1.

INTRODUCTION

Brief

The App project is the assignment which has been given to the Multimedia Design and
Communication students during the second semester of their education, lasting from the 13th of
April to 18th of May 2015. The project requires creating an app which could be used as the digital
learning aid by dyslexic kids between 10 and 12 years old. The ultimate goal is to motivate the
target audience to practice reading and writing skills as well as making the time spent on learning
pleasant and enjoyable. Achieving the goal will demand from students to explore the dyslexia
problem in great depth. Furthermore, research about the interests of the age bracket which is
adequate to the target audience needs to be done. There is no other way to fulfill the assignment
than trying to understand the target group’s problem and to embrace their point of view.

The project needs to meet some technical requirements which could be found as challenges by
students. First of all, they will need to use HTML5, CSS3 and one of the programming languages-
JavaScript. The product needs to be optimized for tablet devices or smartphones by the PhoneGap.

Moreover, credits have to be done in a discreet manner so there will be no doubts that the app has
been created by students from UCN. During the whole process of creating the product, the students
are obliged to use relevant theory and methods from all the subjects covered in the Multimedia
Design and Communication’s curriculum.

The team is formed by three members. All of them will be devoted to the project and will be using
their sketching, drawing, analyzing, coding and programming skills to fulfill the assignment as
good as possible. The frequent meetings are the need. The whole project will take a lot of time and
effort, which the students are aware of. As the method, the scrum is worth to be taken into
consideration since the agile methods are the best solutions for creating gamifications. The team
needs to set the goal which could meet the client’s demands in the best way but also could be
realistic and feasible. This document is a description of the whole process of the teamwork from the
researches to design and completion part. Going through the report, the reader will be able to
understand the work made during the App project.

Client description

Center for Læseforskning (Center for Reading Research) is part of the Department of Nordic
Studies and Linguistics at the University of Copenhagen and was established in 1998.

The Client carries out researches in the realm of linguistics, for example: development of speed in
reading, early identification of children at risk of reading disabilities. The current research concerns
the reading training for dyslexics. The Client has been studying the dyslexia problem for many
months and, as a result, the prototype of digital learning aid- the Melfo, was created. The majority
 of funds gathered for the prototype were spent on research part, since the design of the prototype
was not the priority. The Melfo has a great substantive content, but the design cannot interest and
engage the target audience. Therefore, the Client needs the students from Multimedia Design and
Communication in order to find a better solution for the design and develop the prototype as a
gamification. The Center for Reading Research essentially would like to motivate dyslexic children
to learn by the appealing and interesting product.

2. PROBLEM

problem description

Center for Læseforskning is developing an app to motivate teens between the ages of 10 and 12
with dyslexia to practice their reading and spelling skills. They have already supported a thorough
research about an app that promotes this kind of dexterities. Unfortunately, the app requires
modifications in what means User Interface design, so that it can attract not only by its content but
also by its looks.

Center for Læseforskning is searching for an app that will provide both informative
and well-presented content so that it can be more appealing for children to practice reading and
writing both inside and outside of schools. They are also considering the fact that the app/game can
be played both with supervision from a teacher/adult and without. The app must be an engaging
experience for the users (kids between 10 and 12 years), that must emphasize the importance of
exercising reading and learning skills, providing real-time feedback for the user. The app must also
be treated as a long-term used product, meaning that it has to be constantly engaging and providing
objectives for the player to practice and to develop the skills already named. Because most of the
kids (tweens) with dyslexia face difficulties also in social interaction, motivation into developing
those skills, while being in school; this game has to solve this problem and to help the teenager to
get motivated to start practicing reading and writing.

Also, considering this is a specific disease with specific characteristics, there has to be
an intriguing story to attract the user, keep his interest, without throwing away the purpose of the
game. It also has to offer different accomplishments in relation to the effort put to finish the game,
incorporating an achievable goals system which might be hard to integrate in the app. In the specific
aspects of the story, there has to be a character that the user can relate to, increasing the possibility
of repeatedly playing the game. A specific type of character must be addressed in this kind of story,
to create a relation between the user and the game, and to make and keep a relation him. Behavioral
psychology must have a place in the game, in combination with the accomplishments, and must be
thoroughly thought about (the reward/punishment system must have a place in the game).

problem formulation
 How can we create an engaging game, with content that can help dyslexic children (tweens) faster
their learning process while also creating a Graphical User interface that will attract, engage and
make them play the game for a long time?

