Beta Launch
During the soft launch in the Kickstand IxD game, it was great to test the product in a safe environment with our classmates. Now, we were looking to put the product in the hands of people who were maybe not as forgiving and busy as our classmates, and who had perspectives outside our interaction design world. We launched the Training Wheels game on April 2nd, 2012.
“I guess I got a little competitive…"
—Dave Dawson, Training Wheels contestant
Onboarding
So, we put together a short list of people that we have met throughout our thesis process that have bikes. It comprised of both avid bikers, casual bikers, and even a spandex biker. We invited them to be our 'training wheels' and compete against us in a two-week game. Most all of these people didn't know each other, so we encouraged them to connect over Twitter. Also, because location information is revealed to other contestants in the game, we sent them a screenshot of the game board, so they would know what to expect by joining a game with strangers.
When it came closer to the game, we announced the contestants. We sent them instructions for how to setup their phone and play: How To Play. And prepared a page of common questions about tracking: FAQ.
Week One
In the first week, we were excited to see the map covered in colors. We had 6 eager riders right out of the gate on the first day:
People even got creative:
And, two contestants, Dave and Kelli, met:
Before we knew it, the map was filling up! The Training Wheels game had already exceeded the map of the entire Kickstand IxD game in half the time:
Week Two
At the dawn of week two, even though the map was very colorful, we were still missing a few colors. Some people still weren't riding. We needed a way to get the 'not-so-avid' (causal) bikers on their bikes. They needed a reason to push themselves in the competition, but clearly they had already been defeated! And so, we made them teammates. This is an idea we explored with Paint Your City, but had put it on hold to keep the development somewhat contained. Now, we realized, we needed it.
Ian was one of our late bloomers! But, he finally got on his bike to track and contribute miles to his team:
Dave achieved 300 smile miles in the second week:
Julie biked her butt off, because she saw that she was getting smoked:
Game End
By the end of the game, the map was looking pretty messy, which was awesome! We worked to develop the game archive, recognize individual achievements, and share the art the contestants had made.
We acknowledge the contestants for their individual achievements:
And sent them all a digital version of the art they had made:
When a game ends, it is posted in the game archive where contestants can access thegame board and see the final scores and winning team:
