Gamez

Summary

Why Gamez?

This application was designed to quench users hunger to stream and play games in the cloud. It is one of the top destinations for people that want to monetize on their skills, find sponsors or simply make new friends. GameZ was designed with gamers in mind that lets you find the best streams for the game of your choice. Being able to share, play, watch or upload any game is extremely easy, all you have to do is just register in the app and enjoy premium quality content. GameZ is unquestionably one of the best gaming apps on the market.

Gaming industry even though saturated, haven’t quite developed features needed for an everyday gamer. Users these days want a cloud based gaming with opportunity to sync all of their games into a platform and enjoy a seamless and lag-free interface. Top gamers want to be able to get sponsored and being able to grow their following in a way that doesn't distract them from a game play.

Desktop Prototype
Start
Overview Icon
Problem and Solution Icon

Problem

The problems demystified

After analyzing the market, I began noticing patterns that dictated my focus on the two problems I simply couldn’t ignore.

1) Low interface discoverability.

Cluttered interface is a common problem among users. The sheer volume of features can get a lot of users feel forced to learn through unnecessary trial and error.

2) Untapped community features.

When I set out to re-examine the usability of current gaming and streaming apps, what I found — in addition to a streamlined user experience — was the need to upload all the purchased games so users can create their libraries.

Solution

A seamless interface

Solving for two completely different problems didn’t come easy as it was a process of continuous reiteration. To solve for the problem of low discoverability, I made the following design decisions:


  • Design an intuitive interface that solves the needs of an everyday gamer/streamer. Which in turn creates a familiarity and recognition over long term.
  • Organize dense material in a way that it’s easy to navigate.
  • Provide user-centric notifications that educate new users on the primary navigation and a general user flow.

But that wasn’t all. Through my research, I have discovered that there’s a gap in features offered by other competitors. Users that have already purchased games prior to opening an account can simply scan the game and have it synced from an official game developer.

User Survey Icon

User Survey

Getting to know the users

To understand how I arrived at the solutions to the problems at hand, I had to go back to the beginning — starting with user research. I began with a user survey and sent them out to my friends, social media, and coworkers in order to understand the goals of my target audience. The results from the survey would inform the following:

How often users play games;
What are the most important features;
What are their top frustrations;
What gaming platforms were most favored;
What is their favorite gaming genre;

The survey questions were completed by over 20 respondents.

Target Audience

Based on the screened survey, I found that the users that best aligned with my primary audience were the competitive ones between the ages of 14 and 27.


Audience Icons
Survey Target Icon

66.7% of respondents would like to be able to share to social media straight from the cloud.

When asked what features users must have


95.8% chose auto sync


70.8% selected file versioning


67% want to be able to collaborate


45.8% of respondents use cloud storage daily


25% 2-3 times a day


16.7% once or twice a month

71% use Google Drive, 25% prefer Dropbox, 12.7$ use MediaFire

Key problem insights

Magnifying frustrations

To review the results from the user survey, here were the most prevalent frustrations when it came to cloud storage platforms:


  • Keeping content organized is a headache when there are many files.
  • Lack of social media integration so users can directly share files to social media
  • Lack of good UI when it comes to team collaboration tools.
Magnify Icon

Competitive Analysis

Converting weaknesses into strengths

While undergoing my competitive analysis, I noticed that low discoverability due to cluttered content organization and an overflow of accented links were common weaknesses shared by the competition. I sought to turn this weakness into GameZ strength by making discoverability a high priority. I also noticed that many users wanted to upload all their games and be able to jump from a stream straight to the gameplay.

VIEW
Gaming Competitors Logos

User Personas

Motivations

Juliette’s two year streaming experience involved turnamnets, gaming sessions and team collaborations. Being surrounded by some of the best gamers in Colombia she was fortunate enough to develop skills only some have. Average day for Juliette consisted of school assignments and streaming sessions. She finds it important to be able to leverage her love for gaming in order to bring transparency and improve the overall gameplay.

"Want to be the best player tha manages all aspects of the game."

  • Goals
  • Stay on track with stream sessions
  • Be the best help to teammates
  • Improve overall gameplay
  • Frustrations
  • Chat (not in the same window)
  • Policy Violators (rude people)
  • Finding balance (School vs Games)

BIO:

Juliette has been studying to be an IT specialist. Her passion for all things gaming have certainly made an impact on her life. Gaming formed into her passion for innovative technologies and resulted in her moving to Silicon Valley. Even though she did have to take a break because of school she is certainly planning a return into the world of gaming.

User Persona Icon

User Personas

Motivations

Average day for Dzmitry consists of countless calls, meetings and problem solving. He finds it important to be able to leverage his love for gaming without it being distracting from his everyday tasks. Dzmitry would definitely recommend it as a way to relax. It definitely helped him have a stress free lifestyle. He uses it mainly to relax after a long day at work.

"Prefer text-based games because they require close to no distractions."

  • Goals
  • Keep up with clan battles
  • Use it as a way to relax
  • Start straming in a near future
  • Frustrations
  • Usability issues
  • Need for various platforms for your games
  • Lack of user friendly streaming platforms

BIO:

Dzmitry has been working as an application programmer for quite some time now. Dzmitry often finds himself mentoring others how to be better at coding. Over the years he was a mentor, teacher and a motivator to many students.

VIEW PERSONAS
Information Info

User Stories

VIEW STORIES
User Stories and Flows Icon

User Flows

VIEW FLOWS

Wireframe Sketches

Bringing ideas to life

Beginning with pen and paper after having created my sitemap, user stories, and user flows, I could move onto building the skeletal structure of the site through wireframes — starting from simple wireframe sketches to low fidelity wireframes.

Wireframe Sketches Icon

Low-Fidelity Wireframes

Revisiting the problem to build the skeletal structure

To address the issue of low discoverability within cloud storage interfaces, I chose to display a top-level navigation and an easy to access add button that increases usability. This top-level approach eliminated unnecessary clicking and the reliance on the search box to find files. Using my sitemap and user flows, I built my wireframes using Sketch.

Low Fidelity Wireframes Icon

Summary

Through the course of this project I've been able to distinguish key metrics for a successful gaming platform. Due to a highly saturated market I knew coming in that there would be some challenges but what I found was exciting and informative.


  • Challenges, mistakes or revelations:
  • Gamez findings Creating an intuitive and streamelined UI was a challenge due to high amount of competitions. As a result I had to incorporate an integration with video streanming platforms & gaming hardware that gave me that little edge.
Back to Top Icon