ProKata

A mobile application for all the karateka's out there
striving for perfection while having fun and
staying focused.
Design Challenge
The challenge was to design a hybrid gamification system that allows users from a specific community to enjoy doing their tasks or any challenges that occur in their daily life.

The motivation in creating this project was to allow users to feel that they have achieved something by doing their daily practices and that they achieved this by doing something fun as well.
| PROBLEM: Improving their mistakes during their routines, also known as a Kata.

| DESIGN FRAME: How might we assist karateka's to strive for perfection in their katas while allowing them to still have fun?

| INTENDED SOLUTION: A hybrid gamified system that assists karateka's in gaining personal achievements when practicing their katas.

Persona

This persona is an important document as it allows the designer to identify who and what they are designing for.
By giving a view of the community or user's background and their goals, it assists the project in finding a possible solution so that the user can achieve their goals

Key Insights

Karateka's need to know all of their katas up to their belt level for competitions as their katas are occasionally selected at random - via dice.

Students cannot always get assistance after hours. They also need to practice their katas frequently to perfect any mistakes.

Features & Functions

Every app or website has important features that will assist the user in achieving their goals.
Some important features for this project include: kata practice, recording achievements, fun combination practices and a Shotokan group chat.

  • Kata Practice:
    The karateka's can practice katas at random or select a specific kata to practice in their own time.

  • Achievements:
    The user is challenged to complete certain tasks and can start a streak. They can also share their achievements and create new goals

  • Fun combos:
    To add some fun to all the focus and seriousness, karateka's can complete fun combinations of punches and kicks.

Let's get sketching!

Sketches are the beginning stage of the project design process. Sketching is done roughly to map out what the design solution should look like and how it could possibly function.

Go with the (wire)flow!

Wireframes and wire flows are done next in the design process. It is to add more details to your design and to figure out how the user will navigate through your design solution and where you can refine small faults.

Style Tile

Now it's time to style! The mood board or style tile ultimately provides the look and feel that the design screens should have.
With karate, you would want the look and feel of the design to evoke the feeling of Japanese patterns, calligraphy and strokes. Using colours such as black, white, red and beige.

Gamification Breakdown

The breakdown showcases how the user would use the gamified elements within the app.
They are awarded scrolls as they complete certain tasks and they can input any new achievements that they have recently received to keep track of their successes.

Final Visual Designs

Onboarding
User can sign-up or login after opening the app.

They will then be presented with the home screen once signing in and can start their journey.
Kata Practice
Users can select to either record their kata practice or practice a kata that is selected randomly.


User decides to Random Select a Kata.
They can choose from various levels of difficulty.

Once they have selected the katas they want to be generated, it will start the loading screen as they wait in anticipation to know what kata they will be doing.

Their kata will be displayed and an average time of how long they should take to do the kata.

They can start the kata when they are ready and stop when they are done.
Recording Katas
If the user decides to record their kata, they will have the level of difficulty list to choose from again.

Once they have selected their kata, they can start recording when they are ready.

Their recordings will be saved for later use if necessary or for them to check where they are making mistakes.
Scrolls & Rewards System
Users are challenged to complete various challenges and are rewarded scrolls once they have completed the challenge.
Achievements & Goals
The user can also set their own goals and input their achievements when taking part in competitions and more.
Fun Combo Practices
While they might have to take their practices seriously, sometimes some fun can encourage a person.
The fun combo practice allows them to try some new fun combos of punches and kicks, quickly doing whatever action is displayed on the screen.
Chat Group
This last feature allows the user to interact with other karateka's. They can ask for feedback or advice after class practices if they need any assistance from their peers.

So, what's next?

Project Learnings
Design frame questions assist you in completely
focusing on the problem before thinking of a solution.

Consistency and cohesion is key! It is important that all elements within the design solution are consistent and working together i.e. line thicknesses, input boxes and buttons etc.
Next Steps
Exploring more ways to make multiple features work together on one screen.

Working on consistency and accessibility of future projects, to make it easier for the user to interact with and understand the application.