Specification: How can different psychological teaching processes can be integrated

both in the content of the game, making it easier for children (tweens) with dyslexia to understand
and train their abilities to read and to write, and in the Graphical User Interface, so the product can
be an engaging one and make them repeatedly play it/play it for a longer period of time, while
offering proper feedback about their progress.

3. METHOD CHAPTER

scrum

As an agile development method, SCRUM seems to be the best choice for this project. Because it
offers good time management and organization of tasks, implementing SCRUM for the
development of the app offers a lot of flexibility and possibilities, as all the members of the group
can be involved into all the processes of the development. Also, because it keeps everyone on track
with what somebody else is doing, or has to do, SCRUM is a very good method to get the members
out of the usual “roles” that they have, involving them everywhere in the making of the product.

The product backlog will be made with every member of the group, first in larger,
general items, being split at every sprint planning meeting, into more detailed, specific items. Also
for organizational purposes, the items will be given importance level, based on the difficulty and
necessity of the task. The members of the group will estimate the number of hours that the specific
item will take. For a better categorization, they will be given from 1, 2, 4, and 8 hours and 2, 3, 5 to
10 days, the ones estimated between those hours taking the higher value.

At the end of every sprint there will be held a sprint plan meeting to organize and to
decide what should be done next. Also in the same meeting the tasks will be divided between the
members of the groups.

brainstorming

Even if Brainstorming is the most common method used in the creational process, it remains one of
the most efficient techniques, as it implies the spontaneously contribution of the team members in
order to obtain new ideas or solutions. It is a great tool to use for all the SCRUM sprints, for both
planning and designing. Brainstorming is the most familiar method used between the group
members.
 sketching

When different opinions and ideas come together, it is hard to handle them all with just words.
Sketching comes in hand as a method to visualize and to print an idea on the paper to show exactly
what the members are thinking about. It is cheap and easy to do technique to show what are you
organizing in your head and make it visual. After all, we all are visual creatures. It is a great
solution to start prototyping and to start the design.

prototyping

A prototype is a draft version of a product that allows you to explore your ideas and show the
intention behind a feature or the overall design concept to users before investing time and money
into development. A prototype can be anything from paper drawings (low-fidelity) to something that
allows click-through of a few pieces of content to a fully functioning site (high-
fidelity). (http://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/prototyping.html)

Prototypes are used within the later stages of the design funnel than sketches. This method takes
more time but also could provide more information about the usability and design. Prototyping is a
great method to involve the user into process of product development. Thanks to this tool, the
designers have a chance to receive an appropriate feedback from the representatives of the target
audience. Thus this method is one of the most important during the creation. One can find out if the
product could be described as intuitive and useable. According to the information received from the
users, there is a chance to solve the issues and improve the product.

Nowadays, the designers are able to use many different tools to create a prototype such as
Balsamiq, Axure or simple sketching paper prototype. The group decided to work with the
application POP (Prototyping on Paper), since it is easy to use but still enable to incorporate
interactive part of the product.

4. APPLIED THEORY

Storytelling
The only way to achieve a true emotion response from the viewer is to connect with them on all
possible levels. Storytelling is very important when attracting our target audience to any particular
campaign. (http://andyrutter.com/storytelling-in-media/)

Classic Model of storytelling, known also as a Dramatic Arc is divided into five parts (acts):
exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and denouement.

The first part should display basics information about the story and introduce the recipients to its
tone. Exposition provides description of the main characters and their relations; sets a place and a
time of an action. This act should also embrace the introduction to the dramatic situation- a main
plot. Then, during a rising action, the spectators can follow the series of events. In this part the
protagonist is taking on the problem.

Climax is the turning point of the story. It can be developed in two different ways- all events before
this point could go badly for the main character or, conversely. Formerly hidden weakness of the
protagonist could emerge. The ending of the climax is called the falling action, which are leading to
the conclusion (denouement).

Storytelling could be used in a different kind of media, from books to videos and games. In every
case, the storytelling enables the user to recognize the genre, create her own expectations to the
medium and could induce emotional response.

