Roller Coaster
A queue is an abstract data structure in computer science in which the entities are collected in the
order they arrived. The new entities are added at the back of the queue, it is known as `enqueue'
and the entities are removed from the front of the queue, it is called `dequeue'.
The purpose of this project is to develop a simple web-based game that teaches the queue concept in a fun and engaging way.
My role in this project is game designer and developer. I conducted user research, conceptualized the user insights, created user flows, then developed wireframes and User interface for this game. After creating the user interface, I conducted usability testing with three members for validation and made the required changes analyzed from the feedback from my supervisors and usability test results.
User research:I have conducted user research by volunteering in science events at Maynooth University, Ireland, where children play games similar to the delivery truck game. By helping children while playing similar games, I took brief notes on the challenges they encountered while playing and received feedback from the children and their parents about their experiences playing the games.
Conceptualization and User flow: From the research insights and feedback from the children, I came up with the concept of how to develop a simple web-based game that teaches the Hamiltonian path concept as follows: A list of people waiting in a line to get the next roller coaster ride. Some of the people waiting in the front gets into the roller coaster and some new people will join at the end of the line. The goal of the game is to find the people in the line at any given instance.
User Interface design and development :
I edited game avatars using Inkscape and developed the game using python. After creating the prototype, I conducted the Usability testing using three users. I took brief notes during the tests and also feedback from my supervisor and applied the required changes to the project for better usability.