Module_03.

Week 12

Critical Reflection:

The mental health crisis has progressed considerably, as outlined in the 2017 report cited in my research, and therefore the need to find preventative solutions, is an ever increasing societal need. The same report had emphasised the increasing threat to the mental health of children and teenagers, which has now been further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Such developments only compound an already challenging problem. What I had attempted to do with this assignment was to engage the user through a medium, that was familiar to them, and which would lend itself to the delivery of a complex narrative. The effort is designed to be neither a form of treatment or an alternative to medical consultation, merely an alternative route to engagement.

In choosing to utilise digital gaming platforms, I had endeavoured to engage my audience using a visual vocabulary that was familiar to them, and would provide ample opportunity to deliver the content in unique and appealing forms. In-so-doing, I would attempt to lessen the stigma around the subject, and to promote an alternative view of the narrative. Thereby, normalising conversations around ones mental health, and the challenges that are faced by those effected.

Why gamification? As previously alluded to, this visual, experiential format is not only familiar to younger audiences, but the use of such technology can now be considered as instinctive for many of those members of Generation Z. They too, are well versed in deciphering complex visual narratives, and would be able to comprehend the sophisticated, metaphorical visual story-telling, that would be required to translate the subject of mental health, into a digestible experiential deliverable. And one of the strategies employed to achieve this, was to use colour to convey an emotional state, and to subsequently build an immersive gaming experience around this idea. For example: I had spent some time creating character designs, to be implemented in the realising of the game itself, and those characters that have been depicted using a grey colour-palette are intended to convey the emotions associated with depression or low mood. The narrative being that the characters had been drained of colour, by some unforeseen entity, that represents the aforementioned mental health disorders, or symptoms. Such concepts can break-down otherwise complex diagnoses into comprehensible visual narratives, that can be accessed by younger audiences.

One aspect of the project that had been unrealised had been the design and implementation of scannable toys. The emittance of this outcome is a consequence of the constraints within my schedule, and the time required to design and develop a separate visual outcome, to a standard that would be satisfactory. And in progressing with the project, I would resume my effort to develop the physical components, proposed in the initial pitch. In touching upon the inclusion of scannable toys, and how they could be adopted to convey the emotional state of the user, I would like to briefly outline how I envisage this aspect of the project playing a role in the overall strategy. As previously stated, each toy would be compatible with the software, and through the use of scannable chips, the user could upload their characters to the digital platform. The concept being that by manifesting their emotional state in the form of a customisable toy, that can then be translated into a digital, controllable form, the user is able to take control of those emotions, in the literal sense of the word. They can then work through those feelings within the game. The inclusion of this function seeks to employ the same cognitive therapies, advocated by mental health councillors.

In summation, and in my opinion, the project proposal has identified and successfully provided a valid solution to, a societal need. It has done so, through the implementation of an informed strategy, realised through the use of technological innovation and by tapping into the zeitgeist. The outcome is visually, in-keeping with current trends within the mobile gaming landscape, and goes further, to establish a unique visual language that is considered and visually stimulating. In reflecting on the weaker areas of the project, I would suggest that there could be a much broader exploration of the games functionality, and the visual vocabulary would benefit from further development. And in progressing the project, which I may do in my own time, I would seek to evolve the idea further, and consider in much greater detail how to broaden the appeal of such a product. In-closing, I would like to reassert that the response to this assignment had been a meditation on the value of gamification, in the addressing of an increase in mental health disorders among children and teenagers. And, in my view, the aligning of such seemingly, unrelated fields, those being the gaming industry and that of mental health, is going to be necessary in the solving of such societal problems. And that non-linear thinking will be the key to tackling the wider situation, pertaining to this trend.