Ali & Cayla's d.compress project 1 presentation!

1. Playing a game helps high-
schoolers think about
themselves in a different way ...AND our friends!

2. Stressor: High-schoolers are dealing with
unreasonably high standards and very few metrics
through which they can define themselves.
“When everyone is
rich, beautiful, and
smart, how are
you supposed to
differentiate
yourself?”
“There are so many pathways
to success. In a culture that
focuses on just a few we are
not only competing for
resources, we are ignoring the
fact that niches that need to be
filled are going unfilled.”
“They’re expected to be
successful in a way that
other people define
success.”
“No teens are asking
‘how do I want to be
successful?’ because
exploring different paths
is rejected.”
Dr. Kara Fitzpatrick

3. What we learned from Kara:
High-schoolers need to be inspired to individuate in a way that
makes them feel excited about who they are and about
pursuing authentic interests!
POV: How might we get high-schoolers to reflect on who they
are (interests, etc.) in a way that is fun and non-stressful?
SBTM: Play a card game with 2+ friends that facilitates positive
self-reflection.

4. We tried these low-fidelity prototypes:
An app
-complete “identity” statements
-post anonymously
-join a conversations
A Notebook
-complete “identity” statements
-check statements that you resonate with

5. But the winner was...
● most enjoyable when we
gamified it
● easier when provided with
options
● discussion between friends
about personal interests and
characteristics
A Game:
Cards 4 Identity

6. How can we enhance our prototype?
● Gamify it further!
● Capture personal insights

7. Final Prototype

9. Trial Design
● N= 20 students
● 80% female, 20% male
● Age: 15-19 years old (mean age 16.4, SD=1.2)
● Surveys:
o Brief measure of self-esteem (pre and post)
o 7 Statements on a 5-point Likert Scale
o 3 open-ended questions about their
experience (post)
vs.

10. Research Q: Will playing Cards 4 Identity facilitate
reflection on non-obvious personal insights?
The game helped me to think
about myself in a different
way*
*p=.01
The game challenged me
to think about my friends*
*p=.01

11. I really enjoyed having to take
all the info I knew about those
people and to guess based off
of 2 words
Trying to identify which ones
are serious and which ones are
people's sense of humor
We could just enjoy being
and laughing with [friends]
I really liked the
cards!
Having someone guess a
combo for you that you
don't feel describes you
I realized that some of my
friends don't know me as
well as I thought they did :(
Feeling self-conscious
Not enough card variety

12. Reflection sentences
Challenges:
1. Not everyone
had FB
2. 2nd group of
kids were at
lunch and
were rushed
at the end

13. Quote from a participant’s sister:
“My brother said they loved the game. One of
the girls who played just lost a school election a
few days ago and he says this is the first time
that she has smiled and acted normal since
then.”

14. We built a game that helped
high-schoolers think about
themselves in a different way.
Unexpectedly, the social
aspect of the game was their
favorite part, and may be a key
ingredient.
● Yet, this is also a challenge
for some.
Conclusive NOI

15. Next steps for game development
● How do we make our SBTM daily? Maybe make a
game app that teens can play on their smartphone?
● Minimizing social anxiety risk - anonymity?
● Extending the card deck & re-thinking the rules