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Case study Gamification

Dojo game app to teach children good habits

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Curran's Karate | MyDojo Gamified Platform

Product: Custom game and mobile app

Platforms: Tablet, mobile, iOS, Android

Services provided: Game design, UI/UX design, full cycle development, strategy and planning, launch and support

MyDojo is a mobile game and app that helps children develop good habits while increasing retention for martial art schools.

“The best thing to happen to the martial arts world since the belt system.” – MyDojo World

Challenge

Martial arts is an art of discipline. Students need courage and motivation to attend class each week, and practicing for years to advance through the belts.

A central problem that many martial art schools face is that once students give up and leave, they never come back.

Contrarily, students who have formed a habit of attending class continue to return. Since gamification encourages the building of good habits, this is an effective way of increasing retention in martial arts schools.

As Raccoopack specializes in building apps that are engaging and fun, this project was a great fit. Curran’s Karate partnered with us to build a gamified platform for martial arts schools.

Solution

The MyDojo platform consists of 2 apps:

The MyDojo Game

In MyDojo, students decorate and customize their own personal dojo.

As students attend class and complete challenges assigned by parents, they receive in-game rewards that can be used to upgrade their dojo!

Main Features:

  • Build, decorate, and level up dojo
  • Train characters to level up
  • Complete challenges from parents to earn points
  • Unlock new adventures by attending real-life class
  • 3 original character designs
  • 100+ unique decoration items and customizations

The Companion App

Along with the main game, we also built a companion app for parents and instructors.

Parents can use the app and view a dashboard of their child’s progress — both in game and in the school. They can assign custom challenges, such as helping with household chores or reading a storybook.

Instructors can manage their dojo in one place. They can take attendance, track student rank progress, and update parent and student information.

Process

To breathe life into the My Dojo concept, we first began with a series of workshops, brainstorming all the finer details from the characters, background, theme, and gameplay.

We met frequently to collaborate with the client, reviewing designs together and testing prototypes to ensure that we were on the same page at all times.

As with any project that we do, we always bring the app into the hands of users to get their feedback. From user testing, we were able to make the user experience better from great to excellent.

Results

The resulting product is a beautiful, gamified platform for martial arts schools, catering to everyone from children, parents, and instructors.
  • Apps successfully completed and launched on iOS and Android app stores
  • Expected 25% increase retention in martial art schools 
  • Good habits and behaviours taught to young martial arts students
  • 5/5 rating from client on scheduling, cost, and quality
“Amazing team. I have never worked with a group of people that were so good and asking questions to ensure that they understood what I wanted.”
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Ron Curran
Owner, Curran's Karate
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Location Based Road Survey App

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Osoyoos Desert Centre | Road Survey Mobile App

Product: Custom Mobile App

Platforms: iOS and Android

Services provided: Full cycle development, MVP prototyping, hosting and deployment

Challenge

There are about 11,000 animal-related collisions every year in British Columbia. To better evaluate the cause and impact of wildlife collisions , Osoyoos Desert Centre wanted a way for volunteers to report wildlife sightings during their walks around the area. From there, Osoyoos Desert Centre reached out to us to accomplish this through a mobile app.

Solution

The road survey app allows volunteers to easily report wildlife sightings on their mobile device during their walks. 

Main Features

  • Wildlife data entry and logging
  • Location tracking
  • Offline support and data syncing

By using the phone’s GPS capabilities, the app is able to gather important information such as location and temperature.

No internet? No problem! We also added offline support, where submitted logs can be synchronised once the user is connected online.

Results

  • MVP product developed within time and budget
  • Product ready to be launched and made available to 1000s of volunteer users
  • Expected future development to include additional features
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Client and Staff Portal for Order Management

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CARO Analytical Services | Client and Staff Order Management Portal

Product: Custom eCommerce Web Application

Platforms: Desktop, mobile, tablet

Services provided: Full cycle development, strategy and planning, UI/UX design, hosting and deployment

The Client and Staff Portal helps customers place complex online lab testing orders and easily access to their reports at any time.

