First Aid Action Hero (An award-winning first aid app game for kids)

CLIENT

St John Ambulance Victoria

St John Ambulance works tirelessly to ensure at least one person is educated and prepared to provide First Aid in every home, workplace and gathering. They know lives are saved when more people are equipped with practical First Aid knowledge – including the youngest members of communities.

BRIEF

One hour, once a year isn't enough time to learn first aid

On their return to schools, St John Ambulance Victoria (St John Vic) instructors found they were repeating instead of progressing lessons with students. St John Vic approached Conduct to co-design a digital tool that would help reinforce First Aid training outside the classroom.

Making DRSABC, as easy as 1-2-3

Research tells us that learning by having fun is the most effective approach to expanding kids’ problem solving and memory skills. When kids are having fun, they are relaxed and more receptive to new ideas. The game format was selected for the logical way lessons could be divided between levels, accommodating the phased introduction of required learning outcomes. Students can also play at their own pace. First Aid Action Hero is inclusive (suitable for children at distinct stages in cognitive development) and accessible (closed captioned for hearing impaired players). St John Ambulance’s DRSABC Action plan is introduced as a series of games following the narrative of a bike accident.

Understanding the kid's point of view

Usability tests revealed children wanted to feel challenged, rewarded and have ‘mastery and ownership’ of their learning experience. To achieve this, First Aid Action Hero empowers players to make decisions with gentle guidance and minimal interference. Conduct’s UX designers and St John instructors collaborated closely with animators and game developers, testing visual concepts and navigation options iteratively.

Confidence through gameplay

First Aid Action Hero is a broadly approachable and feature-rich edutainment application. The game’s primary environment is a horizontal scroll race track; selected for the easy learning curve it affords new gamers. It’s intuitive, easy to navigate and most importantly, was tested to ensure students without access to a professional First Aid instructor can still takeaway key concepts.

Conduct came out with us to schools, really got in character and embraced what we’re doing. They had a really open and honest testing phase with the children and made them feel comfortable. That helped us define a really good product. Matthew Briglia St John Ambulance Victoria trainer

Results

An estimated 10,000 Australian children (6,000+ downloads) have played First Aid Action Hero since late 2018
Introduced to schools nationally after positive reception in Victoria
Funding to develop additional modules and feature enhancements secured
Global roll-out in development with potential to reach millions of international students
Praised by KidSpot and Education Matters for making First Aid fun to learn