Jordan* loves stories.
But at 12,
still feels
like a wall she can't climb.
vs
"I'd rather do Tiktok," she told us during one of our workshops.
And she's not alone.
69%
of U.S. middle schoolers read below grade level.
Students learn comprehension strategies in class,
but rarely apply them independently.
Once teacher support fades, reading becomes a chore, not a skill.
A gap that stalls true comprehension and undermines long-term learning.
Read, Reflect, Play
Leveling Up Middle School Reading Through Game Play
Team
1 UX Researcher
2 UX Designers
Timeline
Jul 2024 - May 2025
(10 months)
Methodology
Participatory Research, Game Design, Playtesting
Role
UX Designer & Researcher
I brought the game to life from both sides of the table, designing and running participatory workshops with teachers and middle schooler and then turning their ideas into a scaffolded core loop and game visuals.
Our Approach
We partnered with middle schoolers to reimagine comprehension practice as play
Turning reading strategies into superpowers they could collect, practice, and make their own.
Strategies Become Powers
Highlighters, sticky notes, and emoji stamps turn comprehension strategies into collectible, interactive tools.
Learning Through Play
Students chunk stories, build comics, and make predictions. Creative play replaces
Scaffolding That Fades
Following gradual release, prompts decrease as confidence builds.
Reflection Made Visible
Quick prompts after each quest spark metacognition: “Which strategy did you use? Why?”
The Solution
Guardians of Luminara
A narrative-driven reading game that helps students practice essential comprehension strategies independently through scaffolded missions, playful storytelling, and feedback-driven reflection.
How It Works
At the heart of Luminara is a classroom-inspired loop
Each reading mission aligns with a comprehension strategy, giving students the chance to practice with just the right amount of guidance.
Read
Students engage with bite-sized story chunks using guided annotation tools
Apply
Complete structured tasks (e.g., build comic strips, make predictions)
Reflect
Answer quick reflection prompts that reinforce comprehension
Play
As missions complete, scaffolding fades and "powers" level up
Discover & Define
How we investigated the problem
We triangulated classroom pedagogy, cognitive science, and game-based learning to find where comprehension support breaks down.
15+
EdTech Tools
Competitive analysis revealed few tools support strategy practice
45
Educator Surveys
Identified top challenges: motivation, attention, strategy transfer
10
Teacher Interviews
Gap between modeled instruction and independence exposed
3
Observations
Students relied heavily on prompts during guided reading
Key Insights
Four critical gaps emerged from our research
01
Remove the support, lose the reader
Teachers use gradual release: I do → We do → You do (together) → You do (alone). Middle schoolers practice strategies at every stage but stall at independent application. Once the teacher steps away, comprehension fades.
02
Over-scaffolded,
under-practiced
Most tools test comprehension but rarely teach how to read strategically. Students lean on teacher prompts and rigid platforms, leaving little space to practice and internalize strategies as habits.
03
Reflection stays invisible
Without built-in prompts, students seldom pause to ask "Do I understand this?" They lose track of which strategies they're using, so comprehension fades once support is removed.
04
Reading feels fragile & unrewarding
Invisible struggles feed weak reading identities. Many quickly label themselves "bad at reading," while low stamina and lack of feedback make reading feel passive—leading students to avoid harder texts.
How might we
Help middle schoolers develop metacognitive reading skills through game-based experiences that build independence?
Must Have
Modular structure for low stamina
Scaffolding that fades over time
Fun, interactive activities
Could Have
Visualization of idea connections
Collaborative features
Accessibility for learning differences
Design Directions
From insights to ideas
Our brainstorming and ideation sessions generated two distinct approaches to help middle schoolers build independent reading comprehension skills.
Direction 1
Social Reading Hub
Collaborative platform with shared annotation canvas and AI companion for scaffolding.
KEY FEATURES
->
Peer learning through shared annotations
->
AI guide providing adaptive support
->
Visual discussion threads
Direction 2
Modular Game Suite
Game-based adventures that make reading comprehension practice feel like play, not homework.
KEY FEATURES
->
Bite-sized missions for low stamina
->
Narrative-driven progression
->
Reading strategies as "powers"
Co-design workshops
Building with (not for) students
We ran two participatory workshops at Howard School with middle schoolers to test both design directions.
2
sessions
14
students
42hrs
Prep Time
Workshop 1
Testing Design Directions
In a co-design role play, students brought story-building and social reading ideas to life, experimenting with collaboration, annotation, and shared reflection.
