Visioneer Design Challenge

Students collaborating on game prototypes

In addition to my work in research, I value opportunities to participate in outreach opportunities. I have volunteered for a variety of programs and events to connect K-12 students to game design opportunities. One of my favorites has been the Visioneer Design Challenge.

The Visioneer Design Challenge is a one-of-a kind statewide learning program and competition for middle school and high school students interested in design arts and connecting with professional designers. Challenges cover design in everyday things, design of spaces and places, design for communication and information and design for human interaction. I served for three years as a design expert for Game Design. Other design fields include Architecture, Animation, Digital Photography, Exhibit Design, Fashion Marketing, Graphic Design, Illustration, Interior Design, Product Design, Urban Planning, Video Production, and Web Design.

For the Game Design challenge, participating middle and high school students work for several months to develop a game around the current year’s theme (e.g. recycling, embracing diversity). We typically had students make games in GameMaker, but more advanced students sometimes opted to create games using the Unity Engine. On the day of the Challenge Event, students take buses to the Peck School of the Arts on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus. They spend the day together working in small groups to make physical prototypes of board games. They also have a team of Game Design judges play and provide feedback on their digital games.