have been put in place to benefit the finial application. To properly describe the changes, we have broken the application down into a number of steps to show how the changes have occurred.

In the initial concept, we discussed how the game would open with an article of the Great Barrier Reef that describes the damaging effects of human interaction with the reef. This was done to take the user through a basic timeline of the reef; showing the effects that the Great Barrier Reef has had due to the effects of human interaction. After much thought and feedback we decided to remove the article and put in an instructions page. After receiving feedback from the paper prototype, this was changed to an interactive tutorial instead.

When the tutorial page is displayed, the user will have the option to click the “PLAY NOW” button or the option to go through the tutorial. When the user has finished the tutorial or alternatively clicked the “PLAY NOW” button, there will be a page prompting the user for their name. This has to been incorporated to make the game feel more personal for the user. A high scores leaderboard will be displayed at the end of the game. If the user scores in the top 5, their name and score will replace another’s in the leaderboard.

In the application, the game will generate a fish that can be manipulated by the user; the game will also generate many other marine species from the Great Barrier Reef that cannot be manipulated by the user. In the initial idea we did not arrange a specific number of fish species to be displayed in each level, but through the progress we have made of the application, we have decided to arrange 5 different species of marine species to be displayed in each level; meaning that there will be a total of 25 types of marine species displayed throughout the application. This was done to show the user variation between the marine species and to make sure the user doesn’t get bored with the same species of fish displayed; although the specific player-controlled fish will stay the same throughout the entire game. This was done to create an aspect of consistency throughout. In the final implementation of the application, the fish will be animated to look as though they are swimming

The game interface will show a checklist of fish species listed on the left hand side of the screen. This checklist shows the aim of the game very clearly, that is, to collect all the fish in the level. ‘Undiscovered’ fish will appear grey on the checklist, whereas ‘discovered’ fish will be shown in green, as seen in the image on the right. We decided to show the difference in this visual manner to appeal to our target audience.

We have decided against ranking fish species based on rarity throughout the application. This decision was made as it is unnecessary to the scoring functionality, as we have offered other ways for users to finish the game with varying scores.

Obstacles have been included in our final game concept. We are now only including one obstacle to be used, which will be a plastic bag. This will show the user the effects the Great Barrier Reef is suffering due to human interaction and the effects of pollution. There will no longer be any “surprises” in the game, for example a “rare” fish displayed within the interface as it makes the game overly complicated for the target market. If the player swims into an obstacle they will lose 50 points on the scoreboard. The “obstacle” was added to add variation to the scoring system and to facilitate the needs of the feedback given.

From the feedback given, the lecturer vocalized how the game did not incorporate enough Trove data throughout the game. To facilitate this, we incorporated a Star Box to be displayed within the game. The player is able to swim into the Star Box to gain 100 points on their score. The game will then pause and have a new window or tab open which displays articles and images that are related to harsh effects of human interaction on the reef. The topics we have chosen include tourism, mining, climate change, fishing and oil drilling. After viewing the content, the user is then able to return to the game and continue with their current progress.  The trove information received from the Star Box is shown below.

In the initial application, our idea was for each level to be set in a different area of the reef. For example, the first level is set at the northern part of the reef and each progressive level will be further south. The location changes were intended to inform the user of the different species that inhabit that area of the reef, as well as the difference in the issues that have affected various areas of the reef. We have decided against including this in our final concept as we found that Trove had very little reef-specific information. We have still decided to change the background image of each level; however these images will be pre-selected from Trove and will not be determined by a specific area of the reef. This decision was made so that the audience will be ‘rewarded’ with a different background image as they progress through the game.

The background images will show various corals and marine life. In our initial concept the background was designed to show the name of the coral besides where it appears; however we have decided against this as it makes the screen interface too “busy” giving it a congested feel.

When the user loses health, a protective shield will be generated to protect the fish for 3 seconds. We will show this visually in the form of a light glow surrounding the player-controlled fish for the 3 seconds that the “protective field” is used; this action is additionally used when the user returns from the Star Box page.

As mentioned previously, when a user completes a level, they will be taken to a page showing articles and images relating to each fish. If the user loses all health before successfully completing a level, the page displayed to them will only show articles and images relating to each fish they were able to collect.

Scoring System

Small changes have been made to ensure the scoring system is more efficient and encourages competition.

When the player eats a fish, they will gain 100 points. In order to encourage the educational side of the game, swimming into the Star Box will gain the user 200 points. A 50 point reduction will occur when a user contacts a larger fish, or when the user hits an obstacle. Furthermore, the game interface will no longer display a progress bar displayed on the top of the screen. Instead the user will rely solely on the points to indicate how they are progressing through the game.

Feedback From Progress Report

Before our group demonstration, our group decided on three feedback questions we would ask to our peers and tutors. The questions were constructed to get the vital feedback needed for the development of our application and too see what further changes should be made.

The questions and feedback are listed below.

