Robiotics

PRODUCT DESIGN, UX RESEARCH

As a part of my capstone project for Master's degree in Learning, Design and Technology at Stanford University, I along with another LDT student created Robiotics. Robiotics is a quest-style block coding game that aims to increase middle school girls' self-efficacy and confidence in STEM* fields with the integration of programming and biology.

*STEM refers to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

7 Months

Robiotics is a puzzle game that aims to challenge gender norms in STEM fields by introducing computational thinking skills inside fun biology quests. Kids play the role of a programmer in a robotics lab, upgrading their robot with animal-inspired features as they navigate through the game world. Robiotics integrates programming instruction with biology content and would be introduced to learners as a unit of their science class, allowing them to see potential interesting applications of CS (i.e., robotics & biomimicry) in a way that applies to their own interests, while also bringing basic CS instruction into schools and classrooms without needing teachers to have experience in computer science instruction. Robiotics illustrates the interdisciplinary nature of STEM while building skills that will help students to thrive in the 21st century.

USERS

Our target learners are girls between ages 8-12-year-old who were in grades 3-5, right before the first major drop in STEM interest. Our survey of STEM women found that the majority (61.5%) became interested in STEM before or during middle school.

NEED

Despite recent increases in the number of women in computer science, there continues to be a gender gap in computer science education and therefore, the field as a whole. Many factors dissuade women from entering CS fields, including: social stereotypes and discrimination; beliefs about CS jobs and culture; gender differences in role models, support and encouragement; lack of experience and interest; and lack of CS identity and self-efficacy. This was reflected in our interview with a 13-year-old when asking if she expected to use science in her everyday life:

“Not really, pretty much just for school, in science class. It’s boring...science is just not a topic that really interests me.”

ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

We interviewed 4 kids aged 9-13 years to learn what their current interests, hobbies and favorite games were, as well as their attitudes towards STEM.

“ I really care about animals. I get very emotional when I see animals in, like, natural disasters; I wish I could help them.”

“At first coding looked kinda boring. But I saw a video of people who actually do it talking about it and what you can do with it. So I tried it out (coding), and it was fun.”

INITIAL PAPER PROTOTYPE

To test level design and specific features of the block-coding environment, we created a paper prototype representation of the coding interface using post-it notes as movable “blocks”, a series of drawn maze “levels”, and a Lego block as a programmable “robot” that navigated through the maze. Index cards featured a mentor that gave feedback.

INSIGHTS

Need smaller incremental increases in difficulty between each level
Visual instructions needed to explain each step.
Specific feedback needed, especially for common mistakes that users make.
Rather than teaching biology + programming in parallel, we needed to find ways to integrate them more.

CLICK THROUGH PROTOTYPE

To test the perception of the narrative and user flow in low-fidelity, a click-through prototype was created in Microsoft Powerpoint. This allowed us to understand what kids thought of the overall story, and to prototype the initial UI/UX design.

“That [level] was kind of tricky...you need to use your brain, you need to learn math, know your lefts and rights. But it was fun!"

FINAL PRODUCT

Robiotics was developed as a digital game developed for iOS/iPad. The game consisted of different environments and users could discover animals on different levels. The game was built in Unity platform, for which a developer and two illustrators were hired on the freelancing website www.upwork.com.

USER TESTING & RESULTS

We playtested various iterations and prototypes with a total of 13 users in our target age range, 11 girls and 2 boys. Our data consisted primarily of qualitative data, including observation, survey questions and interviews before and after playing the game.

We found that users resonated with the narrative of the game, expressing satisfaction when they reached the end of a level and excitement when they found the owl within the environment.

Kids were engaged with the game: One child’s parent told us, after she played several levels, that “usually games don’t hold her attention for this long”.

One 10-year-old before playing the game had no interest in programming: “I’m not interested. I don’t know anything about it. I don’t want to stay up all night at a computer.” Afterward, however, she responded 5 (on a 7-point Likert scale) that she thinks she will use coding in her future, increased her reported interest in robotics, and ratings of whether she considered herself a coder increased 2 points (to 5).

Users recognized the mentor as a resource for help and clicked on her when they felt stuck within the game. The mentor was described as “interesting”, and “someone who cares about the world and animals, not just science”, suggesting that they attribute other characteristics to her than just “scientist” or “in game instruction guide”.

GAMEPLAY & MECHANICS

The narrative begins with a natural disaster: a storm hits, displacing animals from their natural habitats. Players are posed as a research assistant in the “Robiotics” lab, where they meet Dr. Taylor, a female roboticist and scientist who serves as a mentor throughout the game. She gives players a mission: save the lost animals and return them to their correct environments. They do so by using the lab’s robots to navigate maze-like environments, searching for clues that lead them to find animals.

Each robot is inspired by a different animal, such as the PuppyBot. Each robot has special abilities related to that animals’ biological characteristics in a “biomimetic” fashion. Upon discovering an animal in the coding levels, players can view a page in their “Field Notebook” with video and interactive images, which unlocks a new level to upgrade their robot.

HANDS-ON KIT

Along with the game, we also included a hands-on kit that extends the digitally learned biology concepts to physical prototypes. We want learners to better understand these concepts and connect them to real-world scenarios.

For example, at the end of the first environment, users unlock a great horned owl and learn how rods and cones inside the owl’s eyes help them see in the dark. They also learn how animal eyes have inspired the design of the camera aperture. To instill this learning, and connect it to the real world, users make an origami camera aperture.

Collaborator: Lauren Beaton