Cognitive remediation game design must consider the broad variability in cognitive abilities among individuals with similar conditions. User testing revealed that participants exhibited vastly different strengths; one excelled in solving complex puzzles, while another found basic tasks challenging. This indicates that traditional difficulty settings are ineffective. Instead, an adaptive system is essential, adjusting in real time to user performance, providing challenges or scaffolding as needed to maintain engagement without patronizing users. The complexity of these designs is critical for retaining interest across diverse cognitive capabilities.
The biggest surprise was how dramatically cognitive abilities varied within our target population. During our user testing sessions, I watched one participant solve complex spatial puzzles in under ten seconds while expressing frustration that the game wasn't challenging them enough.
Both users had the same diagnosis. Both were part of our target demographic. But their cognitive strengths and challenges were completely different. This taught me that traditional difficulty curves don't work for cognitive remediation games.
Instead, you need systems that automatically adapt in real time based on user performance. If someone breezes through the first five levels, the algorithm should immediately jump them ahead.
If someone struggles with basic interactions, the system needs to provide more scaffolding without making them feel patronized. Get this wrong, and you'll churn both your most capable and least capable users for opposite reasons.
Collection
[
|
...
]