Discovery Education’s Puzzlemaker is a free online resource for educators, students and parents.  One of the most frequently visited destinations on the Discovery Education website, Puzzlemaker generates more than 70,000 puzzles daily and that number is consistently growing.

Visitors can create and print a wide array of puzzle types, including Word Search, Criss-Cross, Number Blocks, Math Square, Cryptograms, Letter Tiles, Fallen Phrase, and Computer Generated Mazes for use in instructional programs and as a fun exercise that parents can enjoy with their children.  The previous version of Puzzlemaker was slow, even under moderate use, and the site was in need of a user interface refresh that would provide more continuity with the Discovery Education site template and branding guidelines. 

The Siteworx Approach:

Siteworx Visual Designers made a number of enhancements, including implementing clear titles and an organization grid system.  In addition, a new saturated color palette was implemented to appeal to younger audiences and evoke a playful tone.  Siteworx also developed an Adobe Flash-based solution to create the puzzles.  Now, instead of housing the application code on Discovery servers, the code was ported to Flash ActionScript and embedded in the flash file itself. 

The Results:

Today, Puzzlemaker files are generated and displayed on the user’s machine, distributing the work and minimizing the load on Discovery servers.  As a result, the new site is capable of faster, more consistent puzzle generation times, even under heavy traffic.