Corey Dasilva
Role
I worked as the Lead product designer on this project alongside 2 front-end developer, one back-end developer, one product manager , and one chief product officer.
I was responsible for the following roles;
UI Designer
UX Researcher
UX Designer
UX Writer
Brand designer
Problem Space
I was once a gamer who loved to play with my friends. But as we got older, our schedules got busier and it became harder to find a time that worked for everyone. We would often try to schedule gaming sessions, but something would always come up and we would have to cancel. One day, I was playing a game by myself and I got really frustrated. I wanted to play with my friends, but I didn't know how to make it happen as most of my friends have busy lifes now even if they are avid gamers. Now i know they still manage to play with their console but the problem was how do i play my favorite combat game with them? I started to think about how there must be other gamers out there who were having the same problem 🎮
That's when I came up with the idea for an application that would help gamers schedule gaming sessions with their friends. I envisioned an application that would be easy to use and would have a large user base. but what features are a MUST HAVE assuming i wanted to float an MVP that will attract users early on, retain them and also make it possible to generate revenue ? That's what we are about to find out, stay with me ✨
I believe that there is a large market for this type of application. There are millions of gamers around the world, and many of them are looking for a way to connect with other gamers. This application would fill a much-needed void in the market. I am excited about the opportunity to create this application and help gamers connect with each other. I believe that this application would have a positive impact on the gaming community, and I am confident that it would be a success.
Problem Background
The video games industry has consistently seen growth for the past couple of years, despite the most recent and ever-evolving pandemic, to eventually reach $203.1 billion via consumer spending (+5.4% year on year) according to a newzoo article. This growth is evidence of the importance that digital games have on forming and maintaining friendships. An example of this can be seen in this article from The Washington Post that details how video games helped friendships thrive during the pandemic, which caused a year of isolation and loneliness.
Asking the probing questions
Through consumer research in the form of surveys and interviews with 10 interviewees, we have learned that older gamers (+19) have a difficult time syncing schedules with their friends to create these gaming sessions, resulting in 44% of interviewees stating that they don’t play video games with friends as often as they would like. These users are tired of their current methods due to inefficiency and complexity, with methods such as utilizing different group chats from different platforms such as iMessage, Snapchat, Instagram, etc. The main issues that arise with these methods of planning are a lack of responses, late responses, or a significant amount of back-and-forth messages dedicated to planning. A frequent scenario that all of the interviewees were familiar with is having conversations with their friend group on what time the group will be online, only for nobody to get online due to other circumstances which leave the group yearning for answers. This is a problem worth addressing now because it was found through consumer research that gaming is a hobby that takes up a significant amount of time in the lives of all of these users, ranging anywhere from 15-20 hours a week, hence, solving the initial pain point of scheduling these gamer sessions with friends can be extremely valuable to these users.
we have narrowed down specific reasons why gamers struggle to play games with friends:
Conflicting and always-changing schedules
No specific form of communicating availability
Not having friends who play the same games as them
Pain Point
1. Work schedules 2. Family time 3. Student life - classes and studying 4. Significant others 5. Schedules not aligning with friends
1. Unknown/long wait times for responses 2. Lack of responses in general 3. Conversations behind held on multiple platforms (iMessage, Snapchat, Instagram, etc)
1. Friends are offline. 2.Being new to gaming so no friends to play with. 3.Not having friends play the same games. 4.Not having friends with the same skill level in specific games. 5. No safe way of making online friends.
Defining the problem
User stories serve as a guide to focus on specific user behaviors, needs, or objectives. it is a way to synthesize this information and create a clear and user-centric understanding of what users are looking for in the design solution. With these user stories, i was able to empathize with the target audience, prioritize features and functionalities, and ensure that the design addresses the most important user needs.
Some of the key user stories narrowed down from the research phase are listed below
As a user, I want to be able to add my friends, so that I can coordinate with them on when to play.
As a user, I want to be able to see what days/times my friends will be online that sync up with my availability so that I can propose a time to play.
As a user, I want to be able to add my gaming availability, so that I can keep track.
As a user, I want to easily have a view that summarizes and proposes the best time to play with a specific group, so that I don’t have to waste time asking.
As a user, I want to create groups of friends, so that I can separate my friend groups as needed.
As a user, I want to be able to message my friends within the app, to help with coordinating schedules.
As a user, I want to be able to find new people based on the games I play, so that I can make new friends that play the same game.
As a user, I want to be able to create a profile, so that my friends can find me.
