Hey Duggee: Party Time game

The Hey Duggee Shape game allows children to have fun with shapes and sequences by planning a party with Duggee and friends.

Design and iteration

One of the biggest issues we faced with this game was trying to create an immersive, interactive world without clunky buttons, that were still usable and easy for young children to understand. A key area of focus was encouraging children to explore the multiple mini games within the landscape through swiping. When we first tested this, children struggled to know what to do and would remain on the first part of the landscape replaying the first game. We tried many iterations, for example, auto progressing onto the next mini game and auto scrolling to the next mini game button, to show them there’s more to play. When we re-tested, users started to play all the different games which was great.

Hey Duggee shape game landscape
We were able to keep the immersive environment, but needed to make it clear to users what was interactive, for example the play button to enter each game.

Another usability problem was on the climbing frame game. The original game didn’t make it clear to the children how to play. This meant we observed them getting incredibly frustrated. After a quick sketching session I came up with a solution, mocked it up ready for build, and when it was ready retested it again. This time we started to observe users picking up what to do instantly and playing through the mini game with lots of enjoyment. 

Hey Duggee shape game iteration sketches
A quick solution sketching session helped us come up with lots of ways of solving the usability problems in the game.
Hey Duggee climbing game
The solution we had sketched in the game worked really well with the users.

Results

During user testing sessions, I always observed children having so much fun playing individually and with others around them. During post game questions, I also observed children feeling more confident about naming and drawing shapes.

  • “Superb for the little ones. Getting them ready for school. Fun and learning.”

  • “He really loves the Duggee game. Thanks BBC!”

Get in touch

If you would like to work together, talk about design or ask for advice, please get in touch.