Designing working memory games for elderly

Abstract

Working memory is of central importance for acquiring knowledge and involved in a variety of complex cognitive tasks and thus the use of working memory training games can lead to a wide range of significant impacts in peoples’ life. The aim of this study was to investigate design principles for working memory training games. A game called Brain Farmer was designed and developed as part of this study. Brain Farmer is a working memory game based on n-back working memory training protocol and it is targeted especially for older adults. Users’ playing experiences were studied and design principles were identified based on observations, user feedback, and interviews. The most important design principles were found to be the simple and easily understandable game play, adaptation of challenge level as well as clear multisensory instructions and feedback.