Game Design Model

The theory of the Game Design Model will be used to establish some core elements of
the app. First of all, the game design model will be used to set up proper goals, so that it can match
the target audience’s characteristics, to integrate them into the game’s core values. Second, the
actions performed in the game, by the users will match the goals set, to help them achieve the
purpose of the game. The feedback will show to the user the results of the actions he wanted to do.
There will also be obstacles to motivate the user, to make the game harder so that it can keep the
user connected to the game, to challenge him and to make him spend more time solving the app.
Also, considering that the actions the user does must lead to a goal, there should be specific rules to
determine the outcome of them. Last, because the user has to identify with the protagonists of the
game and with the environment, the game has to take place in a specific setting, there needs to be
constructed a fictional frame.
Colors theory

To create an appealing product, colors should be carefully chosen and implemented in the design. In
this sense, both color theory (which creates a logical structure and categorization) and psychology
(which establishes and explains the connections between colors and body, mind and emotions) will
be used during the creational process.

The red and blue, two of the primary colors will be used for the main character clothes in order to
offer him a distinctive visual identity from the other elements of the game. The red color is known
for standing out in all environments. Being an “aggressive” color, the human eye is “programmed”
to perceive it in no time. “Although not technically the most visible, it has the property of appearing
to be nearer than it is and therefore it grabs the user’s attention” (Colour affects, 2008,
Psychological Properties Of Colours [online]). Also, the use of red will create a profile for the main
character. He will be, in the user’s eyes, full of courage, strength, warmth, and energy.

In the meantime, the blue color that will be used in different hues in the product (for sky,
backgrounds and other secondary characters) inspires trust, efficiency, logic and calm. “Strong
blues will stimulate clear thought and lighter, soft blues will calm the mind and aid concentration.
Consequently it is serene and mentally calming. It is the color of clear communication”(Colour
affects, 2008, Psychological Properties Of Colours [online]).

For the background, green (one of the secondary colors) hues will be used. Known as the nature’s
color, green arouses feelings such as harmony, rest, restoration, reassurance, environmental
awareness, equilibrium and peace.

Also, orange (a secondary color as well) will be used as the predominant color of the product. The
menu buttons and other buttons and also the ice creams (the elements that the user has to gather to
obtain points) will contain hues of orange. It symbolizes energy, vitality, cheer, excitement,
adventure, warmth, and good health.

Sources:

Color matters, Basic Color Theory [online] available at: http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-

design/basic-color-theory
Color matters, Orange – The Meanings of Orange [online] available
at:http://www.colormatters.com/the-meanings-of-colors/orange

Colour affects, 2008, Psychological Properties Of Colours[online] available at: http://www.colour-

affects.co.uk/psychological-properties-of-colours

Reinforcements

According to Karen Pryor, a scientist in the fields of marine mammal biology and behavioral
psychology, the reinforcer is anything that, occurring in conjunction with an act, tends to increase
the probability that the act will occur again (Pryor, 2006). There are two types of reinforcers-
positive and negative. The first one is a reward for the subject- something, which he wants; the
second one- something, which he is trying to avoid.

It is commonly believed that punishments have a stronger impact on the subject than rewards and it
is more likely that the subject will achieve the goal to avoid the punishment rather than collect the
rewards. The examples described in the Karen Pryor’s book- “Don’t shoot the dog”, show that this
is not necessary the truth. The author instanced case of the man, squash player, who has started to
praise himself for every goal instead of punishing for every mistake. After that he realized that he is
not only better at the game, but he enjoyed it far more than before. This example shows that positive
reinforcer could have a great impact on our behavior and achievements.

To provide an appropriate reinforcer, the time of occurrence is very important. It should appear
immediately after the desirable act, so the learner knows without any doubts, what he is rewarding
for. A perfect timing is sometimes hard to achieve. In this case, conditioned reinforces- a signal
presented before or during the delivery of a reinforcer (for example sound or light), could be a
solution. One could also distinguish another type of positive reinforce- a jackpot. It is a bigger
reinforcer, which has to be a surprise to the subject and could provide a breakthrough. The jackpot
might succeed in improving the response of the subject, who does not act in a desirable way
previously.

Reinforcement might have a great impact on motivation of the user during the game. Positive
reinforcers could also influence on the target audience attitude, caused that the time of learning will
 be a pleasure. Giving a positive feedback, for instance bonus points or writing a praise, could
improve the results and increase a time, which the user will spend on practicing.