Information Architecture and User flow
Information Architecture
User flow
For a much clearer view of the user flow for each user story. Click the button below
Visual design
It was important to consider various factors when selecting the ideal color combination for this game scheduling platform. i wanted a color that evoke feelings of excitement, focus, and immersion. In the end, i settled for 1. midnight blue (A dark blue color with hex code #13192B) because it is often associated with night, mystery, and technology. It can create a sense of depth and atmosphere in a gaming platform, and it can also help to focus the user's attention on the game. 2. and Forest green (A deep green color with the hex code #17650B) because it is often associated with nature, growth, and prosperity. It can create a sense of calm and relaxation in a gaming platform, and it can also help to immerse the user in the game world. It was easy to choose both colors because they are complementary, meaning that they work well together to create a visually appealing and engaging user interface. The dark blue provides a sense of depth and contrast, while the deep green provides a sense of calm and relaxation. Lastly, The psychological effects of these colors is that they are also technically well-suited for gaming platforms. The dark blue is a high-contrast color that is easy to see on a variety of screens, and the deep green is a relatively muted color that does not strain the eyes.
The rationale for the brand identity of a game scheduling platform called "Online" with an icon consisting of an "O" and a green dot located at the top right corner of the "O" symbol is as follows: 1. The letter "O" is a simple and elegant symbol that represents the concept of online gaming. It is also the first letter of the platform's name, which helps to create a strong visual association between the two. 2. The color green is often associated with nature, growth, and prosperity. It can also be seen as a symbol of hope and new beginnings. 3. The green dot represents the idea of "go" or "start". It is a vibrant color that is associated with energy and excitement, which are two qualities that are important for gaming. The green dot is also located at the top right corner of the "O", which suggests that the platform is about getting things done and moving forward. 4. The overall simplicity of the icon makes it easy to remember and recognize. It is also a versatile symbol that can be used in a variety of different contexts, such as on the platform's website, in marketing materials, and in social media.
The font used for this PWA is inter which is a Sans serif font. I chose this font because it has a number of aesthetic qualities that make it a good choice for a game scheduling app. The font is clean and uncluttered, which makes it a good fit for the simple, straightforward interface of a game scheduling app. The font also has a bit of a modern, tech-y feel, which can help to create a sense of excitement and anticipation for the games that users are scheduling. Technical wise, the font was chosen because of these reasons 1. It's a modern font: Inter was designed specifically for digital use, so it looks great on screens of all sizes. 2. It's highly legible: The letterforms in Inter are well-proportioned and easy to read, even at small sizes. 3. It's versatile: Inter comes in a variety of weights and styles, so you can find the perfect font for any part of your app. 4. It's efficient: Inter is a variable font, which means that it can be optimized for different screen sizes and resolutions. This can help to improve the performance of your app.
Low fidelity design
After carrying out extensive research to gather insight on what our potential users need. A user flow to perform key tasks was mapped out, a paper sketch to give form to how we want the interface to look, wireframe showing the skeletal design of how the app will feel. We had a lot of iterations on the low-fidelity design as we carried out usability testing with potential users and that afforded us the chance to iterate our existing low-fi design
Some of the initial feedback gotten had to do with
Privacy when scheduling a gaming session with friends as the first design draft displayed the thumbnail image, ID, and time booked by other users, so we had to adjust the schedule screen to do away with such details and just leave it at the time unavailable
Revamping how the initial landing page was so as to accurately reflect key content that would increase usability and conversion.
Adjusting the way users set up their gaming time availability as the previous design provided users with the chance to schedule one timing availability per day as opposed to being able to log in multiple time availability per day.
High fidelity screens
Insights from user testing
Insight after user testing
We conducted guerilla testing during the low-fidelity design stage to note down any friction. we found out these flaws
The initial home screen didn't accurately reflect key content that would entice users to want to stay so, we iterated the initial landing page to accurately reflect key content that would increase usability and conversion.
The initial schedule screen made allocation for reserving day slot which was an oversight. it wouldn't fly as we wanted gamers to pick different time during the day when scheduling game time with friends. This led us to iterating the new screen to accommodate gamers to log in multiple time availability per day.
The Product manager drew my attention to a privacy flaw in the the design when scheduling a game session with friends. The initial design draft displayed the thumbnail image, ID, and time booked by other users, so we had to adjust the schedule screen to do away with such details (gamers ID and thumbnail image) and just leave users with to choose from the time available.
What i learnt from this project
As a team, we learned that not everything will go according to plan and that’s okay as long as we work together to fix the issues that we come across. We’ve faced many problems during this journey from learning to navigate a 6-hour time difference, to have to build with a completely new language, and even learning how to adapt with one another.
But on a personal level,
I learned not to get attached to my design solution when I am receiving feedback as I am designing for the users, not myself.
I learned the importance of carrying out user testing early and iterating the design to correct any design flaw.
I learned how to back up my design decision to key stakeholders especially in cases when they see things from a different viewpoint.
I learned what it takes to prioritize Accessibility for all when designing a product.
And lastly, I learned how to prioritize design features while factoring in project constraints.