Roles UIUX Design Product Management Front-End Engineer
Tools Figma/Sketch, inVision Trello, Google Analytics HTML, CSS, React
Time Duration Aug 2021 - Jan 2022 @USC Viterbi Fundrgames
Independent developers and gaming enthusiasts occupy unique niches in the gaming industry, each bubbling with creative potential and passion. Yet, these groups often exist in isolation, lacking a consolidated and efficient platform to connect, collaborate, and influence the Indie game development lifecycle.
CONTEXT
The envisioned platform aims to bring together these disparate entities, harnessing the power of community-driven development, streamlined campaign creation, seamless feedback integration, and efficient game discovery to foster a symbiotic and vibrant Indie gaming ecosystem.
The current Indie gaming landscape is marred by disconnected processes, communication gaps, and limited discovery options. The proposed digital platform aims to revolutionize the user experience for Indie developers and gamers alike, facilitating seamless interaction, collaboration, and mutual growth.
MOTIVATION
We propose constructing an intuitive and scalable digital platform, overhauling the information architecture to create a connected and interactive indie gaming ecosystem.
Game Developer’s Portal
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
PROBLEMS IN DEPTH
🤔
Discoverability
People Problem
"Being a gamer, I find it difficult to discover new indie games that match my interests due to the absence of a centralized platform."
How do we know this is a problem?
There is a general frustration among gamers over the scattered nature of indie games. Surveys and interviews reveal that gamers spend a considerable amount of time searching for indie games that suit their preferences. Also, indie developers have expressed challenges in reaching their target audience due to the lack of a dedicated platform.
🔍
Interaction and Feedback
People Problem
"As an indie developer, I struggle to get real-time, valuable user feedback, which is crucial in shaping my game."
How do we know this is a problem?
Feedback from indie developers highlights the issue of poor communication with their audience. They find it challenging to collect and integrate user feedback effectively into their development process, thereby impacting the quality and appeal of their games.
GOALS
📈
Complexity of Campaign Creation
People Problem
"As an indie developer, I struggle to get real-time, valuable user feedback, which is crucial in shaping my game."
How do we know this is a problem?
Feedback from indie developers highlights the issue of poor communication with their audience. They find it challenging to collect and integrate user feedback effectively into their development process, thereby impacting the quality and appeal of their games.
🚀
Market Support
People Problem
"It's hard to find a platform that can connect me with the right audience, potential investors, and provide meaningful market feedback."
How do we know this is a problem?
Through developer feedback and market research, we've learned that indie developers face substantial difficulties in finding platforms that provide appropriate audience exposure, funding opportunities, and actionable market feedback. These factors are critical to their success and the absence of suitable platforms often slows their growth and discourages innovation.
👩🎨 For Developers
To provide an efficient, automated, and intuitive platform to facilitate streamlined game development, foster direct communication with gamers, and drive success.
🏆For Gamers
To curate a dynamic discovery hub, enabling gamers to explore and influence the development of diverse Indie games, enriching their gaming experiences.
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Seamless Navigation
The platform architecture should be designed in a way that minimizes cognitive load and maximizes ease of navigation. This ensures that users can quickly locate desired games and developers can efficiently manage their campaigns. We are committed to implementing an intuitive and user-centric interface that effortlessly guides users through the platform.
User Centric
The platform should foster a sense of community between gamers and developers, encouraging continuous engagement and collaboration. By facilitating a direct line of communication between these two primary user groups, we aim to create a vibrant and dynamic environment that empowers users and enriches their overall experience.
Scalability
As our platform grows to accommodate more developers and a broader range of games, the information architecture should be scalable and adaptable. We are planning for future expansion and ensuring that our platform can handle increasing volumes of content without sacrificing user experience.
Simplified
Every feature on our platform, especially the campaign creation tool, should be simple and easy to use. We strive to minimize complexity at every step of the user journey, so developers can focus on what they do best: creating engaging games.
SOLUTION
Automated Campaign Creation
Leveraging automation technologies, the platform simplifies the game campaign creation process. Through user-friendly interfaces and pre-built templates, Indie developers can create, launch, and manage their game campaigns with ease.
Seamless Feedback Integration
An integrated feedback system fosters continuous developer-gamer dialogue. Gamers can provide real-time input, which is directly channeled to the developers, thereby influencing game refinement and ensuring an immersive gaming experience.
Dynamic Discovery Hub
A dedicated discovery hub serves as a launchpad for Indie games, enabling gamers to explore a broad spectrum of games. This feature uses advanced algorithms to recommend games based on the gamer's preferences, ensuring personalized experiences.
DESIGN ITERATION
Modular Design Approach
A modular design approach ensures flexibility and scalability, accommodating the evolving needs of developers and gamers, and offering seamless navigation through the platform's various features.
SUCCESS METRICS
Integrated Feedback Mechanism
A strategically designed feedback mechanism allows gamers to communicate their opinions and suggestions, empowering them to influence game development actively.
What does success look like?
Key performance indicators include increased developer productivity, elevated gamer engagement, wider Indie game exposure, and a flourishing, interactive community.
TAKEAWAYS
The inclusion of diverse perspectives from engineers, product managers, researchers, etc., enriches the design process, leading to well-rounded, user-centric solutions.
Cross-functional Collaboration
While feedback is crucial, it's equally important to have confidence in your design decisions. Analyzing the problem deeply, envisioning possible solutions, and trusting your judgement forms the basis of impactful UX design.
Confidence in Decision-Making