Gestalt Law

Using simple and accessible design rules during the work progress, the team members decided to
respect some of the Gestalt principles. In this sense there will be used: the law of Similarity which
helps organizing the objects (it will be used for menu, ice creams, and other buttons), law of
Common Fate (for the Help button and its pages), law of Continuation (ex. the ice cream), law of
Focal Point (the users attention will be focused on the main character of the app), and the law of
Simplicity which group the elements in the simplest possible way.

5. ANALYSIS AND PROBLEM SOLVING

5.1 RESEARCH

Dyslexia

According to the research examined by the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, 20% of the
population is dyslexic. Dyslexia is not a disease but a cognitive learning disability in which the
brain has difficulty with phonological processing, or translating words into sounds. As a result,
reading is a difficult task. (http://www.uxbooth.com/articles/designing-for-dyslexia-part-1/). It
cannot be cured and can be caused by few reasons. The first one is related with heredity, since the
scientists discovered genes, which are responsible for reading and language processing issues.
Another theory concerns the brain anatomy as a cause of dyslexia. The brain of people with this
disorder, specifically- the planum temporale (responsible for language), might have a different
shape than the brain of people without dyslexia. The last reason is the brain activity. The areas of
the brain, which are connected with language skills, should work together in an appropriate way. In
persons with dyslexia, the brain works differently and involved other areas
(https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-
disabilities/dyslexia/understanding-dyslexia)

Doctor Ronald B. Davis defined that the most consistent thing about dyslexics is their
inconsistency. The characteristics can vary from day-to-day or minute-to-minute
(http://www.dyslexia.com/library/symptoms.htm). One could specify many different symptoms
which are connected with dyslexia. They are concerning writing, reading, spelling and also motor
skills, time management, health and behavior. Dyslexic people might have difficulties sustaining
attention, seeing non-existent movement while reading or writing, difficulties with managing time,
extended hearing or even headaches while reading. This disease for sure has a great impact on self-
esteem, which is often decreased. The stress situations, time pressure might increase symptoms.

The cure for dyslexia does not exist, but there are methods and approaches, which could help with
overcoming problems in an effective way. Very important role plays the emotional support. With a
specialized education program, children with dyslexia can surmount the problems at school
(http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dyslexia/basics/definition/con-20021904).

Morphological approach

Morphology is study of how the smallest, grammatical units in a language- morphemes, form
words. Morphemes can be classified into two types: free and bound. The first type can occur as a
separate word, the second ones are the meaningful units, but they are not actual words, for instance:
suffixes like –s or –ly (http://study.com/academy/lesson/morphemes-examples-definition-
types.html). Morphological approach is using analysis of the pieces of the word to decode them
instead of recognize them as a whole. This strategy could be helpful in training the reading and
spelling skills especially for the persons with dyslexia. It eventuates from the fact, that morphemes
are indicators of the meaning because of theirs transparency. The sense of the complex words is
predictable from constituent morphemes, which could help to find out the sense even of the
unknown words.

A few researches were examined in this field by Carsten Elbro from the University of Copenhagen.
One of them took place in 1990 and aimed to assessment of the impact of morphological
transparency in decoding. It indicates that decoding is easier with transparency structure of the
words than without it. Moreover, dyslexic teenagers were significantly more affected by
morphological word structure than normal readers in the same age bracket. The next study,
conducted in 1993 shows that the unit of word which is the easiest to recognize is a morpheme, but
only for dyslexic.

According to the data gathered by Carsten Elbro, one could conclude that the morphological
approach is a good strategy to overcome problems of the dyslexic kids with reading and spelling.
Target-audience analysis

The Center of Reading Research has defined as its main interest audience the tweens/
preadolescents suffering from dyslexia with ages from 10 to 12. Beside dyslexia, the target audience
is at an essential stage in its personal development, and it is important to be carefully analyzed,
considering its comportments, cultural background, environments, problems and influences. In this
sense, the target audience analysis was made from multiple perspectives.

Preadolescents from 10 to 12 – beliefs, values, comportments

“Tweens are children who want to be teens but aren’t quite old enough yet”
(https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/how-to/data-spending-habits-dos-donts) but even so, the
preadolescence is a challenge and is different for every children or parent. In this period, beside
physical changes, big emotional mutations happen. At this point, every feeling, gesture or word
becomes more intense than ever, and the relation with the family starts to become tenser; the tweens
start to create their own personality and to develop their own beliefs and values. Still, they are
easily influenced by media and internet access.

