Project team: Nathan Muldrow: Nicole Macam; David Moon; Jacqueline Angelina
Course: User Experience Design, spring 2019
Water: The Memory Card Game is a card game that aims to educate players on water-related issues and water-borne diseases and how they may address them. This project was developed based on research done with missionaries and medical relief workers in developing nations that suffer from a lack of access to clean drinking water. Our team discovered a key insight in these countries such that these communities do not have a clear understanding of how water becomes contaminated, how diseases are spread, and how to solve these issues. We came up with a card game that seeks to educate communities in an engaging way so that they can solve water-related issues in the long-term. This project initially stemmed from a technical solution in the form of an app that tracks water wells. However, based on our research, our team found that a technical solution is not ideal for communities that are primarily agrarian. Therefore, we created a physical solution in the form of a card game that would more suitable for these developing communities.
We structured the game around problem and solution cards that the players have to match based on various problem picture-based cards with their solution counterpart. This allows a fun way for students to visually see a disease or health issue that is common in their area as well as one of the solutions to that problem. In addition, a single card set comes with blank cards that locals in these communities can use to add their own problems and solutions that are more suited to their understanding, their customs, and their language. This creates a more interactive and inclusive game that communities around the world can use. The game also comes with a special steal and swap cards to help make the game more fun and competitive.
