Group Brainstorm-Group:Group Phi-tus
From CS 160 Fall 2008
Contents |
Each team member’s name
o Kevin Friedheim
o Frank Yang
o Xuexin Sean Zhang
o Haosi (Jason) Chen
o Juan Padilla
Brainstorm
A list of at least 20 numbered ideas (preferably 30-60) that you came up with during your brainstorming session
1) Study tools as a game
2) tutoring
3) Housing
4) Maps
• 15) class locations
• 16) entertainment
5) Schedules
6) dynamic bus/bart schedule based on current time
7) selling stuff when leaving campus
8) virtual students’ craig’s list
9) Vocabulary
• 10) memory based
• 11) flash cards
• 12 multi-mode game
o incorporating words not getting into other games
o keeping track
• 13) ddr
o puzzle fighter
14) text based
• Q.A. using cellphone
16) virtual Berkeley
• maps of buildings
17) virtual language learning / must be fun but not frustrating
• avatar moderator
• live chats
21) travel info
tourist locations
booking a hotel
22) scavenger hunt using preferred language
23) virtual marketplace
24) war game with language learning like call of duty
32) prisoner of war where you have to learn what the captors are telling you or you die (macain)
break out by learning to communicate with other prisoners
30) multi level game including a flash cards level
if you miss a word it gets shuffled back in
31) multi player
32) language board game
D&D style
33) trivia based game
pictionary/scatagories
34) simon like,
35) learning colors in another language with simon
add animals or other such images
36) "bowman' - multi player where one player types in a word, which then gets "shot" at the other player, as an arrow, with a bow. If the other player gets the word correct in English, the arrow gets blocked with the shield.
37) implement a combination of simon matching and tetris with words
18) traffic sim
• 19) driving rules/signs
• 20) other countries
24) health related
25) virtual food consumption
26) sleep cycles
27) nutrition tracking
28) calorie education
29) virtual stock market
36) Cooking simulation
put recipe in order
grab ingredients and put in pot
37) Abstinence game while drinking to teach against perils of drinking
driving aspect
38) Taboo-like game to teach a foreign language. People log in and join a r oom. One person is shown a picture and must describe it in a given language. The other person must guess the vocab word and type it in. 2 players per room? 10 players per room? Get points for guessing correctly, get points for describing it correctly? people can warn speaker if he/she cheats by using a wrong language.
Idea Selection
The idea your group chose to work on and a short explanation of why the group picked it from amongst all the possiblities in your list.(paragraph)
Our group chose a "mixture" of ideas #34 and #35 -- that is, a remake of the popular childhood favorite, Simon. It was a hard choice to make since many of our ideas would have been just as ideal a candidate. The deciding factor came into focus once we solidified the persona that we would like to work with along with the problem that affects the persona. At that point, although we did not use "post-its," we voted on the idea that matched a probable problem solution that we liked best and arrived at "pseudo-Simon."
A Longer Description of the Project
Target User Group(paragraph)
Our target user group encompasses all college students that wish to better their fluency and understanding of common vocabulary words of a language foreign to that student. The assumption is, of course, that the archetype user is not a EECS/CS major such that our problem solution will target a more general audience of college students.
When beginning the brainstorm process, we began with the target user group and our ideas revolved around our choice. In practice, and as learned from the readings and from IDEO Deep Dive from ABC Nightline, the brainstorming strategies we learned for solving for a problem solution can be applied only once a persona and problem have been defined; so our group decided define these first.
Refinement of our target user group will come once we perform a contextual inquiry. That is, once we are able to get an idea of the two extremes of users (based on the contextual inquiry and on our existing knowledge of the different types of users), we will be able to better decided on an appropriate persona; one that will encapsulate the ideal user and therefore allow us to build a problem solution geared toward such a user.
Problem Description
The problem of target user group is that the traditional method of memorizing vocabularies is not effective enough, and it lacks the interaction based on the user progress. The goal of the project is to help target user group improving their vocabulary skill by using the proper utilities and methods.
The traditional and most commonly used vocabulary studying method is flashcard. Many people find it useful, but it is very difficult for users to maintain the flashcard banks and keep them up to date according to their progresses.
With a technical solution that helps users to maintain the vocabulary banks, and interact with users learning progresses, the current situation could be greatly improved to be more effective and helpful to users.
Problem Context
When people start learning a new language, first thing they need to do is increase the amount of vocabulary words in that language. However, this requires us to have a great memorization to words. Memorizing vocabulary words can be boring and tedious, so sometimes people lost interest at the beginning of learning a new language. In some research about memory, said that people would be able to retain a long term memory of a subject if they are remind of it after they memorized it in the beginning. That is the reason why we are building this simon likes game, for people that try to learn a new language. The interaction with images and actual vocabulary words keep the learner's interest last at the same time help them to memorized the vocabulary words. Our team believe such a game could greatly improve the efficiency of the learning.
Why Serious Games are a Good Technology for the Problem
When it comes to learning a foreign language, it is essential that the person learn vocabulary words in order to communicate better. However, methods of increasing vocabularies usually involve brute force memorization. By using the medium of a serious game, we can change the mundane task of memorizing word after word into something that one can actually enjoy doing. The versatility of the serious game also allows for methods of memorization that one would not be able to do alone. Serious games provide visual and even audio cues, and even provide direct feedback and progress for the player to assess himself or herself. Language mastering only occurs through repetition and practice through writing, speaking, and listening, all of which the serious game can provide with ease.
Solution Sketch
As mentioned above, our solution to this problem is a Flash based memorization game similar to Simon™. During game play, the user will be presented a pattern of indicators such as images, colors or numbers, which will then need to be mimicked by pressing the buttons containing the textual representation in the language they are learning. Similar to the original game, as the user progresses by correctly mimicking the original pattern, they will be presented an additional indicator while also seeing an increase in speed. The game is over when the user chooses an incorrect word or by straying off of the presented pattern.
Also, the user will be given a point value for each correct answer, based on difficulty and level, and bonus points for exceeding their previous highest levels or learning words that were repeatedly missed in past games. Providing feedback to user in this manner is encouraging and fun for them and will likely cause the user to continue playing, and learning!
