PlayPal
A New Way To Play
Role:
Research
User Experience
Visual Design
Prototyping
Project Type
Academic
Tools
Figma
Zeplin
Mentors
Brad Macdonald
Barjinder Singh
Timeframe
Feb. 13 2023 - Apr. 10 2023
Overview
PlayPal is a digital solution to connect people and build community through the games that we play.
Unlike other apps that link people, PlayPal focuses on the camaraderie that is built through groups, tabletop gaming, and everything in between.
Challenges
This project’s brief was to create a digital solution for a problem space that inspired us. In-person gaming has had a huge positive impact on my mental health and personal community building. As an active member of this community, I am also very aware of how difficult it can be to maintain these groups or even build them in the first place.
With this in mind, I assumed that people would be hesitant to disrupt the delicate ecosystems of their play groups or utilize digital means to find groups and players in the first place.
The constraints of this project were scope and audience. Each part of this journey had strict deadlines of a week while working on several other projects. Due to this timeline, my target audience was restricted to my demographic and prebuilt communities.
EMPATHIZE
Research
After the pandemic prepared society for a “new normal”, many people have been severed from their communities and unwilling to branch out into new ones. This has created a level of isolation that 1 in 5 adults feel, potentially leading to mental health issues. Group sports and tabletop games have been statistically proven to improve social and mental well-being, however, due to scheduling issues and lack of shared interest in social circles, these can be hard to organize.
*Brieflands: The Association Between Sports Participation and Mental Health Across the Lifespan
*Harrisburg University Study
33%
of adults experience feelings of loneliness. This is correlated with an increase in substance consumption and poor nutrition.
*Statistica Global Survey
How Might We…
help streamline the process of building a community through organized sports and tabletop gaming for Millennials in order to help boost their mental health?
DEFINE
Interviews
2 rounds of scripted, decontextualized interviews were held with Millennials who hold active gaming habits to gather the following key insights:
Key Insights
The Cause
85% of participants found that the games they play were linked to their high life satisfaction.
“Playing in a group has me coming away feeling like it was time well spent. Even if it didn’t go beautifully.”
Community & Accomplishment
100% of participants were motivated by the camaraderie that builds within gaming.
“Working towards a common goal always feels like you are getting closer to someone.”
Finding the Right Group
100% of participants were hesitant in letting people into their game groups or join new ones for fear of throwing off the “vibe” or potential safety risks.
“It’s hard to maintain an easy flow with certain people.”
User Persona
I created a target user based on my insights so that I could put myself in the shoes of who I was designing for.
Experience Map
After a targeted user was drawn, I created an experience map of Caleb to better understand his needs and identify opportunities in his journey for improvement.
User Stories
By creating stories based on the target user I could develop a better understanding of them and start identifying key features of this digital product
Verification
As a host, I want to get my account verified so I can let people know I am a safe host.
Player Chat / Friends
As a host, I want to communicate with new players so that I can know what they are like before meeting.
As a host, I want to add friends to my profile so I can add them to the games that I post.
As a host, I want to add new players as friends so I can contact them for other games in the future.
Find / Host Games
As a host, I want to post that my game is looking for new members so that new players can join my table.
As a host, I want to post the skill level of my game so that I can let people know what to expect.
Design Hypothesis
I believe that providing a system where one can both host, join, and communicate with organized sports and tabletop gaming communities will be a helpful aid for Millennials in combating mental health deterioration linked to isolation and anxiety.
I will know If this is true
When I see 80% of signed-in users of this digital product successfully schedule social gaming activities and their communities begin to grow.
IDEATE
Sketches
Once the flow of the app was set the layout of each page needed to be refined into blueprints for the initial wireframe.
Wireframes
With the key sketch solutions chosen, a mid-fidelity prototype was created based on the task flow of hosting a game. This went through 2 rounds of scripted usability testing.
Home
Post Game
User Control
Backtracking and new nav order to aid in user recall.
Verification
Camera
Confirmation States
Actions enacted were clearer.
My Games
Player Chat
Testing Insights
After the 2 rounds of testing some valuable feedback was gathered to better the final iterations of this app (the first iteration, being called Assemble)
Adding Players in Chat
Having to go to the game page when adding a player was a hassle.
Brand Design
Attributes
Having to design a brand system from the ground up meant I needed to start somewhere. I generated a few keywords to help steer the direction of the brand.
ANIMATED VIVACIOUS PLAYFUL EXTRAVERTED SOCIAL ENERGETIC COMMUNITY SPIRITED VITAL
Identity
With the playful energy of the app, an equally playful name was chosen in PlayPal. The colors would invoke feelings of creativity and ambition. The typography and icons are thoughtfully designed to be legible but playful.
Color
Typography
Icons
PROTOTYPE
Post & Host
The user can quickly post their hosted games in bars, cafes, parks, and any neutral ground at the touch of a button or…
Invite Friends
Building a social network on PlayPal is easy. The user can add friends they’ve made along the way to their games or…
Personalized
In designing this app it was important that the user gets to see the games that interest them. This personalizes their experience by prioritizing games and players that share their interests.
Verify
Users who host at their address can verify their identity quickly as an added level of safety for both themselves as well as their players.
Make Friends
The user can chat with potential new players to see if their a good fit. If the games go well, they can be added to your friend group at any time.
THE FUTURE
Landing Page
Every brand needs a marketing push. As an exercise I created a reactive marketing website that would be vital to getting the word out about PlayPal.
More Features
I’ve just scratched the surface of what PlayPal could do. How players find games needs to be built out as well as proper integration of player profiles to help in the vetting system.
Smart Watch
For the players on the go, Smart Watch functionality would be added so that they can find games quickly and easily.
Impact
Play More
PlayPal effectively gets rid of the hassle of trying to find the right people for the games people want to play.
Conflicts No More
Scheduling conflicts would be a thing of the past. If someone drops out, you can just use PlayPal.
More Community
Working towards a common goal through gaming can build community and support systems for those who suffer from anxiety and isolation.
Reflections
Testing & Feedback
To measure the success of a project is to gauge how well feedback and insights from the participants in my primary research was followed. In the future I would like to conduct user testing on new features and develop further iterations of PlayPal.
Simple is Best
Throughout the design process my intentions led to needless complications that, when tested, needed to be reigned back. Sometimes the simplest answer to a problem can be the best solution.
Listen to the Experts
Incorporating the feedback of both educators and mentors propelled my engagement in the UX process during this process. In the next steps of the design, I would like to talk to developers to gain a new perspective on what design decisions are feasible in product creation.
Thank You To
ILLO, Kit8, & Aleksander Savic for illustrations used on prototype.
Cottonbro Studio, Ylanite Koppens, Unsplash, and Pexels for photography
Mikołaj Dobrucki for the iconography
BrainStation for the education