Evaluation of user experience and cognitive load of a gamified cognitive training application for children with learning disabilities
Adel Shaban, Elaine Pearson · 2020 · Proceedings of the 17th International Web for All Conference (W4A) · doi:10.1145/3371300.3383341
Summary
This study presents the design and evaluation of "The Treasure," a gamified web-based application created to train and improve working memory in children with learning disabilities. The application was built on a design framework integrating guidelines from HCI, accessibility, cognitive load theory, and gamification principles. It takes the form of a treasure hunt narrative where children compete against a virtual pirate competitor across six activities — Numbers, Letters, Tools, Map, Faces, and Compass — each targeting different aspects of working memory such as auditory recall, visual-spatial memory, and sequential ordering. Gamification mechanics include points (golden stars), levels of increasing difficulty, a virtual parrot assistant that provides guidance and simulated examples, a meaningful story context, and a virtual competitor rather than real peer competition to reduce anxiety. Twelve Egyptian children aged 8-9, diagnosed with learning disabilities based on academic performance below the 25th percentile and IQ scores between 85-110 on the Stanford-Binet scale, completed a five-week training period of 27 sessions (20-35 minutes daily, 5 days per week) in a school computer lab. The evaluation used three complementary methods: a simplified usability survey with smiley-face Likert scales, unstructured observation throughout the training period, and a subjective cognitive load rating scale adapted from Paas’s 9-point scale to a child-friendly 3-point version.
Key findings
The evaluation revealed that 88% of children perceived a good experience with the application, with over 90% reporting they enjoyed playing and liked the parrot story narrative. The cognitive load across the six activities averaged 1.47 on the 3-point scale (SD 0.35), indicating a generally low-to-moderate load that did not overwhelm working memory capacity. However, there was significant variation: Numbers, Compass, and Map activities had low cognitive load (mean ~1.0-1.1) and high training performance, while the Letters activity had high cognitive load (mean 2.8) and correspondingly low performance — 75% of children rated it "very difficult." A strong negative correlation was found between cognitive load and training performance (Pearson r = -0.958, p=0.003), and a moderate negative correlation between cognitive load and user experience (Spearman rho = -0.611, p=0.035). Children developed their own coping strategies, such as using fingers as external memory tools to remember letters. All children preferred low-cognitive-load activities first and delayed difficult ones. The children themselves suggested practical redesign solutions for the Letters activity, including replacing letters with numbers and reducing recall requirements.
Relevance
This research demonstrates that gamification can be an effective approach for making cognitive training engaging for children with learning disabilities, but only when cognitive load is carefully managed. The strong inverse relationship between cognitive load and both performance and user experience has direct implications for anyone designing accessible educational applications or games. For accessibility practitioners, the key takeaway is that interface design decisions — how information is presented, how complex tasks are structured, and how support is provided — directly affect whether children with learning disabilities can benefit from digital tools. The study’s design framework, combining HCI accessibility guidelines with cognitive load theory and gamification, offers a replicable model for developing inclusive educational technology. The use of a virtual competitor instead of peer competition, child-friendly evaluation instruments with smiley faces, and the incorporation of children’s own feedback into redesign are all practical strategies worth adopting. A limitation is the small sample size of 12 participants, though the mixed-methods approach and five-week duration add credibility to the findings.
Tags: learning disabilities · gamification · cognitive load · working memory · user experience · children · cognitive training · educational technology