✓
High engagement and joy in physical storytelling
✓
Teachers valued focus on annotation & note-taking
✗
Peer dynamics unproductive, distracted or disinterested
✗
Students over- or under-used highlights
Between Workshops
Reimagining a hybrid concept
We took what worked i.e. creative play, annotation scaffolds, and modular storytelling, and designed a hybrid concept:
A reading game where students extract key story elements (characters, settings, events), then use those to summarize, predict, and create.
Workshop 2
Simulating the Game Loop
Simulated the full hybrid game loop with paper prototypes to validate engagement, comprehension flow, and early mechanics.
✓
Loved narrative framing and interactive tasks
✗
Struggled with open-ended highlighting
✗
Rushed through reading to get to "fun parts"
Takeaways from the workshop
01
Students thrived when structure was baked into creative freedom
02
Scaffolded feedback improved strategy use dramatically
03
Tasks anchored reflection and strategy recognition
04
Students were more engaged as players, not test-takers
Turning Research into Game Mechanics
Designing a game that teaches how to read
The workshops made one thing clear: simply digitizing classroom tools wasn’t enough. We reimagined a hybrid concept: a game that blends playful agency with purposeful reading strategies.
Design Decision 1
Adaptive Prompting with Constraints
Text density, prompt frequency, and hint strength all dynamically adjust based on student performance, creating a responsive difficulty curve that keeps students in their zone of proximal development.
Challenge
Early testing showed excessive highlighting. Students marked entire paragraphs or only character names
->
Solution
Word limits (e.g., 100 words max) with live counters. Prompts adapt based on accuracy trends.
->
How it works
Constraints forced intentional selection, mirroring effective annotation strategies teachers use
Design Decision 2
Embedded Scaffolding
Following the gradual release model from pedagogy research, scaffolding intensity decreases as students demonstrate mastery, building stamina for independent reading.
Challenge
Students skipped reflection and rushed to "fun parts", missing the comprehension practice entirely.
->
Solution
AI-powered prompts that mimic teacher voice: "What makes this detail important?" Nudges fade over time.
->
How it works
Gentle coaching encourages metacognition without feeling like a test. Supports gradually release as independence grows.
Design Decision 3
Strategy-based Rewards
Tool-specific progress meters unlock new "powers" as students master each comprehension strategy, creating clear advancement paths tied to skill development, not time spent.
Challenge
Traditional scoring rewards speed and accuracy not deep thinking or strategy use.
->
Solution
Tool-specific progress meters + mission XP that rewards strategy use, reflection & independence, instead of speed or accuracy
->
How it works
Makes growth visible. Students see progress from applying strategies, not just finishing tasks.
Some early prototypes
Visual Design
Crafting a storybook experience
We used warm, earthy tones and a scrapbook-adventure aesthetic to evoke a cozy, enchanted library, brought to life through layered paper and scroll motifs.
AI Mascot
Argus, the playful guide inspired by Rafiki, Pogo, and Mad Hatter
Premise
Set in a magical library slowly consumed by Oblivion, the game casts students as Guardians tasked with restoring lost knowledge through reading, reflection, and scaffolded quests. Each mission transforms a reading strategy into a “power” students can strengthen over time.
Interface Walkthrough
Key Screens and Interactions
Quick look at how the interface guides students through reading practice.
Welcome to Luminara, a library under threat
Reading & Reflection
Where comprehension practice happens
Activity Playground
Interactive tasks that apply comprehension strategies
Testing & Validation
Putting the game in students' hands
We tested with 8 middle schoolers and 4 educators to validate our approach and identify friction points. The story, powers, and visuals hooked them instantly; proof that learning could feel like play.
Teachers confirmed market fit
"You're quietly doing the hard stuff, and making it fun. This could transform lives."
WHAT THEY LOVED
->
Adaptive scaffolds that mirror class supports
->
Multiple engagement modes — highlighting, comics, reflections
->
Formative assessment potential through a future dashboard
8 Middle Schoolers
“I’m curious but I want to work my way up to unlock that skill”
OBSERVATIONS
->
Story drove motivation, everyone wanted to unlock new powers
->
Gameplay felt natural, highlighting met expectations, though a few icons confused.
->
Character and comic features boosted ownership
Reflection and Learnings
What this project taught me
Designing for middle schoolers meant constantly balancing structure with freedom. The breakthrough came when we stopped choosing between fun and learning, and designed for the overlap.
What Worked
Co-design validated assumptions early and surfaced unexpected insights
Progressive scoping prevented scope creep across 10 months
Evidence-based approach strengthened pedagogical rationale
Challenges
Narrowing problem space required tough trade-offs
Facilitating middle school feedback took iteration
Balancing engagement with learning goals was delicate
Project completed as part of MS-HCI Masters' Project at Georgia Tech in collaboration with Discovery Education and Howard School, Atlanta.