Introduction 2021 was a special year for Metroid fans as it marked the return of formidable bounty hunter, Samus Aran in a new 2D entry of the series in over 19 years with Metroid Dread. The Metroid series is known for its byzantine level design. The games test the players' wayfinding…

Scene: An Hour Past Midnight It is an hour past midnight and you are still wide awake. After scrolling through various social media feeds, you decide you need to talk to someone. The question is, who is actually available for a chat right now? Then you remember, your one-night owl buddy who is always up…

Introduction I recently started playing an Indie Platformer Game on my Nintendo Switch called Celeste. This game is about a girl named Madeline, whose goal is to climb the top of Celeste Mountain amidst obstacles both physically and mentally. The game has received critical acclaim for its climbing mechanic, level design…

Introduction I remember the first time I entered a Trader Joe’s store 4 years ago, it took me by surprise. If I were to sum up my first impressions of Trader Joe’s it would be the following four C’s: compact, convenient, cost-effective, and cordial. I was amazed by how a grocery…

Introduction One of the most underrated aspects of conducting a user study is the importance of building rapport with your users. Whether it be a user interview or a usability test, you need to make sure your users feel comfortable and open as they speak with you, the moderator, so…

Introduction Recently, the OpenIDEO Austin Chapter held an ideation session on the topic of mental health and social isolation at the IBM Design Studio. Mental health and social isolation is surrounded in social stigma. Yet, it is a huge problem that affects people of all walks of life. The goal of…

Introduction When I was in High School back in the mid-2000s, I remember getting into an argument with a friend of mine over Mac vs. Windows. My friend argued that Macs were too expensive and did the exact same things that a Windows Machine could. I, on the other hand, argued…