PROBLEM STATEMENT
Toxicity is a problem that the gaming industry has been trying to curb. People may play with friends, but at some point, they inevitably play with strangers which can lead to negative experiences.
Smaller disappointments such as you’re playing with people who don’t match your skill level, or the play style of those around you aren’t aligned.
There might be someone making off-color jokes, your sense of humor just doesn’t jibe with theirs or it can be intimidating to join a large Discord server.
These seemingly-minor issues become significant if you are a regular gamer, putting in hours and hours, hoping for a fun evening, and perhaps even a lasting connection with new friends, and ending up with neither.
THE BIG IDEA
To provide a safe, inclusive environment where everyone can game responsibly, within the boundaries they set, free from fear and intimidation.
TARGET AUDIENCE
This app focuses on individuals ranging from 18-25 years of age who have quit gaming due to excess toxicity.
MY DESIGN PROCESS
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
I kicked off my research by conducting interviews & google surveys quantitatively evaluating the following questions
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How do you usually find team mates to play multiplayer games with?
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What's the most frustrating part about looking for a teammate online to play with?
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What are some of the key criteria's you consider while picking a suitable opponent to play with?
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Can you recall a situation where you've experienced any negativity/ toxicity while playing with an online player?
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How has your experience been as a female gamer while gaming with predominantly male gamers?
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“Some guy called me a man kissing f*ggot. I told him I was a girl so that wasn't really accurate. HUGE mistake. He spent the rest of the game talking about how he was going to find me, kidnap me, tie me up and rape me”
REFINED TARGET AUDIENCE
I created archetypes to narrow down my primary and secondary target audience solely based on their behavior.
Primary Target Audience: 'The Shy Bullied One'
Gamer Archetype 01: Casual social gamer
“I just wish gaming was more inclusive, I fail to understand how race, culture religion has any relevance to gaming? Just here to have a good time and find a mate with who I can achieve my goals with”
Secondary Target Audience: 'The Chill One'
Gamer Archetype 02: Casual competitor gamer
KEY TAKEAWAYS
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS (GAMING & DATING APPS)
I studied the key market players and looked at both direct/indirect competitors to understand why they are successful and how my app could be differentiated from the rest
BASIC FEATURES
Post and find sessions:
Browse, Join and Create sessions based on your in-game objectives.
Create and join clans:
Users can stay connected to a group of gamers with the same interests. They can have access to clan chat and organize game sessions with them.
Live chat:
Instantly communicate with gamers & start planning your gaming strategy.
INITIAL WIREFRAMES
I came up with several potential solutions to each of the pain points and made some rough UI sketches. I did some preliminary validation on the Lo-Fidelity sketches and used the feedback to refine my sketches and narrow down my solutions for the Hi-Fi mockups
IDEATION OF FEATURES
In order to come up with a USP, I decided to take a slightly different approach & dig deeper into the psychology of toxicity, I cataloged the different variants in order to tackle this issue effectively. After tedious research, I was able to pinpoint 3 theories as to why people exuded toxic behavior, this led me to truly address those user needs identified earlier.
UNIQUE FEATURES
For my MVP, I decided on the four most important features my app should consist of. These focused features are based on the user interview and user testing where a pattern was identified as to what shy introverted casual gamers needed.
VISUAL DESIGN
In order to create a cohesive experience, my branding is not just isolated to the visual art direction, I wanted to take it a step further by encapsulating my brand personality as part of the user experience itself. I was steering towards a lighter color palette with minimal iconography so that the user does not feel overwhelmed.
LOGO
1Up's logo is committed to being supportive and kind - The logo when tilted forms a heart representing inclusivity, An App - where you can play as you are.
PROTOTYPING & USER TESTING
I conducted usability testing with my target audience to ensure my user’s satisfaction with the product. Users were asked to complete the following tasks based on my key requirements. Tasks included:
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Onboarding
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Create a new session
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Join an existing session
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Connect & chat with a new player
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Browse & discover content
KEY FINDINGS
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Sign Up was longer than anticipated
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Voice changing feature was being missed. Users found
the learning curve to be a bit challenging.
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“Adding friends” to a gaming session flow needed to be simplified.
FINAL PROTOTYPE
FINAL CASE STUDY
FINAL APP DEMO VIDEO
ROLE
User Research | UX UI | Prototyping | Usability Testing
TIME
3 months
TOOLS
Figma, Notion, Miro, Adobe Suite
DATE
2022