According to MarketingSherpa.com the “tweens – also known as Generation I (as in Internet) – are
the first demographic that takes the online world completely for granted. After all, the Internet has
always been there for them”. The usual media habits of a preadolescent generally includes TV,
radio, magazines, video-games, and of course, Internet browsing and due to all this activities, they
tend to become multitaskers. According to the study “Kids’ Social Networking” made by Grunwald
Associates between 2007 and 2008, more than 30 % of the tweens multitask at least once a day
between Web and TV.

Being part of the technological era, the Generation I often considers computers or other media
instrument as its body extension and it’s not rare for children to become the “technical support” of
the family.

Knowing all this information, it is important to keep in mind that tweens are “digital natives” and
they will expect to be entertained.

Preadolescents from 10 to 12 in Denmark

“Since the 1980s there has been a general change of attitude moving away from considering the
‘child as vulnerable’ to a conception of the ‘child as a competent actor’ in his/her own life. Inspired
by the theory of Jean Piaget, the child was previously perceived as an insufficient, vulnerable being
that gradually – with assistance from teachers and parents – develop into a competent grown-up
person: a concept defining the child as a “social becoming”. Recently, social interaction and
negotiation between child and adults have been brought into focus. This contemporary childhood
sociology is to a large extent based on the research of British sociologists (James, Jenks and Prout,
1998). In this kind of research, the child is perceived as a competent actor, a “social being”.”
(Alanen, 2000; Brembeck, Johansson and Kampmann, 2004).

Even the tweens might encounter the same general characteristics all around the world; they
differentiate one another because of their cultural background. In the Danish society, the tweens are
seen as individuals. They are treated with respect and they have the status of “natural partner in
family decisions and a social being in its own right” (“The Tweens Market and Responses to
Advertisingin Denmark and Hong Kong” study made by Lars P. Andersen). A Danish
preadolescent has a monthly income of almost 100 DKK obtained from its family and spare time
jobs, and it is most likely that he/she will spend this money on CDs, computer games, clothing,
sports equipment, cosmetics, jewelry, and mobile phone service.

Going back to the characteristics of the Generation I presented above, the Danish preadolescents
also show a keen interest in Internet and other media instruments. According to a study made by
Danmarks Statistik made in 2007, in 2006 83% of the Danish families had Internet access, from
which 95% of them are families with children. Most of the 7-15-year-old children use the Internet
in their leisure time. 28% use it almost every day and 22% use it several times a week (Bille et al.,
2005). They use the Internet for playing computer games, but many also seek information, e-mail,
chat, and surf (ibid.).

Dyslexic tweens

Even if the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity estimates that 20 % of the population is
dyslexic, it is important to understand that persons suffering from this disability are as normal as
everyone else. The inability of some people to understand and tolerate dyslexia influences the social
evolution of children.
 Most dyslexics will present some of the fallowing traits and behaviors (n.b. These characteristics
can vary from day-to-day or minute-to-minute. The most consistent thing about dyslexics is their
inconsistency):

o difficulties managing time, counting objects, dealing with money;

o labeled lazy, dumb, careless, immature, "not trying hard enough," or "behavior problem";
o has poor self-esteem; hides or covers up weaknesses with ingenious compensatory strategies; easily
frustrated and emotional about school reading or testing;
o learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual
aids;
o complains of feeling or seeing non-existent movement while reading, writing, or copying;
o complains of dizziness, headaches or stomach aches while reading.

Sources:

https://psihoconsultanta.wordpress.com/discipline/psihologia-varstelor/

http://www.copilul.ro/copii-adolescenti/adolescenta/Cele-trei-stadii-ale-adolescentei-a130.html

https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/how-to/data-spending-habits-dos-donts

Client analysis

About the client:

The Center for Læseforskning (The Centre for Reading Research) was established in 1998 due to a
grant received from the Danish Ministry of Research and the support from the Faculty of the
Humanities at the University of Copenhagen. The Centre is hosted by the Department of Nordic
Studies and Linguistics from the same University.

