Tainan 400
GPS-Based Educational Mobile Game
Exploring 400 Years of History Through Interactive Play
ROLE
Lead UX/UI Designer
Responsible for end-to-end UX/UI design, including interaction design for 10 game levels, visual system, user research and cross-functional collaboration with project managers, engineers, educators and government stakeholders.
TIMELINE
6 months | 2024
SKILLS
Figma, Adobe XD, Illustrator, Photoshop, HTML, CSS, JS
IMPACT
Increased user engagement during the 3-month event period
Completion rate achieved during the 3-month event period.
Government-adopted
Integrated into Tainan’s official elementary school outdoor education curriculum post-launch.
Elementary Students Reached
PRODUCT OVERVIEW
Tainan 400 is a major citywide initiative celebrating the 400th anniversary of Tainan’s founding, encompassing 8 key sectors including education, culture, sports, and healthcare. As Taiwan’s historical birthplace—comparable to New England’s role in American history—Tainan serves as the cultural foundation of the nation. This educational mobile game leverages GPS, motion detection, and AI technology to transform Tainan Park into an interactive learning environment. Through 10 gameplay levels, the experience targets children aged 7-12 and families, enabling them to explore 400 years of Taiwanese history through hands-on engagement.
THE CHALLENGE
The scope of Tainan’s history is overwhelming for elementary students. Additionally, modern children expect fast-paced, immediate-feedback experiences—making traditional passive learning methods ineffective.
- Information overload: Too much content, too abstract
- Short attention span: Traditional methods lose interest in minutes
- Expectation gap: Digital-native children expect interactivity
- Competing demands: Must satisfy educational standards AND engagement
GOALS
Children
Fun, Immediate Feedback, Accessible
Education
Factual Accuracy, Learning Results
Government
Safe, Educational Value
Research
Usability Testing
23 Student
2 Rounds
10~15 Minutes
We conducted observational usability testing with 23 nine-year-old students in two rounds. Each 15-20 minute session involved observing play patterns, attention span, engagement behaviors, and collecting direct verbal feedback.
Round 1: Static Content Testing
To validate our initial design direction, we tested a prototype featuring elaborate historical illustrations, text descriptions, and simple tap interactions.
These are Version 1
Key Findings:
Ineffective
Testing revealed that elementary students lacked patience for text-heavy content, losing focus within approximately 2 minutes.
Boring
Most students found it boring. While initially attracted to the visuals, the lack of meaningful interaction diminished their willingness to learn.
low Completion Rate
Fewer than 30% of students completed three levels—a critical red flag for a product targeting children.
“It feels like I’m reading an e-book.”
- Student Yang
“The pictures are pretty, but it’s so boring.”
- Student Lin❌ Students lost focus within 2 minutes
❌ Text content was largely skipped
❌ Direct feedback: “This is boring”
❌ Few students completed all 3 test levels
Static text and images—similar to traditional textbooks and museum exhibits—failed to maintain this age group’s attention. We were creating a digital textbook, not an engaging experience.
Strategy: Rapidly develop interactive prototypes and let data drive the decision.
Quick Iterations
Our response strategy was to rapidly validate the feasibility of the new direction. We decided to let data lead—quickly developing 3 prototype levels showcasing different interaction types for a second round of testing, using real results to demonstrate the value of interactive design. We selected three representative interaction approaches:
More Interactive
Testing haptic feedback and creative participation
More Interactive
Testing physical engagement
More Interactive
Testing the appeal of outdoor exploration and real-world interaction
Round 2: Interactive Prototype Testing
We quickly developed 3 prototypes showcasing different interaction types:
These are Version 2
Calligraphy Writing
Testing haptic feedback and creative participation
Motion Recognition
Testing physical engagement
AI Recognition
Testing the appeal of outdoor exploration and real-world interaction
Calligraphy Writing
Testing haptic feedback and creative participation
Motion Recognition
Testing physical engagement
AI Recognition
Testing the appeal of outdoor exploration and real-world interaction
Key Findings:
Extended Engagement
Interactive design tripled average engagement time. Children stopped asking “How much longer?” and started requesting “One more time!” Physical participation and instant feedback successfully sustained their attention and involvement.
Active Learning
Interactive mechanics transformed learning into play. Children shifted from passive "forced learning" to active exploration, with motivation changing from extrinsic to intrinsic.
90% Completion
The final design achieved a 90% completion rate—a 3x improvement compared to the estimated < 30% for static content. This validated the success of our interactive design strategy.
Metric
Static Content
Interactive Design
Engagement Time
~2 minutes
6-8 minutes (3x)
Student Feedback
“This is boring”
“One more time!”
Completion
Few completed 3 levels
90% completed all
Replay Interest
None
High
Learning Retention
Low
Students recalled content
Static content failed to engage. Interactive mechanics transformed passive learning into active play. Fully pivoted to interactive design, investing in an approach that truly achieved educational objectives. Result: Secured stakeholder approval.
