Role:
Lead UX Designer
Goal:
Goals: Design a multi-chatroom game that is simple to understand, encourages regular participation, increases gifting, and is easy to develop.
Context:
The project aimed to create a new multi-chatroom battle game to boost user engagement and virtual gifting in a social platform's chatrooms. Previously, intra-chatroom and 1v1 inter-chatroom games existed, but the goal was to develop a more competitive and engaging experience by involving multiple chatrooms simultaneously.
Challenge:
The existing chatroom games did not fully utilize the competitive potential among multiple chatrooms. Gifting often occurred only in the final moments, and there were challenges in displaying all participating chatrooms on a single screen. The new game needed to be engaging throughout its duration, simple to understand, and offer higher incentives to motivate participation from both hosts and gifters.
Specific User Needs:
Gifting Behavior: Most gifts were sent at the last minute, reducing sustained engagement.
UI Complexity: Displaying all participating chatrooms on a single screen without overwhelming the user was challenging.
Event Handling: The game needed to coexist with other ongoing events like super-chats and high-slab gifting, which could cause full-screen animations.
Incentives: The game needed to offer higher incentives to encourage hosts and gifters to prioritize this game over others.
User Onboarding: Onboarding creators and gifters to the new game format was essential for its success.
Challenge 1: Gifting Behavior
Solution:
Introduced visual and gameplay elements that sustained engagement throughout the game, rather than just in the final moments.
Implemented a "danger zone" indicator in the last 30 seconds of each round to nudge users to save their favourite chatrooms through gifting.
Challenge 2: UI Complexity
Solution:
Designed a layout that could accommodate 10+ chatrooms on a single screen, ensuring that the visual representation clearly communicated the necessary information without overwhelming the user.
Opted for a straight-line movement in the gameplay to simplify the visual representation and make it easier for users to track progress.
Challenge 3: Event Handling
Solution:
Ensured that the game could handle other in-app events without interference by creating a scalable UI design that could adapt to different screen sizes and event overlaps.
Challenge 4: Incentives
Solution:
Developed a rewards system with higher incentives compared to other games, making this game more attractive to both hosts and gifters.
Challenge 5: User Onboarding
Solution:
Created a simple and engaging onboarding process for both creators and gifters, explaining the rules, gameplay, and benefits of participation.
Research
Analyzed existing chatroom games on the platform to understand user behavior and pain points.
Collected references and inspirations from similar games on other platforms to identify successful design patterns.
Ideation
Brainstormed various gameplay ideas, considering factors like ease of understanding, development complexity, and user engagement.
Explored different visual layouts to accommodate multiple chatrooms, ultimately selecting the one that balanced simplicity and clarity.
Wire-framing & Prototyping
Created wireframes and prototypes for the selected gameplay, focusing on a straightforward linear progression that would be easy for users to follow and for developers to implement.
User Testing
Conducted user testing to gather feedback on the gameplay mechanics, visual design, and overall user experience.
Iterated on the design based on user feedback, refining elements like the danger zone indicator and nudge notifications.
Straight-Line Movement Gameplay:
Players move from the bottom to the top of the screen as they receive gifts. This simple, intuitive design made it easy for users to track their progress and engage with the game.Danger Zone Indicator:
In the last 30 seconds of each round, the last few players enter a "danger zone," which increases tension and encourages last-minute gifting to save their favourite chatroom host.Nudge Notifications:
Users receive nudges to gift their favourite chatroom hosts, while hosts are encouraged to ask for gifts to stay in the game.Elimination Rounds:
At the end of each round, the chatrooms/hosts in the danger zone are eliminated, with the remaining chatrooms proceeding to the next round. This continues until the final round determines the winner.Increased Incentives:
The game offers higher rewards compared to other games, making it more attractive to both participants and gifters.
Increased Engagement:
The game was expected to increase user engagement by sustaining interest throughout the game, rather than just in the final moments.Higher Gifting Rates:
The nudges and danger zone indicators were designed to encourage consistent gifting, leading to higher overall gifting rates.User Retention:
The game’s simplicity and engaging mechanics were expected to improve user retention, with users returning to play multiple rounds.
Learnings:
This project demonstrated the importance of balancing simplicity in gameplay with engaging visual elements to keep users hooked throughout the experience.Next Steps:
Future iterations could explore more complex gameplay mechanics or introduce new challenges to keep the experience fresh and exciting for returning users.