Co-designing and Testing Serious Games for Handwriting Training in Primary School

Handwriting difficulties affect a significant proportion of primary school children and, when persistent, may indicate dysgraphia. Early, structured intervention is essential, yet individualized training remains challenging to implement at scale in classroom settings. This paper presents the co-design and field testing of a serious game platform for handwriting training in first-grade children. Following a simplified CeHRes Roadmap, a multidisciplinary team of engineers, clinicians, and educators co-designed five games targeting distinct handwriting prerequisites: visuomotor integration, writing fluency, letter and number formation, and writing speed. The platform was deployed in authentic classroom settings across two primary schools, involving 67 first-grade children over a 78-day period. Results demonstrated high compliance (87.7%), excellent usability (P-SUS median = 80), and high satisfaction across all dimensions. Game-specific performance metrics showed statistically significant improvements over time in all analyzed games, providing preliminary evidence that the platform effectively targets the intended handwriting skills. Gender differences in reward system engagement were observed, suggesting that motivational strategies may benefit from further personalization. These findings confirm the feasibility and acceptability of technology-based handwriting training in ecological school contexts, and lay the groundwork for future studies assessing clinical efficacy and supporting personalized learning at scale.