Creative Director, UX Designer
Backstory
Wild Planet built a programmable remote-controlled tank: Spy TRAKR. It was pre-loaded with apps that could be swapped out. Kids would be able to download apps from a site or build them from scratch.
Wild Planet needed a site to explain TRAKR’s sophisticated features and host a community of TRAKR users.
Coding with training wheels
Wild Planet wanted kids to be able to author apps. But how many kids could code in C? It was a big leap from out-of-the-box play to coding.
I proposed building an TRAKR modulator. An alternative to coding from scratch, kids would be able to modify an app using basic controls. A line of code would update on the fly to familiarize kids with C syntax.
Using this modulator, kids could build a custom route to run on TRAKR. All paths were pre-compiled for speed.
The concept was inclusive; now all TRAKR spies could boast a hack. Wild Planet was excited by the idea and asked for additional modulators. Even the remote controller HUD could be modified.
App sharing
Wild Planet wanted the site to include a list of downloadable apps. But they also emphasized,”We’re not in the business of moderating apps.” We knew that community features had to be easy to monitor and maintain.
I wrote specifications for a CMS that let Wild Planet vet and approve submitted apps. An integrated risk scale nudged trustworthy apps forward, and queued questionable apps for review. With additional support for peer moderation, this tank was fully loaded.
A simple form made it easy to classify and submit custom apps. It was also the first moderation gate. Apps were auto-filtered for file size and inappropriate language.
We integrated peer moderation to ease Wild Planet’s ‘policing’ duties. Kids could report malicious or buggy code. App visibility would change based on type or number of reports.
The TRAKR Legacy
We solved two big challenges:
- Communicate TRAKR features simply
- Empower non-coders to participate in the toy’s hackability culture
The TRAKR Ultimatum
So what could be improved? Wild Planet anticipated 100s of app submissions. We designed accordingly; a list view made it easy to scan and sort apps. The issue? With few initial submissions, the list view felt empty. With many submissions, it was overwhelming (and utilitarian-looking).
In retrospect, I would have proposed a different interface. Big on visuals, light on text. I would have played with a dynamic tile view, writing rules to group apps by popularity, sensor, author, and context (outside, inside).
Site R.I.P.: When Wild Planet was sold to Spin Master, the TRAKR site was retired.