Know Me: promoting gender equality in education through an interactive digital narrative

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to present the video game “Know Me” and expose the obtained results with the performed usability tests and user eXperience evaluations. Gender inequality in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) areas still exists, so it is important to act to tackle this gap. “Know Me” integrates an interactive digital narrative that promotes gender equality in STEM educational areas, as well as several mini-games to make the experience more challenging. The aim of “Know Me” is to raise awareness among students, between 14 and 16 years old, about the existence of gender inequality in STEM areas and to demonstrate to students, of the same age group, the potential of these areas. The ideation process of the video game is described, as well as the methodology used throughout the investigation. Thus, this research integrates several sequential phases: i) research, analysis and planning phase, which involved 6 participants, 3 male and 3 female, aged between 14 and 16; ii) development phase of the product (video game); iii) test and evaluation phase, with 8 participants, 4 female and 4 male, aged between 14 and 16; and iv) interpretation of the results.