Question:

Should we allow users to manipulate the Trove pages in the application by allowing them to type their own search terms? Do you think adding this would functionality would encourage the users to access more Trove content?

Response:

No, what you have provided is suitable enough, given that you have pre-selected topics that you want the user to learn about.

Question:

Do you think that having a points bonus for Star Boxes gives users enough incentive to click them?

Response:

Yes; if there is a competitive element to the game, anything with a points bonus will be quite appealing.

Question:

Do you think the articles are suitable for primary school kids or should we switch zone type to something more appealing such as pictures?

Response:

No, providing articles and images is fine.

 

Lecture

This week,  we focused decomposition/modularity which meant the 

"Real design/software problems are too big,  need to break into manageable pieces.
Modularisation is the decomposition of a product into building blocks (modules) with specified interfaces." 

To be completely honest, i didn't really understand this lecture that well but I'm trying to break it down a little to find out the really depth of it. 

So for understandings sake within designing an application, there are many problems that you may acquire within performing the code; this lecture helped us understand how to break down the problem and the easiest ways to solve it. 

What i thought:

Overall this week i was very pleased with the report and the demonstration that presented. The lecturers seemed to really enjoy the animation of the application and everything seems to flow very easily. 

This next week i will be focusing on developing the tutorial of the application. 

Week 8

This Week: 
This week we focused on the feedback given within the paper prototyping activity and decided on changes for our application. We decided on allocation of tasks and what stuff had to be done to get the application working(well at least the Trove pages).  Within our contact time we were able to discuss what we had to do. 

Lecture:
Within the lecture we learnt about "web stuff" which focused on web design and & development practices. This included the:
Flow 

• focused on the flow of the wed design including the how appealing the website is, mental state and creating an optimal experience for the user
• it was really interesting how the "flow" develops on the mind and how it interprets an application 
• it needs to provide clear goals, sense of the control for the user, merging of action(things lead onto the next) and loss of self-consciousness

I found it really interesting how important the "flow" is and how you barely notice it when looking at the web; it is always there though, you don't notice it though. 

Within constructing a web site you have to make sure that all elements of the design flow together in a consistent manner and have the sam atmospheric feel throughout. 


Further development to the allocation of tasks:

This week we analysed the feedback given from the paper prototype and made changes to our final application. 

We each discussed what had to be done to get Part B finished by the start of next week. 
What my group is doing: 

Rachel: 
Will be working on making the game completely functional. I will be including obstacles, a high scores leaderboard, lives, the 'discovery list' (whatever you want to call it), and star boxes. All animation will be done by using Javascript to manipulate the HTML5 <canvas> element. Javascript will be used to keep track of the player's progress in the game (i.e. lives, scores, fish discovered). 

Nikhil:
Nikhil will be working on end level screen shall be using javascript for it along side with html and css and helping you with the document typing half of it if you want me to idm just give ze word. I shall also be working with Alisa on implementing progress tracker which detects where you are on the reef and how muuch of it you have explored, this will be done by first pulling google maps using their API and putting markers where the player is and has explored


Eric:
Eric will be responsible for constructing the database and accessing it using PHP and SQL queries. The database will store the fish data which cannot be extracted dynamically from Trove, such as the swimming speed and the size of the fish. Also, there will be a leader board in our game. It will be stored in a separate table too.
The PHP I construct will provide a open protocol to allow access from the Javascript application made by my teammates. Eric will discuss with Rachel about how to use that protocol is necessary.



Ailsa:
All the images that are to be displayed within the application will be drawn by Ailsa within Illustrator and Photoshop.

Me:
I will take leading role within the development of the Progress Report and setting up templates for the document. Everyone will still contribute to progress report but i will be doing the majority of the tasks

Application Mockups:

Main screen interface:

Main <canvas> where the game is played:

Trove Data page:

Week 7

This week we implemented our paper prototype to show to users a tangle representation of our application concept. 
We were able to ask the potential users about what they thought about our concept and what changes they would want us to make to the application to make it more enticing to potential users. We had to break down the initial concept and show the users a step-by-step approach to how the application was run and how the user experience would be conveyed.
Below shows our paper prototype:

General Feedback

• When a user is playing the game, there needs to be a button that allows the user to pause/go back to menu/view instructions of the application.
• Users did not want to read instructions – that want something more interactive
• Most of the users wanted to use the arrow keys to play the game. They preferred to use the mouse to click on links and other commands
• Users vocalized how they wanted to use the arrow keys to play the game, the mouse to do additional tasks
• One user said that our interface was quite interactive. He was instructed to get to a clownfish article and he said that playing the game ‘forced’ him in that direction
• Player wants to look at (or “discover”) the rock and seaweed
• Game needs something to show that star box is interactive – make it bright yellow or something (this should stand out more in a virtual version rather than on a black-and-white paper prototype)
• Users had difficulty telling what was and wasn’t interactive and edible (however this should be more obvious in the real version rather than on paper, as we will have moving fish and stuff)
• Users weren’t sure if the shark was edible – looks big and scary and like it should be avoided
• Potential obstacle: fishing hooks coming down, possibly add trove fishing data
• Users wanted to click on “clownfish” and other fish in the collected list, should be able to, user wanted to see data then
• Get data once it is ‘unlocked’ – i.e. view clownfish info when first clownfish is eaten, or at least a preview
• What happens if you die?
• The users want the game to be in multi-player
• Users want to be able to eat the biggest fish in that level.
• Star box, will they want to read the articles? Maybe more pictures instead of articles.
• Check list in the collector
• More images and articles on star box

