Little Chefs

Project Summary

The ultimate goal of this project was to familiarize ourselves with the project management tool - Trello and work in a design sprint to get a taste of the corporate world while having fun. The fun aspect was creating an educative board game prototype for young children. The agile workflow was broken down into multiple well-defined sprint cycles and each team member was assigned a duty to complete all the tasks listed in a sprint. Our sprint manager, Avitha D'Souza, efficiently managed our Trello board and arranged for bi-weekly sprint calls and in-person meetings to ensure timely delivery of assets aiding project completion.

The glue that tied us to this project was our belief in the quote "The fondest memories are made when gathered around the table," and the two activities we loved the most when we were together were dining and playing. This belief stemmed the concept of a cooking-based game - Little Chefs.

Sprint Overview

Sprint Burndown Chart

Major Hiccup: Our initial idea of developing a game that would educate children about various career options and relevant education paths to reach their goals, was shelved because of its large scope and lack of fun elements in the gameplay.
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Mission Profession Game Concept: To educate children/young adults on the various career paths they could explore and assume the role of a profession throughout the game. Each player will get to experience the benefits and challenges that come as a part of the career path they land on.

Mission Profession Shelved Items:
- Research on professions
- Board design explorations
- Research and findings on gameplay & mechanics

Pivot: In Week 2, the team decided to narrow down the project scope. We unanimously decided to focus on one of the professions that we could relate to best. Considering our love for food, we decided to dive deeper into the profession of a Chef, and all our further collaboration was directed towards developing a food-based game.

Sprint Breakdown

Week 1

During Week 1 of the sprint, we brainstormed about our favorite childhood games. We talked about Monopoly, Game of Life, Psych!, Cards Against Humanity, Krusade, and Kitchen Rush. We had our first idea for the board game on educating kids about the nutritional aspect of food. During our following research and brainstorming session, each presented one idea. That discussion leads to the making of the game - Mission Profession. We divided our tasks and researched the topics assigned to us.

Week 2

During Week 2 of the sprint, we regrouped, discussed the findings, and started building the game. We debated about the board layout, game mechanics, and gameplay. We worked on building the achievement, tasks, & crisis cards. While working on the board layout and discussing the gameplay, we realized that we were trying to bite more than we could chew. The vast scope of the game had a negative impact on the fun aspect and hampered our deadline. Hence, we mutually agreed to pivot. Leveraging on the existing idea, we narrowed its scope and focused on Chefs.

Week 3

Due to the pivot, Week 3 of the sprint was loaded with additional tasks in view of time constraints. We conducted research, gathered the information for our new game, and decided to focus on American Cuisine. We named the game "Little Chefs" and started working on its concept, mechanics, gameplay, and design. New additions like the spin wheel, trump cards, and the trade aspect of the game were incorporated to make it fun for children while polishing their cognitive skills.

I. Brand Identity

II. Game Concept

III. Game Components
a. Ingredient Cards

b. Recipe Cards

c. Game Board + Instructions Manual

Week 4

The last week was about finalizing the visual designs and producing print-ready files to assemble a working prototype. We conducted user testing with our prototype to accommodate initial user feedback. Lastly, we worked on our business model canvas, pitch deck, and posters as all the print-ready files were in production.

I. Business Model + Expansion

II. Poster Design

III. Working Prototype
a. Board Game

b. Game Kiosk
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Conclusion

- Overall, sprint collaboration was good with successful completion of all tasks assigned to each member.
- Communication between team members was proactive and supportive which aided a smooth pivot.
- Capacity planning was done efficiently despite the crunched timeline and no individual felt burned out due to work overload following the pivot.

Pitch Deck Business Model Canvas