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Mathbot

January 2025 - Present

For this project, I designed some concepts for an educational mobile game that helps kids learn math. With M.O.N.A the math robot, kids will learn how to do the basics of arithmetic through tutorials, challenges, and other math based games.

 

When I used to work as an after-school coding tutor, most of the students I was monitoring didn’t really want to do any coding and just wanted to play online games. I don't blame them for their behavior because I wouldn’t want to do coding after a long day at school either. However, seeing the amount of screen time they got and their willingness to play gave me an idea. I wanted to work on a design project for an educational math game for kids, which could keep them engaged in learning while also having fun.

Team:

  • Solo Project

My Role:

  • UX/UI Design

  • UX Research

Tools:

  • Figma

  • FigJam

  • Adobe Illustrator

  • Google Workspace

  • SurveySwap

User Research

Problem

How do we design a mobile game app that makes learning math engaging and exciting?

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  • Difficult to balance entertainment and learning

  • Children have short attention spans so it's important to maintain interest

Goal

What do we accomplish through this project?​

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  • Create and foster a positive learning environment that facilitates their growth and cognitive skills

  • Make gameplay engaging to make the learning experience more memorable and enjoyable

Pain Points

  • Balancing Education and Entertainment: Simply adding game elements to educational content doesn't guarantee engagement. The learning must be integrated seamlessly into the gameplay.

  • Effectiveness: The game must accurately reflect and reinforce the intended educational outcomes.

  • Demonstrating Value: Overcoming skepticism about the effectiveness of game-based learning can be difficult.

User Personas

User Flows

Early Designs

Mathbot App Icon

mathbot_logo.png

Mascot (M.O.N.A)

In-Game Backgrounds 

Mid-Fidelity Wireframes & Prototypes

Introduction

In the Introduction section, players enter the game for the first time and encounter the game's guide, M.O.N.A. After being briefly introduced to one another, the player gets to customize their own robot to play as.

Addition Game

In this section, players will navigate the game's main menu to play an addition challenge. After playing the challenge, the results will be displayed.

High-Fidelity Prototypes

Introduction

Mathbot-Intro.gif

Addition Game

Mathbot-Addition.gif

Usability Studies

Overview

​To find out what people thought about Mathbot, I created a Google Form and shared it publicly. I initially messaged my designer friend to be a participant, but I wanted to reach a wider range of people so I shared it on a Discord server called Design Buddies. Despite leaving the survey link for a couple days, I’ve gotten no participants. This part of my research was difficult, so I directly contacted 2 users on the server who were also looking for test participants. In exchange for doing my study, I did theirs and I got very insightful feedback from them. One of the participants told me about a useful website SurveySwap where I could find more participants and that’s how I got the other responses.

Parameters

  • Study Type: Moderated and Unmoderated Usability Study

  • Location: United States | Remote

  • Participants: 7 participants (2 Moderated and  5 Unmoderated)

  • Length: 10 - 15 minutes

Questions

The survey asked users about their thoughts on the user flows. I specifically wanted to know if they thought the game was fun and whether they understood certain design choices that were made.

First Prototype Results

  • 6/7 users had a positive reaction to the introduction user flow as they found it straightforward, enjoyable, and clear

  • 3/7 users thought the introduction section took too long before the actual game

  • 7/7 users liked M.O.N.A as a mascot

Second Prototype Results

  • 6/7 users thought the addition game was fun

  • 1 user suggested that adding optional help tools would be useful during the game

Overall Findings

100% of users thought Mathbot has potential to be useful for educators and kids. They think it's fun but certain aspects of the game need to be changed in order to make the user flow feel more cohesive and clear.

Final Prototypes  (WIP)

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