Process

The original iteration of this project can be found here: http://ideate.xsead.cmu.edu/gallery/projects/untitled-e6a9118e-bf69-4629-95ba-835ed57354a6

The original idea definitely provided a good foundation but there was a lot of refinement that needed to be done. The first thing I decided to work on was the refinement of the UI which was virtually non existent in the original. There was only one screen and the installation was almost entirely manually operated which would not be good for children as simple things tend to engage them the most. So I started by adding a start screen as an introduction. I also realized that in order to get a meaningful amount of play the children needed something to work towards besides just competition. So I added different difficulties in another screen so that their is a more tangible goal to work towards rather than just learning, which is not always appealing to children. I decided that in this iteration difficulties would be distinguished by the amount of time you have to figure out the color.

Now looking at the game itself just having a grid of colors seemed like not enough so I decided to add a legend at the top for the scale in increasing order and with its position and size it also served as a title. For playing the note I was not sure whether or not I should just play the note once and have a timer or just play it consistently throughout. I decided that playing it in increasingly fast intervals was the best route as it allows participants to know which note is played and also creates a sense of urgency as the sound begins to speed up.

Once I finished all of the functionalities, I began working to refine the aesthetics of the app. Initially I manually drew all the buttons but found that they looked a bit weird so I instead created my own buttons using an online tool. I then began to inspect different elements of the game and to my surprise, not too long before the showcase, I found that the "Si" note in the package of piano sounds that I used was not in the right key for some reason. So I had to hurry to find a replacement sound within a very short time frame. The finished product for the UI and flow of the game can be seen below.