Challenge

Conducting a formal lab test involves many processes: There are dozens of steps involved, from filling out paperwork, ordering supplies, sending supplies to the lab, and getting the lab results. This doesn’t even scratch the surface!

To turn all of this into one simplified process, we worked with CARO to develop the most innovative and streamlined web app in their industry. 

CARO Analytical Services is a leading Canadian laboratory that provides lab testing services across North America.

Solution

The Client and Staff Portal integrates complex systems into one easy app for users.

Customer portal

Allows users to order supplies online, submit samples, and securely retrieve results in one integrated location.

Main Features

  • Bottle orders: Customers can easily browse and place orders for supplies.
  • Project management: Customers can sort their orders across projects and view their order statuses in real time.
  • Online sample submission: Customers can submit their sample information online using an automated form to speed up their workflow.
  • Invoices: Customers can locate, view, and download their order invoices.

Staff Portal

Behind the scenes, staff are supporting customers by using the staff portal that we created as part of the project:

  • Order review and management
  • Order processing
  • Customer account management
Supporting Systems

The Client and Staff Portal are enabled by various systems that we connected together:

  • eCommerce system
  • Laboratory information management system
  • Authentication system

Process

Mapping Out the Business Processes

When we first started working with CARO, we were astounded by the number of steps, processes, and systems involved in fulfilling a lab test order.

To ensure that the app addresses the needs of each user along each step of the process, we spent time understanding CARO’s business processes and translating them into a series of user flows.

The benefit of the user flows were two fold: Not only did the user flows depict how the user will interact with the app during each step, but it also revealed opportunities where the app can be used to address pain points for users.

Validating through User Testing

At Raccoopack Media, we conduct frequent user testing to gather as much feedback as reasonably possible during the development process.

For this project, we used an agile approach where we released a testable prototype each sprint. This allowed us to facilitate user testing sessions and gather feedback with both the end users and the CARO project team. Here are some actual feedback we received!

“It’s quick and flexible.”

“It would be improved here if we can see tracking information on this screen.”

“Visuals are clean and the interface is clear.”

By involving the end users, we ensured that each feature effectively addresses user needs.

Results

After a series of prototypes, user testing, and extensive quality assurance, the project was launched with success:

  • Client and Staff Portal fully launched with 99% user uptake
  • Validated product satisfaction from user testing
  • 1000s of monthly orders going digital and translating into saved administrative costs 

The project only marks the beginning! We are currently working with the client on  to add more features to further enhance the web app.

“Raccoopack Media has performed well in terms of project management. They played a major role in the information-gathering phase of the project. They helped with our documentation and mapping everything in a very organized way to ensure a seamless process.”
Ahmed Alsahli
IT Manager, CARO Analytical Services
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Patient Care Mobile App Development For Hospitals

What Matters Mobile App Development Healthcare App
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What Matters Mobile App Development Healthcare App

The University of British Columbia | What Matters App

App Development | iOS Development | Tablet | Healthcare

What Matters is a innovative mobile app that helps persons living with dementia feel comforted during times of distress.

This mobile app is a collaborative healthcare research project, where Raccoopack Media team worked with leading Canadian academic institutions to develop What Matters: a mobile application that improves the quality of dementia care for Canadians.

Problem

76,000 new dementia cases are diagnosed each year. With Canada’s ageing population and increasing prevalence of dementia, nurses and care workers are overworked and often struggle to keep up their desired level of care. There is a critical need to develop solutions to support staff while continuing to advance the quality of care for persons living with dementia.

A major domain that the research project explored is distress and comfort. Patients with dementia living in long term care or hospitals may face agitating or distressful moments at times. During such times, staff need to intervene. This posed a question and opportunity: How do we offer comfort to patients during these to improve the quality of care?

Solution

What Matters is a mobile app that offers comfort during times of distress using personalized media from the patient’s family, friends, and staff.

Main Features

  • Personalized media viewing: Residents/patients can view videos, photos, and music that is personalized and curated by family and staff.

  • Resident directory: Staff can quickly find a resident’s profile.

  • Resident profile: Each resident/patient has their own profile. Staff can view information about the resident, such as what brings them joy and their interests.

