As we get older, our brains slow down a bit, making it harder to remember things, stay focused, and solve problems. Games and exercises can help keep our minds sharp, but they often don't show us how we're improving in daily life.
That's where Enlite comes in! We're building a fun brain training app for your phone. It uses games and exercises based on science to challenge your brain and boost your thinking skills.
I'm the UX/UI designer, and I worked with our brainy team of scientists, engineers, and game experts to make Enlite's games target specific skills. We even built a progress tracker to show you how much you're improving, not just in the app, but in real life!
I wanted the app's progress report to be easy to understand to show users why they care about the numbers. Our goal is to use game data to suggest real-world things like exercise or healthy foods.
Sign-ups felt clunky, so I wanted users to try the game first before committing. Like taking a test drive! They can see how cool it is and get hooked before registering.
I'm all about turning the app into a fun daily habit. Think levels, badges, and maybe even friendly brain-training competitions!
The app aims to revolutionize brain training by making it personalized, engaging, and insightful. Through data analysis, the app understands each user's unique cognitive strengths and weaknesses, crafting tailor-made games that match their interests and maximize brainpower. This interactive journey allows users to visualize their progress, discover areas for improvement, and receive personalized recommendations for games, exercises, and other resources to unlock their full cognitive potential. Brain training transforms into a rewarding daily habit, where fun meets effectiveness, and every challenge conquered strengthens the mind for the better.
I wanted to understand what people between 30 and 49, when cognitive decline starts, need to keep their minds sharp. So, I talked to them face-to-face and sent a survey. Interviews helped me dive deeper, while the survey gave me broader numbers to back it up.
The people I talked to shared real struggles and why starting early is so important. That's how I learned what truly matters to them.
Imagine your brain as a muscle. Just like your body needs exercise, your brain needs "mental workouts" to stay sharp.
Our brain power is strongest when we're young, then slowly slows down as we age. But here's the good news: brain games can act like mental push-ups, helping to keep our minds fit and even improving how we think! One study even found that folks who played brain games regularly were almost half as likely to get dementia.
Dr. Karen Li, a brain expert, suggests picking games you actually enjoy, like logic puzzles, crosswords, or even those tricky brainteasers. These "mental workouts" can boost your memory, focus, and problem-solving skills, making your brain a real champion.
I looked at the transcripts from the interviews and surveys to understand how people think about brain training apps and what makes them want to download them. I was basically exploring their "mental maps" to see how they make decisions about these apps.
The problem statement became much easier to identify once the customers behavior were established. I decided to go with the following:
"A middle aged person needs Enlite to explore & monitor ways to improve brain health in their spare time in order to know how to improve their physical health in the real world."
I began with organizing the information using an IA diagram. I proceeded afterwards into the user flow to get a better sense of the user experience for the on-boarding process. I'm looking to add a method where users play a game before signing up in order to get a feel for the game. This IA gave me keen insight to navigate through screen flows.
The intent of this strategy is commonly used in games. Users are very excited to test the game out, but signing up just seems like an extra step that gets in the way.
On the splash screen, the user will begin with the exercise "Tile Maze." In this exercise, they'll be presented with a grid of tiles. The task is to memorize the positions of the tiles, and then to rearrange them in the correct order.
I chose this game first because it is the easiest game to play amongst the others. It is also a game with one of the least time durations. This gives users a chance to play it as a demo, and hopefully, give them enough time to render a decision whether they'll like to create an account afterwards.
The original iteration of the app was cluttered and difficult to use. The placeholders needed space away from each other, the buttons were too big, and the overall layout was unappealing. I made a number of changes to improve the user experience.
First, I changed the placeholder background color to a darker shade of purple. This made the text easier to read and made the overall interface more visually appealing.
Second, I removed the continue button and moved it to the keypad. This made it easier for users to find the button and reduced the amount of clutter on the screen.
Third, I expanded the size of the third-party login buttons. These buttons are used more frequently than the other login buttons, so it was important to make them easier to tap.
Finally, I converted the rounded login buttons to rectangular buttons. This made them easier to tap for users with large fingers.
I decided to use a game called "Divisible By" in order to present the flow from the game to performance viewing. My main objective was to translate how a day's gameplay results in certain improvements in cognitive function. I ensured that users get a description of the game alongside the area of the brain that it's working on.
I was tasked to create the design elements for each game alongside a short tutorial.
Once the game is completed, the user will be directed to their performance meter where they'll be able to see a macro view of their skills assessment. They will also have the ability to learn more about the area in the brain that this exercise is working on, alongside an overall performance meter that summarizes their 5 cognitive functions into one whole number.
I designed the Brain performance meter to give users an overall outlook on their progress. It's imperative that overtime users can view, and compare their performance with past scores to see any patterns or discover other ways to improve their score through the recommendations we offer for each cognitive function.
1100 is the maximum BPM, you can earn XP by breaking your highscores or completing your daily challenges.
Many apps offer ways for users to compare their scores with other players, like lumosity, or elevate. Enlite however offers a different approach where users only compare scores to their previous scores, thus, taking away any competitiveness or downward improvement from their thought process when playing the game.
Comparing vs other players is often an overstated feature. For instance, people engage in social comparison with worse off others (Downward comparison) with the concern of self-enhancement, or they may compare themselves with better-off (Upward comparison) with the concern of self-improvement. Unless users are playing high level games like call of duty, then comparing just seems like an over-competitive method. I implemented Progress over time instead because it allows the user to validate their progress without comparing themselves with another user, which is proven to be contrary to intrinsic motivation.
The learn more about button was an important part of "View game history" because It means that users will have the ability to learn why certain cognitive functions matter for brain health.
Users are curious to know how they're improving, and visual representation does it perfectly. Knowing what areas of the brain is improving can give them further insight as to other ways to exercise that muscle. I designed this screen with the intention to give users a closer look to each cognitive function that Enlite offers.
I incorporated streaks to motivate users to check on themselves, daily, or depending on the schedule. I figured this will be an important motivational factor for Enlite, given that there aren't many ways to keep users engaged besides the gameplay, and progress indicators. Streaks is a commonly used method to boost intrinsic motivation and encourage users to keep going in hopes to break records, and set new highs.
During our testing phase, users were thrilled to tap into the first set of games Enlite had to offer. Out of 120 beta users, 90% said they were very satisfied with the user experience. 85% enjoyed the on-boarding process, and 99% enjoyed the insights report. The main challenges were the motivational factors of the game. 65% say they thought the Streak feature lacked motivational factors, and 40% saw no reason to play these games consistently, but rather once every few days. I gathered this information and discussed it over with the exec team to inform them on the challenges, and improvements they will be facing on their journey to release this app to the public.
UX Research
UI component sheet
User specifications
UI Design
Component Library
Design system
Developer Hand-off material
Artboard in Adobe XD/Figma
Thank you.