Being part of a complex research Department (n.b. the Department of Nordic Studies and
Linguistics from the University of Copenhagen) which approaches multiple elaborate fields of
research, the Centre for Reading Research focuses its activity on the audio-logopedic area,
analyzing linguistic descriptions of communicative difficulties, reading problems, speech or
auditory difficulties and their reasons and potential remedies.
Client’s problem:

At the present, the Center for Læseforskning’s main purpose is to motivate dyslexic children to
practice reading and spelling. Being in their first years of school, dyslexic children have often
experienced stigmatizations or bad results at school and they become discouraged because of the
difficulties encountered in the reading and spelling process. Therefore, the Center of Reading
Research is willing to approach a digital game-based learning strategy, in order to transform the
practice of reading and spelling into an enjoyable experience.

Sources

http://inss.ku.dk/english/research/centres-and-networks/connection/Forskningslandskab_UK.pdf

http://laes.hum.ku.dk/om/

SWOT analysis:

In order to obtain some clear ideas about the Center of Reading Research’s activity, identity and
concerns and also to find the most appropriate solution to their problem, a SWOT analysis was
needed.

Strengths:

One of the main strengths is in fact that they are adopting a digital game-based learning strategy.
The client knows very well its target audience and its demands and expectations and they are trying
to make children suffering from dyslexia comfortable with the learning process. Another positive
aspect is the fact that they have qualified staff in this field of research that could bring solutions to
the dyslexia problem.

Weaknesses:

Even if the client tries to be on the same line with the present technology and modern techniques of
learning, they suffer from a lack of front-end editors for the app/game that they are using. Because
they are working mostly with preadolescents who have access to different types of games and
multimedia elements, it is important to have a product that visually will catch their attention. In this
sense, a person or a group of persons should be in charge of creating a proper design for the
“learning game”.

Opportunities:

An opportunity can be identified even in the Multimedia Design and Communication’s project. This
collaboration could bring new game and design ideas that could be subsequently used. Of course,
other collaboration with professional companies could appear in time. Also, the opportunities of
receiving grants from the Government or other Companies interested in the research field are not to
be forgotten.

Threats:

Regarding the Center of Reading Research’s digital game-based learning strategy, three main
threats were discovered. First of all, there is a possibility that some other company or person could
create a much more engaging app over the same subject. The second one is the fact that the dyslexic
children could become so absorbed into the game that they forget their main propose: learning how
to read and spell. The last one is represented by possibility that the game will not be that engaging
as the developers expected. In this case, the target audience will lose its interest in playing the game
and the learning process will not be completed.

The story

Behind the layers of the games there has to be a story to back it up. A story is a great way to engage
the audience, to captivate the user and to make him pay more attention to the game. Also it can give
a lot of identification between the situation, the character, the environment and the user and it can
draw his attention even more to the game.

First, structuring a story in six acts (Introduction, First inciting moment, Rising action,
Point of no return, Second Inciting moment, Falling action) would be very good, so that the
skeleton of it is created, and every detail can be discussed further on.

5.2 DESIGN

Inspirations

After long researches about the target audience’s preferences and about the most popular apps, the
team members took as an example three games that managed to encounter all the requirements:
Jetpack joyride, Super Mario and Subway surfers. After analyzing and enjoying the apps, the group
members got inspired from them and decided to opt for a left to right movement, for collecting
 objects in order to reach the target and the “jumping” movements of the main character, so that he
will be able to cross over the obstacles and to collect the rewards.

Game design model

Considering that the members programming skills are limited, there has been created a prototype
illustrating the game. Following the theory early called, the game design model helped create some
important facts about the game. First, using the first category, “Goals”, there have been decided
three major goals for the game: - collecting words from levels, to complete a whole sentence that
“ends” the game, because the game will have an open ending;

- Collect ice creams through the levels to get specific parts of the words;
- Collect the parts of the words so that you can create the word, putting them in the correct order, so
that you can get finish the level.

The actions that can be performed in the game are limited, but helpful. Because the
movement of the players happens from the left to the right, in an automatic manner, the user could
only tap the screen to jump over certain obstacles.

The feedback from the prototype is still minimal, simple changes of images and of pages
being the main ones. Designed to have different feedback from, visual to sound, the game should
show the number of ice creams collected in real-time, also giving different sounds when collecting
and reaching a certain number of ice creams.

There have been chosen different obstacles that the user has to pass, so they can collect the
ice creams, and also to survive:

- Stationary items: benches, stones, containers, groups of people, that the user has to dodge in order
not to die and lose a life;
- Moving items: dogs, kids, requiring different speed of reaction from the user, also dodge able.