  • Media liking: Residents/patients can like or dislike each piece of media. This helps staff understand the media that is relevant.
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Process

Co-Designing with the End Users

To design an application that is meaningful for the end-users, it is important to work closely with them during the design process.

During this step, Raccoopack Media worked with a number of leading academic institutions to codesign the mobile app with patient partners. This includes designing with hospital staff, patients living with dementia, and their family. We provided consulting on the technical aspects of the app, such as defining the main requirements of features, and providing guidance on the development process.

Along the way, we participated in a number of workshops facilitated by talented designers at Emily Carr to carefully understand the needs of the users. To adapt to the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, we leveraged online technologies such as Zoom to meet during these workshops.

Prototyping and Implementing Insights

After working together to create initial designs, the next step was prototyping. The Raccoopack Media development team produced a series of app prototypes in each sprint. Each prototype includes an increment of features, while incorporating feedback from the users.

This approach has the advantage of involving the end users during each step of the way. After each prototype was ready, user tests were performed, where both staff and patients had the opportunity to use the app together and provide feedback.

The user tests led to transformative outcomes to improve the design of the app. One notable insight we discovered was that some patients preferred to swipe to view videos or photos as opposed to tapping on a button. This change allowed us to create an experience that is accessible for all types of users.

Results

From successful communication and collaborative efforts between Raccoopack Media and the project partners, the result was a prototype that received highly positive feedback:

  • Staff observed a significantly higher rate of engagement with patients
  • Staff rated it as very easy to navigate the app and select patient profiles
  • Patients felt comforted by the personalized content from the app curated by family and staff

This is only the first step in the What Matters project! After a clinical trial phase and further study, the What Matters app will undergo further development for commercial use in hospital and long term care home settings.

“Raccoopack was able to create a quality product that successfully met our project goals. The final version of the app is pleasing at both the functional and visual level. As this project was an interdisciplinary project, we were impressed at their communication skills and being able to work with varied stakeholders across many academic institutions.”
Dr. Lillian Hung
Founder and head of IDEA lab (Innovation in Dementia & Aging)
Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia School of Nursing
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Speeding up production using a web app

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Kekuli Bay Cabinetry | Parts Tracker App

Web App Development | Cross-Platform | Information Management

The Parts Tracker App drastically reduces lost parts and saves 1000+ production hours each year.

We developed the Parts Tracker App, a responsive web application that actively updates and tracks the location of parts inside a manufacturing factory.

Problem

Growth in a manufacturing business comes with logistical challenges. When there are thousands of moving parts, excessive overhead hours are spent on tracking their movement from location to location. What if we create a web app that shows where parts are located at all times?

Kekuli Bay Cabinetry, one of the largest Canadian cabinet manufacturers in British Columbia, needed a digital solution for managing the information of cabinetry parts. There are many off-the-shelf technologies available in the market to support this need. However, these systems are often bloated with unnecessary features, and are not a cost-effective solution in the long term.

Solution

The Parts Tracker App is a responsive, user-friendly web application that efficiently tracks the location of parts inside a factory at all times:

  • QR code scanning to update the locations of parts
  • Search, view, and export information of parts
  • User accounts and login
  • Custom admin panel for creating, managing, and viewing parts
  • Mobile, tablet, and desktop compatibility

Process

Embracing User-Centered Design

With any project at Raccoopack Media, we begin by understanding the needs of the users and their objectives. To accomplish this, we interviewed managers and employees at Kekuli Bay Cabinetry, taking time to map out their day-to-day business processes. This allowed us to clarify the detailed app requirements, such as the types of information that need to be tracked, steps involved in scanning parts, and core features of the app.

Simplicity, efficiency, and intuitiveness were identified as the design pillars of the app. Following these pillars, we created a minimalistic yet highly functional design, which allows the user experience to be focused on the input and reading of information.

Optimizing the User Experience

During the development of the app, we conducted remote user testing sessions with a group of 10 employees to understand whether the app meets the criteria of being easy to use. We observed how users would interact with the app, noting down opportunities to enhance the user experience. By ensuring that the app is intuitive and easy to use, we generate further cost savings for our client, namely from time saved in training and troubleshooting.

