Wild Card is a physical card game that helps post-quarantine children of 4-7 years old explore shape, texture, color, and size in a fun and interactive way.
Product Design
Visual Design
UX Research
Usability Testing
5 weeks
Ben Wu
Cameron Lee
Lea Hidaka
Madi Kim
Michelle Weng
Mina Lim
Children impacted by the pandemic have missed out on opportunities for interactive learning and socialization due to quarantine measures.
Wild card is an educational card game that addresses this gap by encouraging players to draw a card featuring an animal, texture, and descriptive words. They then seek out real-life objects that fit the bill.
The pandemic has significantly impacted the cognitive and social development of children, especially for those in the developmental stage of 4-7 years old. Due to quarantine measures and the shift to online learning, children lack quality primary education and basic communication and collaboration skills.
We researched child development milestones of children aged 4-7 years old, and conducted a competitive analysis on existing pandemic-specific play products.
Pandemic-specific play products were created to fill the social needs of both children and their adult relatives. We analyzed three products: Amazon Glow, LEGO Education SPIKE Essential, and the Yoto Player.
We gathered three key insights from the research:
In conclusion,
To get our ideas down, we delve straight into crazy eights, using pen and paper to sketch out all the possible solutions. Then we put them all into a quadrant analysis.
From the chart, we decided to branch out to more of an analog type of toy. We were especially drawn to ideas that include physical activities and engagement with surroundings, which would help children better develop spatial awareness and problem-solving skills after quarantine.
We combined two ideas together: a physical card game featuring various levels, colors, shapes, textures, and sizes, and players will find real-life objects that meet the criteria and verify them using a scanner.
Next, we created concept sketches detailing the functions of the card holder and built-in technology.
And then a moodboard for the form factor:
Our team spent the weekend gathering materials and bringing our vision to life. We came together and went through three stages of iterations:
We decided to use animals as an analogy to better convey the meaning of “texture” to children. Initially we used stock photos of real animals, but realized they were less relatable and inconsistent for children. We replaced them with animal cartoons to make them more visually appealing and to stimulate children’s imagination.
The name “Wild Card” came from our focus on exploration and curiosity, encouraging players to venture into the world and discover the unexpected. We included visual elements such as a magnifying glass, playful colors, and animal textures to capture the essence of joy within the game.
The card holder is designed to provide immediate feedback and validation for the gameplay experience, and give players full autonomy to play the game independently. By scanning objects and automatically ejecting matching cards, the system turns the game into an interactive and dynamic experience.
Wild Card is an innovative educational game that combines traditional card gameplay with interactive technology, challenging children to explore their surroundings and discover matching objects through a unique verification system, fostering curiosity and learning in an engaging way.
After completing the final design, we brought the prototypes to two participatory users for usability testing. From this, we gained valuable feedback for the next phase of the Wild Card journey.
When my team was given the design challenge, we took on an unconventional and playful route. Throughout this process, we explored so many wild ideas and kept on brainstorming more. It was so much fun, and it completely changed the way I approach the ideation process.
This was my first time working on a design project with more than five people. We all brought together so many different perspectives and ideas that we were able to leverage our individual strengths and build upon each other’s creative processes. I would consider it a very rewarding and lucky experience.