The rules of the game should be:

- The user needs to collect a certain number of ice creams so he can get the part of the word to put it
in order;
- Jump over the objects to avoid losing lives;
- The Protagonist of the game can only move right and left;
- The user has to put the parts of the words in correct order to get the correct words, so he can finish
the game.

The fictional frame selected was a park, filled with people, in a summer day, in broad
daylight, so the user can feel the warmth of the game.

The resources used by the user are: number of lives, word components and ice cream points.
 From sketching to prototyping

The idea of the application appeared after researching some other games that have the same target
audience or encounter the most resemblances of concept, idea and propose.

From the beginning of the work process, the idea behind the game was clear and simple, adding
more features while developing.

Starting with the sketches that had several details upon them, like the different placement of buttons
(options, return to main menu or quit, left and right buttons – where the user had to press to move
the character in the desired direction, jump and doge buttons), the main character positioning and its
dimensions in comparison with the background and the buttons, and the sizes of the ice creams,
there has been developed a more detailed prototype.

The prototype suffered some modifications from the initial sketches. To ease the user’s experience,
there has been decided that the buttons for directions to be removed and replaced with a simple
tapping of the device’s screen. The initial design of the Progress page was changed. If at the
beginning the page contained a simple graphic with the user’s scores in different days, now the
Progress page includes the starting date, the total time played, the regularity in which the user plays
the game and the total score having also aside the components of the game that he/her has won until
that moment of the game.

5.3 COMPLETION

Production

The goal of the project is to help dyslexic Danish preadolescents and increase their interest in
practicing reading and spelling. Even more, the main propose of the present assignment is to create
a product that can get the target audience to react and to find pleasure and have fun while learning.
In order to do that, an application was required.

Focusing more on the fun part of the game, there has been very little time to code the drag and drop
game. In this sense, a prototype was created to illustrate the ideas and the possibilities of the app.
Even if initially the team members tried to program a proper game, using the knowledge obtained
during classes and other sources (such as tutorials found on the internet), it turned out to be a real
 challenge and the result wasn’t the expected one. Still, the prototype was programmed as a website
in a way that the idea behind the product to be exposed and explained. Its design was carefully
analyzed and realized in order to be appealing for the audience and to become promising for a
future development.

6. CONCLUSION
The process of making the game is still in development, but the direction in which the games heads
seems to be the good one, as the prototype is a combination of both fun and educative ideas. The
designed prototype is a better way to improve the user interface and the ideas behind the whole
product. It offers the flexibility (a fun game, that can attract players and made them addicted, also
having the characteristics and goal of an educative program) and seriousness of a game that can
help the “tweens” having the dyslexia disorder, to practice and train their abilities while also getting
attracted by the game mechanics.

It is possible to combine the two of them (learning, practicing and training the ability to read and to
write and the fun and amusement of a well designed game, with a graphical interface that will
attract the user and make him play the game for a long time) to create a solution for the pre-
adolescents with the reading and writing problems.

7. PERSPECTIVISING

The product described in this document could be extended and developed in the future. The game
could have 18 or more levels, which will be seen on the map, after pressing the button “start” in the
main menu. During each of them, the user will need to collect ice creams- placed on his way and
above obstacles. The character could move from the right to the left side and will not have an
opportunity to go back in order to collect the missing items. The additional movement, after tapping
the screen, would be jumping over the obstacles. During the game the few obstacles will appear,
such as the barking dog or a bench. Touching the obstacles will be related with losing a life; the
user will need to avoid the obstacles. While grabbing the objects, the user will get a sound feedback,
which will signalize a desire action.

After every level, the user will receive a feedback- a list with a score figure, three best scores, the
feedback and the component- if she will get enough points. The feedback will be related with an
award by, for instance, message about the previous level, according to the number of points, such
as: “good”, “well done”,” awesome”, “fantastic”.
 When the user will collect three components, he will have a chance to create a word with them, by
putting the pieces in the correct order. Creating puzzles with more components after every try of
typing the word could be an additional chance to practice. Solving the puzzles correctly will be
related with getting extra points.

The café with ice-creams could be a target place, after finishing all levels. In the café the user will
have to create a sentence with words, which she collected during the game. To win, it is mandatory
to type the sentence correctly.

8. PROCESS REFLECTION
9. APPENDICIES