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1D Interface Project
ROLE
Interaction Design, Fabrication, Game Design, Coding
TIMELINE
2024
TEAM
Chris Ye; Wing Sze Zheng; Xiaocheng Li
PROJECT BRIEF
Hit It Out!! is a cooperative two-player game where stress relief is the mechanic itself: players strike physical drums with oversized hammers to steer a shared character toward its target. Hit strength matters — a gentle tap moves one step, a full swing leaps three — turning force, rhythm, and coordination into the game's core controls.
Designed as a 1D interface exploration, the project pairs a custom hardware controller (force-sensing drums and hammers) with an on-screen game, and was refined through three rounds of prototyping and user testing. What began as a rhythm game concept became something quieter and more cathartic: no music, no score pressure — just two people, two hammers, and the satisfying thud of progress.
Brainstorming
We started from a simple goal: make stress relief the gameplay. Drumming was the obvious mechanic — therapeutic, rhythmic, physical. We first added background music, but testing showed it created a high-intensity, Taiko no Tatsujin-like tension that did the opposite of relaxing. So we cut the music entirely and swapped drumsticks for hammers, making each hit feel more cathartic than performative.
How to Play
Two players, two drums, one shared character. Each player controls a direction — and the drum listens to how you hit: a light tap nudges the character one step, a hard strike sends it leaping three. Reaching the target takes something no single player has alone — coordination.
Interface Iterations
Ver.1
Built
Core movement and step counting
Randomly generated targets
Unpredictable target movement
Tested → Found
Players confused the character with the target
Level transitions felt abrupt, no feedback
Target moved too fast to track
Ver.2
Fixed
Brightened the character, added a black outline
Added a level indicator
Slowed target movement to 1 grid per second
Tested → Found
Movement range felt too restrictive
Text instructions cluttered the screen
UI colors clashed with the physical hardware
Ver.3
Fixed
Extended the grid to 30 units
Replaced text with animated level transitions
Matched UI colors to the drum and hammer design
Result
Final version — playtested and validated
Technical Drawing
Each drum houses a force sensor beneath its printed skin, translating hit strength into character movement — a light tap moves one unit, a hard strike jumps three. The oversized hammers and comic-style drum faces were designed to make the physical act of hitting feel playful rather than aggressive.
Final Design
