Frolic

OVERVIEW

Frolic is a mobile game for iOS that encourages children ages 7-12 to engage in physically active play, supports family engagement and helps them choose physical play activity when spending time together. It’s a game to be put down! Plays 1+ players.

ROLE: Lead UX/UI Designer, Co-Producer, Researcher

DURATION: 1 year | Aug 2019-2020

TOOLS: React Native, Figma

ADVISORS: Jessica Hammer, Melissa Kalarchian

TEAM: Adela Kapuścińska, Tai Chun (Vicky) Lin, Payal Bhujwala, Xuanyuan (Ember) Liu, Alice Cai, Lily Shan, Iris Yip, Gal Fleissig, Hyelee Wang, Xinyu (Mimi) Wang, Fangxian Mi, Kristian Tchetchko, Yi (Carol) Cheng (13)

CLIENT: Human-Computer Interaction Institute

IMPACT & OUTCOME

• Awarded 1st Prize Winner at the 2019 National Institutes of Health Shape of Health Competition: An Obesity Prevention Game.

• Launched on iOS.

• Published the paper “A Socio-Ecological Approach to Activity Games for Girls” to CHI Play 2021.

• Published the article “Fostering Innovation in Prevention and Treatment of Obesity in Youth: Digitally Mediated Physical Play as an Exemplar” to Obesity Society 2021.

As Lead UX/UI Designer, I defined the winning prototype, created the end-to-end system, collaborated on defining the visual design and prepared the pitch deck, including branding, videography and video editing. I influenced the product strategy from prototype to release and provided direction to the development team.

As Co-Producer, I kept the project on track. I supported the team in realizing our vision, communicating with experts, client and user testers, keeping our scope and hiring and training new student talent and external contractors.

Health problems related to weight and fitness are common and growing in America. These are problems with a complex etiology and no easy solutions. We know that physical activity and play are one piece in weight control but that it is influenced by gender norms.

How can we support girls aged 7-12 in choosing physical play more often?

Girls face a variety of barriers - on top of gendered challenges - that stand in the way of their healthy play.

Goal: To create a novel approach by combining physical activity, play and the socio-ecological approach to obesity.