After conducting user testing, we analyzed the resulting testing data, and gained valuable insights on how to take the intuitiveness factor one level higher. For example, we discovered that employees needed more time to view pop-up messages, and we fine-tuned the durations accordingly.

Results

By following a high level standard of user-centered design, we were able to deliver a seamless and smooth part scanning experience across mobile and tablet devices. Employees can easily scan and update the location of parts, while managers can quickly retrieve and locate the parts with a click of a button.

The Parts Tracker application will provide cascading advantages for Kekuli Bay Cabinetry: Time saved, cost savings in parts, and faster fulfillment time of customer orders.

What about the value expressed in numbers? In just the first year of use, here are the expected benefits for Kekuli Bay Cabinetry:

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Management hours saved
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Saved by reducing lost parts
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User testers rated very easy to use
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Management hours saved
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Saved by reducing lost parts
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User testers rated very easy to use
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Management hours saved
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Saved by reducing lost parts
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User testers rated very easy to use
“What stands out about their team is their great attention to detail and commitment to delivering precise solutions. Let them take the lead because they’re experts at what they do. You only need to trust Raccoopack Media to make great things happen for your business.”
Matt McLellan
Factory Service Manager
Kekuli Bay Cabinetry
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Teaching bracelet weaving on a tablet app

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SpiceBox | i-loom Companion App

Education | Tablet | iOS and Android

Weaving intricate bracelets can be complex – Let’s reduce the learning curve with guided tutorials on an interactive tablet app.

We worked with Spicebox Product Development to bring an outdated app up to speed with modern tablet devices, resolving hundreds of bugs and issues in the process.

Problem

The i-loom app provides guided tutorials on weaving bracelets on tablets, and is complimentary with the purchase of the physical loom. In the past, this app was praised with a highly positive reception. However, as years passed, user ratings declined due to issues with bugs and incompatibility with newer devices.

Spicebox recently acquired this product, and wanted to improve the app’s user experience prior to a product relaunch. As Raccoopack Media is experienced with app development for education and training, Spicebox reached out to us to revitalize i-loom app.

Solution

The goal of the project is to update and optimize the i-loom app for iOS and Android devices, including a relaunch to the App Store and Play Store. After we mapped out the problem space, the next step was to identify and prioritize the issues that were essential for a successful launch.

From our analysis, we created a list of the most important issues to address:

  • Migrating the project from Unity 5 to Unity 2018
  • Updating Unity asset packs to resolve compatibility issues
  • Repairing a freezing iOS tutorial
  • Updating the Android QR code scanner 
  • Fixing launch critical bugs

Process

Collaborative Problem-Solving

At the beginning of the project, an obstacle our team had encountered was a lack of access to a working version of the app. This resulted in guesswork on how some features had performed, which involved many uncertainties.

Fortunately, our agile processes enabled us to address this challenge by using frequent client communication. By brainstorming with Spicebox, we quickly discovered that the previous developer had some past footage of the app. We coordinated with Spicebox to secure the necessary information throughout the project, which paved the path for our team to recreate and repair the app’s most important features.

Profile: Before vs After Rework

Colour Palette: Before vs After Rework

Results

From our consistent efforts, we were able to successfully bring the i-loom app into modern times. The app, once plagued with bugs and compatibility issues, is now able to run smoothly on iOS and Android tablet devices:

  • Launch-ready state for App Store and Play Store
  • Upgraded app project to Unity 2018
  • 1000+ broken references resolved
  • 100+ missing scripts repaired

As we are continuing to work with SpiceBox post-launch to develop more exciting features to the i-loom app, stay tuned for more updates on this case study! 

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Supporting a virtual industry conference using a web app

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SafeCare BC | Hearts & Hands 2020

Virtual Event | Gamification | Web App

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we helped make a lively, large scale event happen – virtually.

The annual Hearts & Hands event is a premier conference to celebrate the efforts of healthcare assistants. SafeCare BC was pleased with their prior experience in working with us, and reached out to us to develop an app for them once more.

