Sharing about conservation through augmented reality and data visualization.
The details
Date
Aug 2018 - Nov 2019
Methods & Tools
User Research
Field Testing
UI Reviews
Collaborators
UX Designer (my role)
UX Researcher
Product Manager
Client Product Owner
Client Developer Lead
The task
In the summer of 2018, Kin + Carta provided the unique opportunity for a select group to donate their time and skills and work with a company in Nairobi, Kenya. Knowing that I wanted to work on projects that have a lasting impact on doing good in the world, I immediately jumped at the opportunity, applied, and was chosen to be a part of the team. I was drawn to working with the Internet of Elephants (IOE) team due to my family ties with elephant conservation and animal rights, and was excited to work with a company that joined two things I feel strongly about - conservation and technology.
The problem
Our team was originally tasked on working with IOE for user research and design for their new augmented reality game, now known as Wildeverse. The IOE team wanted to understand if their product was viable, and wanted various rounds of user testing to iterate on the concept and design of the augmented reality mobile game. In addition to the work done on Wildeverse, our work extended to design consulting on Satellite Stories (a data visualization experience, as well as concept testing on a new interactive party game based on animal sounds.
The outcome
Our largest contribution to Wildeverse was in the form of research. After concept testing at Lincoln Park Zoo, field testing in Nairobi, and beta testing around Chicago, the Internet of Elephants team released Wildeverse in March 2020. The video to the right is a teaser video created by Monolith Studios to advertise the release of the game.
The process
Business Goals
Internet of Elephants was currently in production on a new game they were developing, Wildeverse. This game’s concept was similar in functionality to Pokémon GO, as that game was still quite popular at the time.
Instead of catching Pokemon, the player was meant to feel the following:
The user is supposed to feel like a “wanna-be wildlife researcher” helping out real researchers in the field by first proving your chops in your own neighborhood”.
The user is supposed to feel as if they were sent virtually to the Borneo rainforest.
The user is supposed to feel as if they are tasked with tracking and learning from the animals in Borneo - all while staying in their own backyard.
Kin + Carta Involvement
Knowing these overarching goals of the product, Kin + Carta was brought in to develop and execute a methodology for rapid prototyping, assumption validation, and user testing. We were asked by the Internet of Elephants team to focus on three main areas to begin the engagement.
Show that the use of games, data-driven storytelling, and human-centric design can catalyze the foundation for a lasting relationship with wildlife.
Show that through the use of games, we can reach audiences that are otherwise not reached through conventional conservation campaigns.
Show that this experience has the potential to scale beyond this initial release.
Initial Deep Dive
Taking the concept IOE had started,, our team conducted a workshop diving into the proposed gameplay, to find holes in the concept, with the ultimate goal of creating a list of testable hypotheses.
Working step-by-step through every screen and part of the original script, our team discovered 46 hypotheses categorized by section of the game, criticality to production, and method of research.
After prioritizing with client stakeholders, we broke down these hypotheses into three main hypotheses to validate.
Main Testing Hypotheses
Story
The role of “wanna-be” scientist progressing through the ranks is an interesting and incentivizing motivation for people to want to progress through the game
Movement
People are willing to physically move around to play games with their mobile phones if properly engaged
Conservation
Knowing that Fio is a real ape in the wild with a real storyline is important to creating the emotional connection
Concept Testing
Due to Gautam’s connections with zoos around the world, our team was able to conduct in-person concept tests with zoo-goers at the Regenstein Center for African Apes at Lincoln Park Zoo. During these user research sessions, we asked zoo-goers questions around the concept of the game. During this research, we had users choose between descriptions of the game that sounded the most appealing to them, visuals that best represented a game they would like to play, and characters they would prefer to play as in the game.
27
users tested at Lincoln Park Zoo
55%
of participants preferred a game description more conservation-themed
46%
of participants preferred a visual that was in the middle of realistic -> cartoonish
Travel to Nairobi
After our zoo research sessions, we traveled to Nairobi to work in-person with the product and the IOE team. We traveled to Kenya in March 2019, and spent the first few days working with a tech incubator Growth Africa on some internal projects. We also attended some field research with a produce delivery company in Nairobi, Twiga (which was the other company Kin + Carta teams were working with).
All photos taken by Chris Nielsen.
IOE Workshops
When our work with the Internet of Elephants began in Nairobi, we conducted workshops to define the strategy of Wildeverse when incorporated with the IOE brand. Through these workshops, we were able to get a better understanding of the product vision IOE was targeting for this game, define a North Star, and define KPIs for what would eventually be measurements of success.
