Kat Arroyo (She/Her)
Hive Link
Overview
For this spec project, my team and I were tasked with narrowing down and designing a native mobile application for a specific problem space of our choosing. After collaborating with my teammates, we decided to explore the area of gaming and the problems users face in the gaming community. Using a topic mapping approach, we narrowed our focus to the problems gamers face when meeting up with other gamers to play.
Duration.
2 week sprint
Role.
Me (UX Researcher)
George (UX Designer)
Em (UI Designer)
Tools.
Figma
Miro
Maze.co
Method.
Topic Mapping, User Surveys,
User Interviews,
Competitive and Comparative Analyses,
Affinity Mapping, Persona,
Journey Mapping,
Wire Framing, Prototyping,
Usability Testing
User Research
Surveys
Our team created a screener survey to collect a pool of candidates to interview that represented our target user. We also used this survey to collect more information about our target audience by asking them questions like how often they play games, if they like to play games with other people, and whether they preferred online gaming or in person gaming. We then contacted some of these users for a more in depth interview about their gaming habits.
User Interviews
I took our notes from the user interviews and used Miro to compile groups of sticky notes with quotes and observations from each user interview. Then I arranged all of the sticky notes into an affinity map to gather insights and trends. I was looking for things each user had in common whether it was a pain point that kept showing up across interviews or even something everyone seemed to like about the way they game with others.
Synthesis
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Users felt frustrated when coordinating gaming meetups
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Digital meetups during the pandemic were difficult
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There are too many platforms to keep track of when communicating with gaming friends
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Users kept forgetting when they agreed to gaming sessions
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It is difficult to find out what everyone's schedule is
Affinity Map
Our User
Now that we had an understanding of our user's frustrations, we were able to get to know our persona a lot better. This is Nicolas, an avid gamer.
Journey Map
Using our research, I was able to create a journey map based on Nicolas’s current experience when coordinating gaming sessions with his friend’s. We could now visualize how Hive Link would impact and improve his experience. We focused on the beginning of his journey that is highlighted by the red outline, and included features in our design that would increase his happiness during this stage in order to get to the end goal where he is happy playing games and connecting with his friends.
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Mid-fi Wireframes
Using all of our research, tools, and methods, we were ready to go into several design studios and start sketching some solutions. Our big takeaways were that the users needed the ability to see the games they own, to visualize when each player is available, a calendar, and a reminder notification for scheduled sessions. Once we collaborated as a team and worked through these sketches, we transformed them into testable mid fidelity wireframes on Figma.
Search Games
Calendar
Friend's Availability
Notifications
Usability Testing
We asked three users from our interviews to test our design using Maze.co to track clicks and feedback. Out of 6 tasks given to our users, 3 caused concern and 3 were successfully completed without difficulty. The tasks were as follows:
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User will check for previously planned gaming sessions
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User will create a gaming session and select desired game
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User will select and confirm the date for gaming session
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User will select two friends and update desired time for session
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User will view created session on calendar page
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User will view all notifications on notification page
The following tasks were unsuccessful:
Task 1: User will check for previously planned gaming sessions
Medium Concern
1
2
2/3 users had trouble seeing the 'Upcoming' tab due to the size and location
1/3 users assumed the calendar icon would show them how to view upcoming sessions
2
1
Task 3: User will select and confirm the date for gaming session
Minor Concern
1
2
3
2/3 users expected the profile pictures of their friends to display their names
1/3 users expected the confirmation arrow would actually take them to the next day
1/3 users had trouble closing the 'Available Friends' pop up box
1
2
3
Task 4: User will select two friends and update desired time for session
Major Concern
1
2
3
4
3/3 users had difficulty setting the time for the session
2/3 users had difficulty distinguishing the selected friends
2/3 users could not find a way to cancel the session if they wanted to
1/3 users suggested there be a visual way to determine available times that match between friends
1
2
3
4
Prototype
Using the data we gather from our usability testing, we were able to make improved iterations of our wireframes and transform them into a high fidelity prototype.
Reflections
Throughout the process of this project, I learned a lot about gaming and working on a design team that is passionate about gaming. I really stepped out of my comfort zone with this project, and I was able to prove to myself that I can deliver great work even if the topic area is not something I am deeply passionate about. Upon reflection I realized I was able to still connect with this project by tapping into my passion for research and overall passion for creating empathetic solutions for users of all topic areas.