Problem

To ensure the health and safety of event participants during the COVID-19 pandemic, SafeCare BC decided to take the Hearts & Hands event digital. The goals of the project included these business considerations:

  • Engagement: Although the event was going virtual, it should continue to be a quality and relevant experience for the participants. The event will need to recreate major parts of the event, such as presentations and education sessions.
  • Timeliness: The project needed to be completed quickly, as the event date was scheduled in a few months.
  • Accessibility: Participants need to be able to access the event on all device platforms at any given time.

Solution

Going virtual didn’t mean creating a lesser event experience: A virtual event opened up new ways to involve participants during the event. In fact, participants expressed their excitement over the interactive format of the event this year.

To meet the goals of the Hearts & Hands 2020 event, we developed a web-based event app to deliver a content rich and user-friendly experience. On top of the features that supported the main aspects of the event, we designed gamification features that allow participants to earn points as they engage in each activity.

Main features we created inside the app include:

  • Multiple event activities: Activities include watching presentations, participating in learning activities, browsing sponsor spotlights, and viewing prizes.
  • Point system: Participants earn points as they participate in activities to enter into a raffle draw.
  • Cross-platform compatibility: Anyone can join using their desktop computers, tablets, and mobile phones.
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Activity Page
Prize Page

Process

Creating a Seamless User Experience

The first phase of development involved creating a user persona to understand the goals of the users in the Hearts & Hands event. As we dived deeper into the user journey, we designed a user flow to ensure a seamless user experience. 

During the prototyping process, we performed user testing virtually with healthcare assistants and educators to get their feedback. This helped us make improvements in accessibility and the overall user experience.

Increasing Engagement Using Gamification

The point system was a central driver of engagement in the event. We designed a point system which awarded participants points for completing different activities, such as watching presentations, interacting with learning content, and completing trivia quizzes. 

Given that SafeCare BC was able to secure fabulous raffle prizes, it was especially enticing for participants to earn as many points as possible. This encouraged participants to complete every activity of each day of the multi-day event, and come back the next day for new content. Each day, participants were notified of newly unlocked content by a SMS message.

Prize Page
Points

Results

The finished product was a beautiful, polished app that led to the successful execution of the Hearts & Hands 2020 event. Over 700 healthcare assistants, industry professionals, and business executives from across British Columbia registered for the event.

The results are proven by the overwhelmingly positive reception to the web app. Here is what the participants had to say about the event:

  • “All sessions were excellent. I hope you consider having the same platform next year as this year.”
  • “I like the points system as rewards.”
  • “The site was very easy to navigate. I’m happy it was made accessible online as we all couldn’t meet in person this year.”
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Gamification for dementia care training

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Vancouver Coastal Health | The ART & SCIENCE of Person-Centered Care Game

Gamification | Education and eLearning | Healthcare

The game was initially tested with over 70 interdisciplinary staff at Vancouver General Hospital. Now, it has been used by over 2000 people across 10 hospitals. This is an award winning research, funded by Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.

George Padua, Raccoopack Media’s founder and experienced game developer, worked with Vancouver Coastal Health to develop a web game that educates staff across health authorities on the topic of dementia care.

Problem

Dr. Lillian Hung, clinical nurse specialist at Vancouver General Hospital, recognized the potential of gamification in education as she applied gamification principles to her PhD work. Gamification does not only offer an interactive experience, but can also include social elements to motivate learning. This inspired her to help staff learn about dementia care through a game that is engaging, fun, and connected.

“The ART & SCIENCE of Patient-Centered Care is all about attitude and practice, which require a shift in the norm of social interactions. Gamification seems to be effective to help with the shift.” – Dr. Lillian Hung

Solution

Given George’s experiences with game design, he crafted a game to meet the learning outcomes of “The ART & SCIENCE of Person-Centered Care”. The game is carefully designed to be fun and simple to play while serving the purpose of educating staff.

Learning by Playing

The player begins by choosing an avatar to represent them, and is then presented with scenarios to learn the acronyms behind the “ART” and “SCIENCE” in caring for patients with dementia. These scenarios represent real-life situations that many staff encounter. To earn as many points as possible, the player must choose the appropriate strategy before the timer runs out.

