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Mushies Move

App Prototype // Illustration // Case Study

Mushies UX Case Study test.png

Project Outline

To help prevent health problems such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, it is recommended that people get 150 minutes of brisk physical activity a week. 82.5% of Canadians do not get that recommended amount of exercise.

Mushies Move is an app that gamifies walking. It is targeted toward sedentary to moderately active people who need encouragement to get their daily exercise.

Software

Figma
Procreate

Goals of Mushies Move

Encourage sedentary people to get up and move.
Help people get more healthy, one literal step at a time.
Persuade people to share their in-game experiences on social media to create a community involved in their health journeys.

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Target Personas

Personas were done to personalize a few potential people in the target audience for Mushies Move. These personas gave insight on how the game may be used. For example, we can imagine Yelena playing the game with her children when they walk together, so a design appealing to all ages would be ideal. Taylor could use the app as an excuse to get out of the apartment. Ben can use the app to add entertainment to his walks.

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Name: Yelena

Age: 39

Gender: Female

Education: University Degree

Job: Software Engineer

Income Level: $150k

Location: Suburbs

Bio: Yelena is a Software Engineer at a local start-up focused on automobile technology. She plays video games, cooks, and spends time with kids when off work.

Goals:

Take better care of health

Reconnect with friends

Manage time better

Pains:

Health issues

Sedentary job

Busy

Name: Taylor

Age:24

Gender: Non-Binary

Education: High School Diploma

Job: Call Centre Representative

Income Level: $32k

Location: City

Bio: Taylor works for a large company as a call centre representative who works from home. Their hobbies include art, crafts, and reading. They live with a roommate.

Goals:

Walk more

Get a higher paying job

Get out of the apartment

Pains:

Stressful job

Sedentary job

Lack of privacy

Name: Ben
Age: 35

Gender: Male

Education: College Degree

Job: Paralegal

Income Level: $75K

Location: Rural

Bio: Ben commutes 45 minutes twice a day. He enjoys nature and walks his dog outdoors daily. He enjoys playing phone games when he’s bored.

Goals:

Stay in shape

Have fun

Travel

Pains:

Long commute

Far from destinations

Limited free time

Competitive Analysis

A competitive analysis was performed with a variety of walking apps in order to figure out how popular certain features of the apps are. Pokemon Go is the most successful app to get people out of the house, with over 100 million downloads on Google Play and includes all the features listed. This analysis influenced what features would be included in Mushies Move. One feature that was very important was social media sharing, as it can create a community around the users accomplishments.

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App Mapping Flow Chart

A site map flowchart was made to determine the navigation of the app. This chart shows the flow starting from account creation and includes a tutorial mode that is required to complete before accessing the rest of the app.

This was updated throughout the process and determined how to navigate each screen.

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Wireframe User Testing

Wireframes were created and printed out to get users to test the flow of the app. The goal was to make sure everything was laid out in a logical order. Users also pointed out areas that needed improvement, which was valuable feedback.

The user testing revealed a few errors and dead ends in the app, resulting in the creation of more screens. Generally, users found the layout logical.

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Iterations

Here is a sample of some of the iterations of design in the app. These were chosen because they represent the majority of the visual features in the app, such as buttons and backgrounds. Users were consulted when changes were made, and they always preferred the new design for ease of viewing and aesthetics. Users found that a more saturated green background, more contrasting buttons with gradients, and the use of drop shadows to be improvements on the design. Their feedback evolved the designs and determined the final look of the app.

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Screencast

Youtube Screencast

Figma Prototype

Results

The Mushies Move app prototype featured design influenced by the opinions of test users and focused on features that would encourage users to continue using the app. While visual design is a large part of Mushies Move, what is more important is getting people to get active for 150 minutes a week. To do this, a feature for daily bonuses that reward users extra for up to 30 minutes a day. Social features, including sharing stats to social media, were included to make the game have a community behind it. By adding social features, users can be motivated by their friends progress and support.

Next Steps

There are a lot of features that may be be added to Mushies Move in the future: leaderboards, player levels, character levels, stories, more customization, multiple styles of Mushie homes, timed events, and animations. Some suggestions from test users that may be added are flavour text, educational aspects about mushrooms and nature, more characters, images for social media sharing, and a camera feature. The wireframes included a camera feature, but it was removed for the prototypes because of the high number of necessary screens. Overall, Mushies Move is a viable product, but it needs many more features to make it a game worth coming back to every day.

Process Work

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