DESIGN PROCESS
Version 1
Version 1.5
Version 2
Version 1
Version 1.5
Version 2
Game Map Version 1
Game Map Version 2
DESIGN
Building on the validated success from the second round of testing, we established a comprehensive
design framework and scaled interactive design across all 10 levels.
Core Design Principle: Diverse
Interaction to Prevent Fatigue. We designed the most appropriate interaction method for each
historical theme, ensuring every level offered a fresh experience:
Yi Dance of Tales
Yi Dance is a kind of group dance that combines the traditional arts of ritual, music, and dance. Players will experience the wonders of Row Dance and learn the movements that symbolize honoring the gods, praying for blessings, and utilizing the motion recognition features and program to determine the correct rate of the player’s action.
Chinese Text History
Learn to copy the “Bamboo Leaf Calligraphy” of the Qing Dynasty artist Lin Chao-Ying and study the styles and meanings of various ancient fonts.
Identification of Trees
Explore Tainan Park and follow the instructions to find specific tree species. Scanned by the camera, the program determines if the player has found the correct tree species.
The Historical Progression of Clothing
Players can collect elements and utilize the innovative power of AI to create cross-generation personalized fashion masterpieces.
Stationery Matching
Discover the pairing of ancient and modern stationery. Learn about the history of stationery.
First Aid Kit
Recognize air raid warnings, find the right equipment, and raise your awareness of emergency response. Learn what to prepare for in an emergency by playing a quiz.
Tangram Meeting
Challenge the ancient Tangram and combine them into specific shapes within the time limit, testing your spatial imagination, logical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
Taiwan’s Historical Songs
Listen to songs with a Taiwan flavor and challenge yourself to find the correct meaning from the lyrics.
Walking in Mathematics World
During the Dutch rule period (1624-1662), Dutch missionaries in Taiwan used the Roman alphabet to compile a dictionary of the aboriginal language for evangelism and assist in administrative affairs. They used the Roman alphabet to teach the local people to write their language, which was the Sinkang language. The Sinkang language was later used primarily in contract documents called “Sinkang Manuscripts.” Although Sinkang adopted the Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals, it did not adopt a numeral correspondence system. For example, in Sinkang Manuscripts, “365” is written as 300605 (300-60-5). The level’s primary purpose is to let players understand the application of Sinkang Manuscripts at that time.
AI Imagination
AI generates images to select the keywords that best match the image.
GAME CHARCTER
The game features helpful sprite guides. These charming characters enhance player motivation and emotional engagement.
OTHER DESIGN
Impact
Increased user engagement during the 3-month event period
Completion rate achieved during the 3-month event period.
Government-adopted
Integrated into Tainan’s official elementary school outdoor education curriculum post-launch.
Elementary Students Reached
Reflection
- Designing for Children: Observation Over Assumptions As a designer, I initially assumed that polished visuals and text explanations would engage children. But during field testing, nine-year-olds told me directly: “This is boring.” You cannot predict children’s behavior with adult logic. Kids skip text, need instant feedback, and prefer physical participation. These insights only emerge through real observation—assumptions can never substitute for it.
- Embracing Failure When designing for any audience, you must validate assumptions through research and testing, not intuition alone. Be willing to pivot based on data. When our first test revealed static content had failed, we had already invested weeks in design work. Abandoning those deliverables to pursue an entirely different interactive approach required courage. I learned to fail fast, learn fast, and pivot fast. Rather than pursuing “perfection” in the wrong direction, decisively adjust based on user feedback.
- Finding Design Opportunities Within Technical Constraints When collaborating with engineers to select “recognizable motions,” I initially viewed it as a limitation—many meaningful gestures couldn’t be used. But I came to realize that technical constraints aren’t obstacles; they’re design boundaries. The process of finding movements that were culturally meaningful, technically feasible, and child-appropriate actually drove more precise design decisions. Instead of complaining “we can’t do this,” explore “how can we do our best within what’s possible.” Constraints often spark creativity.
- Balancing Multiple Stakeholder Needs This project required simultaneously satisfying: government officials, educators’ learning objectives, children’s need for fun, and parents’ safety concerns. You can’t make everyone 100% happy, but you can find the sweet spot. The key is understanding each stakeholder’s core needs, then prioritizing—children’s engagement always comes first, because without it, no other goals can be achieved. In complex projects, master stakeholder management: listen to all voices, but make decisions based on user-first principles.
- Data-Driven Design, Not Opinion-Driven The mindset shift from “I think this works” to “testing data shows this is effective” permeated the entire project. Every critical design decision required validation. No matter how polished your design or how sound your logic, if users don’t respond positively, adjustments are necessary. The authentic reactions of 23 children may be more valuable than opinions from several experts.