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Creating a Friendly Competition

On top of the scenario-based training, George also implemented a leaderboard system that shows the top scores categorized by hospital, unit, and individuals. A leaderboard offers a number of advantages in gamification by creating a friendly competition. Players are motivated to play the game multiple times and earn the most points possible. This allows the player to learn through repetition and practice, aiding in gradual retention of the learning content.

VCH_Leaderboard

Process

User-Centric Development

As the intended players of the game include a wide range of healthcare professionals, an interesting challenge was ensuring that the content is relatable for everyone. The solution for this was to involve the target players during the development process. This included working with nurses, physicians, and care aides to both develop the content for the game. As well, prototypes were tested with these user groups to gather their experiences and feedback, which provided insights on how to improve the game design.

Results

The game was tested with over 70 interdisciplinary staff before arriving at the final product. Since the completion of the project, the game has been used in staff orientation for Vancouver General Hospital staff and has been introduced across 10 hospitals in British Columbia.

VCH_Congrats

This widespread adoption goes to show the effectiveness of leveraging gamification in a professional education setting. Vancouver Coastal Health conducted a survey on the staff who played the game, and the findings are compelling:

“In the evaluation, 93% found the games helped them learn and understand person-centered care. 90% agreed that they learned practical knowledge of dementia care and they would recommend the game to others.”
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Vancouver Coastal Health
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Interactive web game to educate youth on invasive species

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Invasive Species Council Of BC | Invader Crusaders

Gamification | Education and Learning | Web Game Development

Invasive species can spread quickly and cause harm to native species, in some cases resulting in the eradication of entire native species.

The impact of invasive species can be difficult to illustrate. What if you can experience this firsthand as you play a game? We developed Invader Crusaders for ISCBC, an intuitive and educational web-based game.

Invasive Species Council of BC (ISCBC) is a non-profit society and registered charity pursuing a vision of healthy landscapes and communities free of invasive species.

Problem

As part of ISCBC’s educational and outreach efforts, ISCBC saw an opportunity to engage youth to learn about invasive species in a fun and interactive manner. They needed a development partner experienced in gamification and app development to take on this project. Given our portfolio in working with non-profit clients, ISCBC saw us to be the right fit.

iscbc-ipad

We first started with a consultation meeting, which helped us identify the key goals of the project:

  • Create a simple, educational game that is visually appealing
  • Educate youth on invasive species and what can be done to reduce their spread
  • Launch the game for desktop and tablets devices

Solution

With a team of talented game designers, UI/UX designers, and developers, we brought the game idea of Invader Crusaders to life.

iscbc-game-screenshot

Stop the invasive species from spreading before it’s too late! Invader Crusaders is a simple, educational point-and-click game where you choose the best action to prevent the spread of invasive species before they get out of control!

How to Play!

  • Win by having more native species than invasive species on the map
  • Faced with a scenario, pick the responsible option to prevent species from spreading
  • Strategically remove invasive species that impact native species

Learning Outcomes

  • Understand what invasive and native species are
  • Identify human behaviours that cause invasive species to spread
  • Take actions that prevent invasive species from spreading

Features

  • Simple, turn-based gameplay
  • Animated species and background
  • 60 pieces of custom scenario art
  • 10 levels to play
  • Desktop and tablet support

Process

Making Learning Fun

We first started by experimenting with different game designs. Initially, we designed the game with a core mechanic of identifying the type of invasive species.

iscbc-initial-design

However, to better meet the learning outcomes, we built upon this by focusing on a simple message behind the game that is memorable for the players: Invasive species can spread and cause harm to native species. To this end, players will focus on the goal of minimizing the spread of invasive species.

We learned a lot about invasive species throughout this project — as ISCBC are the experts in this subject matter, we worked closely with them to develop game events that are both relevant and interesting.

Frequent Communication and Feedback

One of the main success factors of the project lies in the communication that was maintained throughout the project between our team and ISCBC. To adapt to the situation of COVID-19, we met digitally online to provide ISCBC with updates to the project. We demonstrated mockups and prototypes early on, which allowed us to make UI and game design improvements while solidifying the vision of the game.

