Chreune intended to be a system that helps (potential and) chronic disease patients cope with the lack of engagement and motivation that can emerge from tedious habits. Chreune was aimed towards a population that is rarely considered in games: middle and older adult women in developing nations. Moreover, Chreune was developed and tested (as a prototype) as part of my thesis work .
Process
"Chreune" development took approximately 8 months of work.
Tasks
■ Selected concepts to explore (i.e. noncommunicable diseases and telenovelas) and researched connections in previous theoretic and experimental work to determine viability of the idea.
■ Created prototypes of the product (i.e. Chreune) and storyline using storyboards & paper to be reviewed along with my supervisors.
■ Built interactive prototype using Twine, YouTube clips, Giphy & Soundcloud.
■ Recruited participants in Mexico and evaluated functional prototype through usability evaluations, semi-structured interviews and questionnaires proper to the measurement of engagement in narrative, patient-health and user experience.
■ Created prototypes of the product (i.e. Chreune) and storyline using storyboards & paper to be reviewed along with my supervisors.
■ Built interactive prototype using Twine, YouTube clips, Giphy & Soundcloud.
■ Recruited participants in Mexico and evaluated functional prototype through usability evaluations, semi-structured interviews and questionnaires proper to the measurement of engagement in narrative, patient-health and user experience.
Speed bumps
▼ Original storyline did not appear to be engaging enough.
Solution: Looked for original stories in Wattpad and asked writers on Twitter but stories found were not adequate for user group. Eventually, chose a story that had proved to be a successful TV drama in America.
Solution: Looked for original stories in Wattpad and asked writers on Twitter but stories found were not adequate for user group. Eventually, chose a story that had proved to be a successful TV drama in America.
▼ No acting crew available to recreate story for film purposes.
Solution: Contacted acquaintance of a theater company who were willing to participate in the project. However, proper story was not found on time to ask for their help. Instead, clips from a well-known American TV drama were converted to text and GIFs to be displayed in Twine.
Solution: Contacted acquaintance of a theater company who were willing to participate in the project. However, proper story was not found on time to ask for their help. Instead, clips from a well-known American TV drama were converted to text and GIFs to be displayed in Twine.
▼ Support from medical staff to recruit participants was dropped.
Solution: Recruited participants at my mom's & sister's workplace in Mexico. Additional participants were considered as part of the risk management plan devices at the beginning of the study.
Solution: Recruited participants at my mom's & sister's workplace in Mexico. Additional participants were considered as part of the risk management plan devices at the beginning of the study.
The Goods
Paper protoype/storyboard was moved to a PPT file to simulate linkage.
Blueprint of final storyline in Twine. You may check out Chreune at http://philome.la/winterdamsel/chreune-july/play and use the code vu2y2 to access.
Patient measuring her glucose
Conducting session at patient's workplace
Unlocking the finale using their measurement
Result
Overall, Chreune was a satisfactory project for me because it allowed me to learn about the psychology behind mundane items like soap operas, the different dimensions of engagement and made me push myself to make things happen. It was also a rewarding experience to have obtained my master's degree upon completion and receive kind words from my supervisor:
"(Paulina) has shown dedication, determination and creativity in planning and carrying out a demanding design, implementation and user experience study on a topic related to a socially important theme on global level."
This work made me feel eager and more passionate about continuing my path on research and design of systems.