Feedback for Scoring 

The user vocalized how each user will get the same high score at the end of the game. There is no way for a user to loose points, so all user scores at the end of the game will be exactly the same. The user said:

“ Users should be able to compete for high scores. If the game always has the same number of fish and no way of decreasing points, then all users will end on the same score. This does not encourage competition”

• One way of decreasing scores is to add obstacles, e.g. floating pollution, to decrease scores
• Otherwise scores should decrease when a life is lost, +100 points for hit box to make “discovering” more enticing
• Ranking system / high scores leaderboard
• Different fish should be worth more, i.e. points for rarity of fish (i.e. rare in terms of # trove results)
• Time constraints could be added for possible scoring variation, however this could give users disincentive

Lecture

In this weeks lecture we learnt about Design Patterns and how important design patterns are within designing a concept.
An important quote:
"Patterns are abstract, core solutions to problems that recur in different contexts...The actual implementation of the solution varier with each application. Patterns are not, therefore, ready-made 'pluggable' solutions.
It was interesting how many times we actually use design patterns in creating an application. We use it within writing code and designing applications.

Week 6

This week i was sick during the contact session, but what i gathered from our group meeting is that we discussed our final implementation for our application and what task had to be done to complete these steps.

The lecture comprised of prototyping. The lecture explained what the product is, the benefits, the problems that may occur, when it is used and the anatomy of the prototype.

I found it interesting to see how important prototyping is when implementing a finial concept.  Prototyping allows the user to see a representation of the application and shows to user step by step how the application is being run.

From this, we are able to retrieve vital feedback to develop our final application.

In our additional meeting, we discussed what has to be developed in the next few weeks to benefit our part b assignment and constructed our paper prototype.

What i plan to do this week: 

1. start part b report 
2. make sure everyone is organised for the application

Portfolio - Mockups 

Home Page 

About Me 

Week 5

Activity

This week, "The Bikini Bottoms" worked on their design document and decided on the final concept for their major project.

Experiences in the Poster & Pitch

When we demonstrated our pitch and poster, i felt that i was somewhat unprepared with my speech. There was a miscommunication with the printing of the poster as well, so everyone in the group was a little uneasy with how everything was organised. 

The poster was constructed well, but with miscommunication from the group, the poster was printed off in a pixcelated format and lacked professionalism. The tutors were unimpressed with this and marked us accordingly. 

I did the speech individually, while the group stood around me. Next time i think we are going to do the speech together, as it portrays more of a group environment instead of being individual. 

I was very nervous when i did the speech, and for some reason didn't bother reading my speech cards. This hindered my performance because it made the pitch look some what unprepared. 

Overall though, i felt that i described the concept well and was able to sell our concept. 

Next time, i hope to speak lower and read my speech cards accordingly. 

What did I learn about our concept / the project / the brief / the design process...

from the feedback received?

From the feedback received i learnt that our concept does not include enough Trove data within the application.  We need to incorporate more aspects of Trove into most of our application by thinking about where we can incorporate the more links, articles and images to the Great Barrier Reef. 

from seeing other teams’ concepts?

From seeing everyone else's concepts, i was able to see the diverse range of subjects the other students are covering and how diverse the applications were represented. 

Other teams were unable to present a well presented pitch by not talking to the audience well, but overall i thought everyone did a really good job with presenting a good concept. 

Everyone also seemed very organised with getting everything in order for the presentation. 

How have these realisations affected my/our own concepts & process since? 

From the pitch and poster assignment, i have stressed the importance of being organised to my group. We all need to be able to co-operate together as a team to get our work done. 
I feel from the feedback given that we have to come up with more ideas to incorporate into trove and work more effectively as a team. 


Our poster from this week:

Lecture:

This week we learnt about Web Application Technologies

We learnt about how we use API's to develop our application

To use Server Side Technologies we can use:

• PHP 
• Perl
• Java
• Python

For server storage we can use:

• mySQL
• SQLite 

Building a Web App:

• AJAX
• collection of other technologies including HTML/CSS. DOM, JSON and XMLHTTPRequest

I found it really good to found out what technologies we can use. In the future i hope to use some of these technologies to develop our application. 

This Week:

• i contributed to constructing the application and creating mockups for our application 
• started my website mockups