Case Study File No. 03

ChessX

Educational experience for users to learn about the history and basic gameplay of chess from different countries and regions around the world.

Project Timeline

Tools

7 Weeks, Spring 2025

Figma, Adobe Suite, Spline

Prototype Video

Initial Development

01 / Definition

Learning the history of chess gives the user a background understanding of each variation throughout history. From there it encourages the user to then also learn the basics of how to play each form of chess.

Having a foundational understanding of chess makes people subconsciously more forward thinking and situationally aware. While physical chess would need two player, online chess games can be played alone with a program that simplifies and advises how to play but it doesn’t always help a beginner to actually learn and develop strategic thinking.

02 / Project Direction & Research

I started the development of this prototype with a competitive analysis of other similar websites and the creation of specific use cases. Once I had more of an understanding of other approaches to a experience like this, I then established what would be the factors of ChessX that would make it stand out. I wanted to create an interactive experience that would visual help children be engaged with the content, while also emphasizing the importance of chess on a child’s development and the benefit of understanding chess in regards to critical thinking and problem solving.

Early iterations

Later iterations

The Process

03 / Process Work

The user has a chance to learn about 5 different variations of chess in different countries and regions of the world. A map with easy to understand markers, that are simple but visually capturing, lead users to each regional variation of the game.

A young user would be less inclined to read about chess and more inclined to actually play it. Allowing for hands on experience, while still in a digital space provides a chance for users to see a board in 3D. This facilitates a user’s curiosity to keep learning as they are given the ability to see a board from all angles and study the pieces up close.
The colors and visuals provide a playful feel to a game that is often considered boring or not entertaining. It’s important to provide an exciting feel to learning, especially for younger audience that may have a harder time digesting certain amounts of information.

Final Designs

Afterword

04 / Reflection

It’s important to take the first steps slow. The aspects of a project like this needs time to properly cultivate build a solid foundation. Wireframing until they actually feel solid is so important to create an appealing visual composition. Sometimes style can’t blend together the way you hoped and to create something clean and professional looking, you may need to make compromises. It’s worth it to hone one style down more instead of trying to include every design aspect I think would look good.

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