Overboard
The Scope
The Strong National Museum of Play wanted proposals for a new interactive game show exhibit. We had four months to create a fully immersive experience, including an RFID scanner to store player metadata. Overboard was created by a team of 10 RIT students, 3 developers and 7 designers.
My Role
Within a small design team we all wore many hats to ensue the project was completed. I worked on UX Design, UI Design, Exhibit Design, and Asset Production for the project.
Research & Pitch
While researching different game shows I was apart of a smaller team of 4 creating a quick prototype of a music based game. I helped create wireframes and a prototype in Figma. I also researched music and accessibility concerns with the large Deaf community found in Rochester. I also did competitor analysis to see how our idea held up to other music and tune based games. During the pitch I also presented aspects of this possible direction.
2D Asset Production
I worked in Adobe Photoshop to create some initial 2D assets to be used in marketing and idle states. Additional assets can be seen on the social media page and official product website. Later in the process we would transition most to 3D elements for the final game play.
UI Production
I focused on the UI of the idle state, fail/success states, and results screen. Throughout the process we decided that a specific fail state would make our game less enjoyable so we pivoted to a simple results screen after time was up.
After all of our research and sketching we went with our ideas that were more focused on patters in the fabrics our designers would be using. We also stuck with our pearl theme and found a way to incorporate that as an overlay during the fashion show.
Beta and User Testing
I took qualitative user testing feedback while observing people experience our game during initial testings. During the first beta test, and presenting at EDGE many players mentioned the lack of sound to be a problem, along with a lack of floor indicators.
Exhibit Building
I worked collaboratively to create the giant treasure chests that held the RFID scanner in our physical exhibit. Additionally I created a floor projector cover that intended to match with the environment of the game. I worked with the rest of the team to transform the classroom space into an immersive experience for our final showing of the game.
Imagine RIT
During the final exhibit the game was open to the public to play. We had a wide age range of players and observers. The room was put together with physical props, audio, screens, and projectors. Check out the Overboard website to see even more!