Aesthetic + minimalist design
The chat content isn’t always relevant to the players’ progress.
Chat dialogue adds dimension to the characters, but at a cost of potentially losing actionable items for the user.
Recognition rather than recall
The player is not provided who they are, where they are, or what they should be doing, tactically, in the playable prototype.
A visual onboarding in addition to the chat-based onboarding should be explored.
Match system + the real world
Chat was very fast; Unable to read in real time. Had to scroll back through.
If the bulk of the storyline is explained through chat, we don’t want the user to lose any pertinent information.
Consistency + standards
If the bulk of the storyline is explained through chat, we don’t want the user to lose any pertinent information.
If dots are relating to Fio’s nodes, keep those visual indicators consistent in styling.
Field Testing
When we arrived in Nairobi, the IOE team had just finished an initial pass at a testable prototype. With the prototype in hand, our team was able to take devices out to the Karura Forest in Nairobi to test for any critical gameplay and usability issues.
After this literal field testing (I’ll never get over this pun), we listed around 40 notes for the IOE team to take back to production and ranked each of these notes in terms of criticality to the eventual release. We based our recommendations on Nielsen Norman’s 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design.
Satellite Stories
While on-site, we were also made aware of another project Internet of Elephants had been working on in conjunction with the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in central Kenya and a grant from the National Geographic Society. This project, titled Satellite Stories, was an interactive data visualization tool used to tell stories about the movement of animals in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. This project had been put on the back-burner while the IOE team developed Wildeverse, and needed some UX Design love while I was there to learn more about it.
The ask from IOE was to look at Satellite Stories and give recommendations on small UI improvements and incorporate a short list of intended new features in order to present to potential investors for additional grant funding. For this mini-project, I worked on creating a list of questions for those involved in the original project, and conducted my own evaluation of the interface using simple design best practices.
UX Evaluation
After conducting this analysis, I listed and ranked each UI and UX improvement to the current site, mocked up wireframes and adjusted the original design files to create high-fidelity designs for presentation purposes.
Click through the presentation on the left to view the proposed enhancements. This presentation was utilized by IOE to gain additional funding for Satellite Stories.
Beta testing in Chicago
Once we got back from Kenya, our team started creating a research plan for testing the beta release for Wildeverse, and I wrapped up presentations on Satellite Stories to handoff to Gautam, our IOE stakeholder. Briet Tornes, our UX Researcher was pivotal in creating a robust research plan and discussion guide, allowing us to beta test Wildeverse remotely in three different continents over a span of two weeks.
For these user sessions, we had “players” take the beta prototype of Wildeverse outside and had them play the game for around 30 minutes, asking them to mainly speak out loud while probing on our participants’ game playing preferences.
Photo by Briet Tornes
Testing Results
Through user testing the beta release, we learned the following:
Users were generally excited about the concept of the game, and liked the idea of finding animals outside in their own local environment.
Users were interested about the potential expansion to other animals, and they wanted to be able to play socially (with other people) and compete.
An onboarding for new users was necessary, and users wanted their player role defined more clearly.
The final product
Our recommendations based on research helped the IOE team make adjustments to their final product, and after some pivots were able to release to the Google Play and App Store.
Engagement Wrap-Up
After our team ended our engagement, we maintained close contact with the IOE team, even helping run remote user sessions on a new game concept over a period of three weeks in November of 2019. In March of 2020, the team celebrated the launch of Wildeverse (after having to pivot to playing inside due to the COVID-19 pandemic) remotely with people from around the world and with partnerships with Chester Zoo in the UK and Zoo Atlanta.
What would I have done differently?
Conservation is a topic that I feel incredibly strongly about. I think this excitement around being involved with a company like Internet of Elephants clouded my judgment on where to start this engagement. For this project, our team was incredibly eager to help in any way possible, but we learned fairly late in the game that an entire cross-functional agile team we had already staffed wasn’t really necessary - just a researcher, product manager, and designer were needed. Figuring this out cost us valuable time we could have used to kickoff the engagement and align more with our stakeholders.
Additionally, personally, traveling to Nairobi was a massive culture shock to someone like me who had only left the US once in her life at that point, and I did not take the time to learn more about the people of Nairobi or how our presence would affect them. Our team was rightfully seen as “white saviors” by the people of Kenya, and it’s a regret I share to this day that I didn’t consider the ethical ramifications of attending a trip such as this one. Privileged, white people from the US do not need to go to Nairobi and teach its people about technology. Kenyans already know it. In fact, they are leading the way in many forms of technology, especially in mobile. Traveling to Africa isn’t, and shouldn’t, be a spectacle. That’s my biggest learning from this experience.