Word Quest
Gamified Word Quiz
Client: CaptiVoice
Timeline: 3 weeks
Team: Myself + two UX Designers
Tools: Figma, InVision, Miro, Webflow
Role: UX Research, Testing, Prototyping, Design Guide
Overview
BACKGROUND
This was a 3-week design sprint completed with two fellow designers to redesign Word Challenge, a learning game within the CaptiVoice platform. CaptiVoice helps students strengthen reading and writing skills through interactive tools, but the original game was underperforming — students found it dull, resulting in low engagement and limited learning impact.
ORIGINAL QUIZ SCREEN
BUSINESS GOALS
Increase active use and retention by gamifying Word Challenge, creating an experience that motivates middle school students to play and learn consistently.
USER PROBLEM
Students were disengaged because the game lacked fun, feedback, and personalization. They needed a more interactive and rewarding experience that made learning feel like a game rather than a quiz.
THE SOLUTION
Turning reading practice into an adventure — where every word conquered earns progress, rewards, and confidence.
Goals and Rewards
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Students must earn points and are incentivized to complete goals to grow their "Study Buddy"
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Increases motivation and engagement, reducing resistance to learning
Feedback Loop
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Students review correct and incorrect answers
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Lose a life when they answer incorrectly
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Visual feedback is continuous and actionable, increasing motivation
Friendly Competition
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Leaderboard will show user how they place among their peers
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Measures success for students, teachers, and stakeholders
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Personalization makes learning feel relevant
IMPACT
🌟 Boosted student engagement by 80%, sparking greater enthusiasm and overall satisfaction with the learning experience.
Case Study
MY PROCESS
01. EMPATHIZE & DISCOVER - understanding the challenge
We started by diving into the existing game to understand why students weren’t excited to use it, and quickly realized it felt more like homework than play.
Stakeholder Interview
CaptiVoice’s Word Challenge quiz feature was underperforming. They believed the low engagement stemmed from a lack of fun and motivation. They wanted to transform Word Challenge into an educational game that would appeal to middle school students and re-engage their user base.
“It’s just not fun — students see it as another test.”
- Stakeholder, CaptiVoice
Heuristic Analysis
To better understand the root of low engagement, we conducted a heuristic evaluation of the existing Word Challenge experience. Our analysis revealed several usability and design issues that made the product feel more like a test than a game.
KEY INSIGHTS
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Lacked true gameplay: Although labeled as a “game,” Word Challenge functioned more like a traditional quiz with minimal interaction or reward-based mechanics.
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Visually uninspiring: The calm, professional color palette felt too plain for middle school students, offering little excitement or motivation to continue playing.
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Unclear purpose and flow: New users would struggle to understand the game’s objective and navigation, leading to confusion and early drop-off.
We saw an opportunity to reimagine the experience into something interactive, rewarding, and visually engaging — something that felt like a game.
02. RESEARCH - learning from students and teachers
Talking with teachers and students helped us see what actually keeps kids engaged — instant feedback, fun visuals, and the chance to make something their own.
Market Research
What do E-learning games look like?
We compared Word Challenge to both direct e-learning competitors (Duolingo, Kahoot!, Reading Plus) and indirect entertainment games (Fortnite and Minecraft) popular with adolescents.
Direct e-learning competitors
Indirect competitors
KEY FINDINGS
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Successful e-learning games rely on intrinsic motivation — curiosity, progress, and autonomy.
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Visual feedback, character customization, and reward loops keep players engaged.
User Interviews and Usability Testing
We conducted interviews and usability tests with:
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Teachers (Grades 5–9) to understand how they use games for learning in their classrooms and what their technology needs are.
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Students (ages 11–14) to learn what motivates them to keep playing and the best options for delivering a gameplay design solution.
We organized our findings into an affinity map to identify common patterns and motivations. This synthesis revealed that both groups value engagement, interactivity, and personalization as key drivers of effective learning.
KEY INSIGHTS
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Games enhance focus and learning: Teachers confirmed that interactive, game-based activities help students stay attentive and retain information more effectively.
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Relatability drives engagement: Both teachers and students agreed that incorporating familiar game elements from popular titles increases excitement and sustained attention.
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Interactivity motivates learning: Students thrive in responsive, interactive environments where they can actively participate and see their progress — in contrast, traditional study methods often leave them disengaged.
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Personalization matters: Students want to feel represented in their learning experience. Customizable avatars, rewards, and visual progress create a stronger emotional connection and sense of ownership.
03. DEFINE
We defined the core problem: if the game doesn’t feel like a game, students lose interest fast — so we needed to make learning feel motivating, playful, and personal.
Personas
Using qualitative data from interviews and usability testing, we identified two primary audiences — students, who sought fun and motivation in their learning experience, and teachers, who wanted tools that kept students focused and engaged.