For example, we identified early on that the game should incorporate some of ISCBC’s core programs. From there, we organized the game’s levels to teach these programs incrementally.

Creating a Tutorial

As we conducted user tests with the target audience, there was one common learning. We discovered that the game would benefit from a quick tutorial level that teaches the player how to play. The player is aided by a series of popups that introduces each element of the game as they move along in the level. Not only are they able to learn from the tutorial level, but we also implemented it as a tooltip that can be easily accessed outside of the tutorial level.

iscbc-tutorial

Results

Our efforts proved to be fruitful in realizing the vision of the project: We produced a beautiful, polished web game that is not only attractive and entertaining to play, but also serves to educate youth on invasive species.

The evidence? We listened to the feedback of our players. As we conducted further user testing with the game’s intended players, we received consistent positive feedback that the game had taught them something new about invasive species.

As players tackle the different levels, they quickly grasp the effective strategies when encountering invasive species that will help them win the level. That translates to knowledge that can be similarly applied in real world applications. The effectiveness of gamification is reflected in this project.

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“The game successfully represents the values of the organization and also serves to further educate younger generations about invasive species. Raccoopack Media leverages their creativity and expertise to produce quality results.”
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Serena Bonneville
Program Coordinator
Invasive Species Council of BC
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Case study

Porting a mobile learning app from iOS to Android

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Case Study

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International Digital Education Access | The Learning World of Oville

Android App Development

Oville World provides a safe, imaginative world to discover that sparks creativity, inclusion and kindness while preparing for kindergarten.

I.D.E.A., the organization supporting Oville World, is passionate about creating safe, age appropriate ethical products to teach children at home.

Problem

I.D.E.A. wanted to expand Oville World to support Android devices. The mobile learning app had already been developed for iOS, but they needed an experienced developer to work alongside their team to complete this project within a short timeframe. From there, I.D.E.A. reached out to our team to collaborate on developing the Android version of Oville World.

device

From iOS to Android

Along with developing the game for Android, the central challenge that our team was tasked with is to integrate the existing product’s membership capability from iOS to Android. This feature supports paid subscriptions to access extended content inside the app.

The issue resided in the different requirements for how subscriptions are handled between iOS and Android platforms. We identified the need to find a solution that will maintain cost-effectiveness, followed by a strong compatibility with the existing product.

Solution

As our development team is experienced in both iOS and Android, we were able to quickly understand the technical requirements and specifications for integrating the membership capability.

We began by researching the different platforms for third-party subscription management services. To name a few alternatives, we explored the pros and cons of using Firebase and Amazon Web Services. This led to a solution of adopting Google Cloud due to its cost effectiveness and compatibility with the Google Play storefront. In addition, this service fits the existing infrastructure built on iOS.

As a result, we were able to optimize loading speeds and the size of the game without introducing technical dependencies.

google cloud

Process

Converting to Android

Prior to integrating the membership capability, we first began by converting the mobile game from iOS to Android. This also involved tackling a number of platform specific issues. We upgraded a number of third-party plugins to be compatible with the latest version of Android and to fulfill Google Play store requirements.

The second phase of the project was testing. We completed quality assurance by testing the game on different android devices with differing specifications. This revealed a number of areas which required further optimization, ensuring that the game worked smoothly for the end user.

Open Communication

We worked closely with I.D.E.A. due to our offices being located in close proximity. We held frequent in-person meetings and communicated through online messaging at other times. This allowed for quick turnarounds and sharing of ideas.

Results

We successfully developed the Android version of The Learning World of Oville from start to finish, and launched the game on Google Play to meet the project goals. The project was completed on time and within the client’s provided budget. This was the beginning of a long term relationship with I.D.E.A. as we are continuing to provide ongoing support for this project.

“We were most impressed by our developer’s ability to integrate the subscription service. The process was extremely complex, but he figured out a plan and built the entire system within a very reasonable amount of time. We were blown away.”
idealogo
Nathan Cole
Studio Director
International Digital Education Access
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