The EduVenture merges education and adventure, transforming the daily commute of primary school students into an engaging learning experience aboard an autonomous, pirate-themed school bus. This concept respects both legal requirements and ethical considerations, providing a safe, entertaining, and educational environment for young learners. The design was guided by personas and storyboards representing the potential young users.

We considered the narrative's progress to appropriately integrate games into the storyline. We decided that the children are at a point where they need to embark on a sea journey, but they have to build and steer the boat themselves with the aid of suitable games. Accordingly, we designed individual screens featuring a game, an avatar, a bus schedule view, and a communal screen to display the game.

Our user study initiative commenced with a paper prototype that we introduced to primary school students. By observing their interaction and recording their feedback, we gained valuable input regarding its use. Hearing that puzzles and the hidden object picture were too simplistic, and that prompts for collective play were frequently required, we acknowledged the necessity for tweaks in our initial design. We proceeded to revise and enhance our prototype into a high-fidelity version, incorporating more challenging games pertinent to the storyline. With this refined edition, a second user study was conducted. We evaluated the quality of the user experience using child-friendly versions of the Short User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) and NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), and examined game performance by recording times and recognition rates. These steps ensured our final prototype was not only entertaining, but also encouraged collective interaction and provided an effective learning experience.

From the project, I learned crucial lessons. It emphasized the importance of child-friendly designs in all aspects, direct user testing with children for accurate feedback, and providing clear and simple instructions. Furthermore, I understood the need for balancing game complexity to keep the users engaged but not overwhelmed. An easy-to-use, visually appealing interface was also a critical factor. Overall, it highlighted that creating an educational tool requires understanding children's needs and abilities, while blending learning and fun effectively.