The existing Word Challenge failed to meet both needs: its static layout, lack of goals, and minimal gameplay offered little reason for students to stay engaged or for teachers to recommend it in the classroom.
The Teacher – Needs tools that sustain student focus while reinforcing core skills.
The Student – Wants learning to be fun, interactive, and rewarding.
04. IDEATE - Designing for Motivation
We brainstormed ways to bring the experience to life, adding game mechanics like avatars, levels, points, and rewards to transform the quiz into an actual adventure.
Game Mechanics
We redefined Word Challenge into Word Quest — an engaging reading adventure grounded in cognitive learning principles and gamified motivation.
Core mechanics included:
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Engagement: Multiple-choice questions framed as challenges.
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Investigation: Levels that build progressively on reading comprehension.
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Action: Immediate feedback and rewards for learning consistency.
User Flow
We built a gameplay task flow to understand every step of the user experience, which helped guide screen priorities before sketching.
Paper Prototypes
To understand the full player journey—from sign-in to feedback—we created early game flows and sketched out possible screens. With limited time, we tested paper prototypes with teachers and peers to quickly validate structure and interaction before building digital wireframes.
Early Sketches
Paper Prototype Testing
Keeping level, score, and lives visible at all times proved to be one of the biggest design hurdles. The challenge was finding a layout that communicated all necessary information without overwhelming students or cluttering the gameplay screen.
05. DESIGN - Bringing the game to life
We turned those ideas into wireframes, prototypes, and a bold new visual style that felt more like a real game — dark, fun, and full of personality.
Design Iterations
We designed low-fidelity wireframes of the screens to do further testing.
V1 Screens
What we learned
Testing revealed several opportunities to improve clarity, accessibility, and motivation within the game:
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Clarity matters: Students struggled with unclear terminology (“swag points,” “gear”) and found the rules page overwhelming. We learned that keeping copy simple, direct, and minimal supports faster comprehension and reduces confusion.
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Stronger feedback is essential: Many students wanted clearer feedback after selecting an answer, and requested the ability to review all questions and answers afterward. This showed us that learners need constant access to study material to reflect, understand mistakes, and build retention.
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Personalization drives motivation: Students consistently asked for more Study Buddy upgrades and customization. We learned that creativity and personal expression are major motivators, making avatar customization a key engagement driver.
V2 Screens
Design Improvements Based on Feedback
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Engaged students from the start by introducing a loading screen featuring the Study Buddy avatars, building excitement before gameplay begins.
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Expanded avatar options and refined the visual style after testing showed the original graphics felt too young for a middle school audience.
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Aligned with brand identity by incorporating CaptiVoice’s blue tones for a cohesive visual theme.
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Increased motivation and personalization by adding more avatar upgrades and introducing locked items to encourage progress.
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Improved reflection and learning outcomes by placing study material directly on the reflection page, helping students recall vocabulary when writing responses.
Visual Design
We redesigned the visual language to align with both the brand and the target age group. The new color palette uses darker, moodier tones with bright accents to create a more game-like feel. Avatars were redrawn with sharper details and bolder expressions, making them look more fierce and less juvenile. We also created a fun, playful logo while keeping all typography clean and easy to read for students and teachers.
FINAL SCREENS
Design Tile
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Color Palette: Rich, bold tones to evoke excitement and challenge.
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Typography: Clean sans-serif fonts for accessibility.
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Icons & Avatars: Bright, expressive visuals to make progress feel tangible.
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Logo: Renamed to Word Quest to emphasize adventure and progression.
Final Design & Prototype
Players advance through increasingly challenging reading questions, earning XP, unlocking rewards, and upgrading avatars — transforming learning into a quest for mastery.
FINAL SCREENS
IMPACT
🚀 STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND MOTIVATION INCREASED 85% - Gamification increased motivation and excitement, though feedback clarity is still key.
😊 POSITIVE SHIFT IN OVERALL ATTITUDE - adding game mechanics significantly reduced boredom, frustration and confusion by 50%
FUTURE STEPS & KEY TAKEAWAYS
While the initial sprint focused on the desktop version, future iterations would improve the following categories:
GAME
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Expand responsiveness for mobile and tablet use.
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Introduce additional gamified layers like “Easter Eggs” and time-based challenges.
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Add more time constraints such as limiting time or deducting points if not practicing enough
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Additional student testing with the finalized prototype, due to time constraints we had to focus on testing main features
TEACHERS
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Allow teacher selection and build out Teacher Dashboard
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Track Wrong Answer Progression and Reports
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Allow teachers to leave feedback for students
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Align with state standards
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Allow teachers to leave their own prompt