Formulated and executed the design and development of Woodland Adventure - a virtual environment, employing persuasive techniques and embedded design, fostering a 15% positive impact on tested users.
To encourages pro-social attitude and lead end users to experience a positive transformation (attitudinal or behavioral) and is deeply informed by research on persuasion techniques and integrates these as foundations.
Woodland Adventure is an immersive and interactive VR game, where users perform activities that imbibe confidence and boost self-esteem. To create the game, I conceptualized the game idea, conducted research to choose the technology, developed the VR environment and followed a Lean Product Development method to test it.
Iteraction Designer
UX Researcher
Lean Process Development,
Rapid Prototyping, Simulation
1 x Researcher
4 x Designer
Young adults frequently confront stress, anxiety, and self-criticism, which undermine confidence, worsen anxiety and depression, and stifle personal development. Our goal was to encourage pro-social attitude and lead end users to experience a positive transformation (attitudinal or behavioral). We incorporated research on persuasion techniques as a fundamental aspect of our approach, ensuring our intervention is deeply informed and effectively integrated.
This problem is close to all students, impacting students at varying levels.
To gain insights into people's attitudes towards emotional processing and mental well-being, we conducted six focus groups with 2-3 participants each. Using the New Metaphors toolkit developed by Imaginaries Lab @ Eindhoven University of Technology. we organized focus groups. Participants were given a slide deck containing 50 metaphors related to emotions and asked to choose ones they identified with beforehand. During the session, they shared their reflections with the group.
I always doubt myself, no matter how hard I try.
- Participant #2
I wish I could silence that voice in my head that's always tearing me down.
- Participant #6
We consulted four experts with backgrounds in Psychology and Game design, who underscored the importance of the right mix of control and freedom. This can be in a controlled environment, like a role-playing game which allows users to embody the experience.
Students flourish when given freedom and control over their learning path.
- Psychology Expert
While games offer an escape from reality, it's vital to acknowledge the innate human desire for control.
- Game Design Expert
VR can create experiences that promote emotional processing and self-awareness, essential components of effective therapy. Riva et al. (2016)
Serious games show promise in positively impacting depression, particularly among young people aged 9 to 25 years. Fleming et al. (2014)
Physical actions users perform in the virtual world (like throwing or smashing) can have a tangible impact on their psychological well-being. Fleming et al. (2014)
Embodiment in VR can lead to profound changes in the user's emotional and cognitive states. Wehbe et al., 2022)
At this junction, our team wanted to focus on the designing the nature of the interactions, for which we came across a challenge: Testing for the Virtual Environment without building in VR. We chose to refine each interaction and iterate on the user's comfort level. For our rapid prototying sessions, we had 3 main persuasive techniques we used:
How would we achieve this goal through testing without building in VR?
We decided to employ Wizard of Oz Testing method to be able to conduct 2 rounds of user testing which informed our build in the final round using Meta Horizon World and Unity.
The first 2 round of testing we conducted using Wizard of Oz method, simulating the virtual reality world physically. The set up included ambient sound, forest lighting and physical props like origami apples and a Christmas tree.
For the third round, we prototyped the environment and task interactions in the Virtual Reality environment. For this, we paid close attention to the amount of comfort the user has, distancing from their own negative thoughts and creating a connection with the characters.
With each round we iterated on the nature of the activity, from drawing raindrops to contain negative emotions, to bursting balloons representations to throwing darts in the Virtual world to burst these thoughts. We iterated with each round to make it a more satisfactory interaction.
The virtual environment supported this interaction by allowing the user to destroy the thoughts in a satisfactory manner. Players were compelled to use their entire body, which instilled confidence and a sense of control.
With each round we iterated on the nature of the activity, from drawing raindrops to contain negative emotions, to bursting balloons representations to throwing darts in the Virtual world to burst these thoughts. We iterated with each round to make it a more satisfactory interaction.
The virtual environment supported this interaction by allowing the user to destroy the thoughts in a satisfactory manner. Players were compelled to use their entire body, which instilled confidence and a sense of control.
Having to prototype in Virtual Reality was intimidating, but also equally rewarding. While simulatenously honing my skills in creating VR components, we realized the value of physical prototyping, gaining some valuable insights.
Learning through design, was what I enjoyed most. Using the resources you have to best validate your designs, and not getting caught up in technological constraints was my biggest takeway.
