A web-based game that conducts on-the-job training efficiently with the help of a virtual assistant
Airbus organized a 3-day Game Jam, in which university students had the opportunity to build a web-based game, that would enhance the collaboration aspect in Airbus. Our team of five was matched with three employees of Airbus; with the help of them and other employees we were able to implement a game that fit their needs as employees and an organization as a whole.
Our game is a fun and easy way to train new employees. As being in a new environment can make someone nervous we thought it would take the burden off of someones shoulder when trained virtually first. That is why we present a solution that is driven by AI. A virtual assistant helps the new employee get familiar with the tasks at the company with a focus of safety at the workplace.
I was responsible for the storytelling of our game, as well as the implementation of the virtual assistant's instructions of the tasks and directing the player to the right play area.
Airbus was looking to gamify collaboration, e.g. playing a game that would put you in the shoes of other departments to be able to empathize more with them. One of the criterias was for the game to be fun and engaging
Our approach to the Game Jam consisted in interviewing our supervisors first and brainstorming with them. We sat down with the Airbus representatives to find out what they wished for in a game and what expectations they had. They also told us about what they are responsible in the company and their experience their. This way we got to understand Airbus and their employees way better than we did in the beginning.
We discussed about what our team would be able to accomplish in the given timeframe and what type of game we would like to implement. The team was hooked on the idea of creating an escape room game. So we discussed possible game scenarios together. One of the things our mentor and coaches told us in this context was how valued safety in the company is and how often there are workshops surrounding it. After exchanging ideas we came to the conclusion that our game will be an escape room game located in an Airbus warehouse.
To further narrow down our scenarios we met with additional representatives from differernt department to get a greater understanding about how we would have to set up the environment.
Through our discussions we found out, that there were a few situations that the employees liked to reminiscence upon. That is why we included easter eggs, such as the sausage party (though this is only included in our video that we had to submit at the end).
We continued brainstorming on a whiteboard to get an understanding of the mechanics we would need to implement and to narrow down our idea to something that we would be able to implement in two months. In addition we wrote down various endings the player could reach.
We also tried to find out how much space the player would be required to have in real life to be able to play the game comfortably at home. We came to the conclusion that a 4m x 4m space would be perfect for our purposes. As it would be small enough for people to play at home, but still big enough so that they could move freely.
This concluded in our final storyline:
We went ahead and organized all our work through Trello, so that we always knew what tasks were still to be completed. We mostly worked in the lab, but at times we had to work remote. We did this through Discord and of course GitHub was used at all times.
Our Team defined what we wanted to reach at the end of the 3 days and started implementing the game. I created the storyline in cooperation with our supervisors. And sketched a rough plan on how our warehouse should look. This way the team had an idea on how to setup the warehouse and the route that the player would have to take on the course of the game. Thus, we were able to plan the mini games strategically in the warehouse.
I was responsible for implementing the instructions our virtual assistant would give as well as some obstacles that our player would have to face, e.g. barrels being in the way, the window being open. I also added little elements to our warehouse, such as the emergency exit sign and adjusted the lightning in the warehouse.
We also sketched out all the rooms in our game to get a better understanding of the flow.
I placed necessarily and distracting objects into Unity and made them interactable. The distracting objects such as the wineglas were placed in the room with the intention of one making the mini games a bit more difficult to solve and two to give the feeling of that this submarine is indeed used by a rich person. We believed that this would make the game play much more enjoyable, than having only the necessarily objects in the room and solving every mini game as fast as possible.
To further elevate the game play I also created an atmosphere of being stuck underwater by adding atmospheric music, pictures of Atlantis as well as an underwater world with fish boids, which was observable from the inside of the submarine. If the player won an animation would play of them escaping into the underwater world.
As a way of not overwhelming the user we decided to not implement all of the wishes that were voiced. However, the ones that we did consider are included in the PACT analysis above.
With our findings we created a wireframe. This may seem redundant as we already tested with a mid-fidelity prototype, but this seemed to be the best option for us since we initially planned to use our sketches for the user testing. Furthermore, we wanted to focus on the functionality and user experience of the app first rather than the aesthetics. I was responsible for designing the translation page for our wireframe. You can interact with the Wireframes here.
We also established a design system and made custom icons for the app. However, we did not want to reinvent the wheel so they do look similar to other apps. This is to avoid the user having a hard time getting accustomed to the navigation. So whenever possible and logical we chose to establish an external consistency. I was responsible for making the smartglasses and pairing icon. All the icons were done in flat design as we wanted our app to look clean.
In the design of the logo we had to chose between a lot of designs we made. Some would been difficult to recognize, when scaled down so we decided against them. The logo we have chosen in the end is supposed to represent the globe. In front of the globe a "U" is placed, which stands for the name of our companion app. So in a sense the logo represents our goal of the app in uniting the world and overcoming language barriers. The logo is simplistic, easily recognizable, scalable and has meaning.
As for the colours we chose; we believed that the mainly blue theme of the app would contribute to the calm atmosphere that we wanted to establish. Giving the user the impression that nothing has to be rushed and everything is on its right place.
The font we chose is not a serif font. The reason being is to provide an optimal flow of reading with the user getting tired.
After uploading the game on the intented website one of our supervisor reviewed the game. With his feedback we were able to fix a few bugs, e.g. the mouse was extremely sensitive, but most of the bugs we faced we were not able to fix as we did not have enough time to do so.
Our game allows the player to explore the airbus warehouse on their first day of employment. However, suddenly a fire alarm breaks out and they have to find their way out in order to survive. While running out of the building the player is guided out of the building and reminded of all the safety aspects, that they have to adhere to.
