But most surprisingly...
Casual gamers are not exclusively feminine but feel disconnected from the general gaming community.
Proto-Personas
The competitive analysis and social media mining revealed three distinct proto-personas:
“So much of it feels like it's targeted towards men or towards people who have a lot of knowledge about a lot of games, or even just a lot of like computer knowledge in general."
– Lynn, Casual Gamer
Process Map & Inspiration
With this new framing, I made a process map in Figjam for design inspiration focused on the goal of engaging in a supportive community.
Process map screenshot from Figjam
Artwork samples and competitor screenshots used for design inspiration
Time to pivot
I focused more on building connections between casual and novice gamers, centered around their favorite games.
I organized quotes in Miro and saw these trends:
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The gaming community is seen as male-dominated, unwelcoming, and competitive
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Existing apps are difficult to learn, but useful to coordinate schedules
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Online gaming communities act as a source of personal support
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Gaming communities are tight-knit and center around specific games
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Casual gamers seek out tailored gaming content (videos, memes, and merchandise)
These trends became Lunet's design tenets:
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Welcoming to all gamers regardless of gender or skill level
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Simple, simple, simple interface with small learning curve
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Connections between gamers and creators are able to grow
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Game-focused discussions and content available to all users
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Consolidated game-related content and resources that users can search
Prototype: Bringing Ideas to Life
Even working alone, I still went through solution sketching and dot voting. This helped me identify key features and iterate quickly before beginning wireframes, later fashioned into an interactive prototype.
Early sketches followed by a basic user flow and low-fidelity wireflow
The Outcome
Unique Profile
Develop a profile complete with a list of your games and consoles, favorite guilds built on beloved game series, and a collection of posts and photos.
“Inclusive community building app for gamers of all levels”
“The best social aspects of Discord and Steam combined together”
“It's a hub for all things video game”
Lunet is a space for gamers of all gender identities to connect over their favorite games. This includes casual, novice, and avid gamers alike who feel disconnected from traditional gaming communities and want to safely engage with other gamers. Usability test respondents had the following to say about the app:
Phase One: Establish Empathy
Competitive Analysis & Social Media Mining
Discord, Twitch, Patreon, and Etsy were the gaming-related apps I analyzed. As a member of many online gaming communities (and as a team of one) I also supplemented this analysis with primary information from social media mining.
Through this initial research, I found the following:
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Users enjoy supporting their favorite small creators via apps like Etsy and Patreon
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The mobile apps have many system bugs and are difficult to learn
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The gaming community is seen as male-focused and unwelcoming
Series Guilds
Guilds are groups centered around a game series. Each guild offers game-specific content in three tabs: Posts, About, and Shop.
Everyone is always a member of the Lunet Guild.
Guild Discussion
Create posts with photos, items and tags that make it easy to identify and filter topics. Quick Chat allows for more timely conversations, like hopping on a call.
Conclusion
My Thoughts
Phase One really allowed me to explore available UX tools for project management, ideation, and design, including how these tools can make the UX process much more efficient. I learned the value of investing in comprehensive research that includes direct interaction with the target audience. This also marked a significant point in my journey where I was able to see the impact of my research and writing skills.
Phase Two marked a significant milestone in my professional UX journey in which I solidified my dream to work in the gaming industry. This not only gave me the opportunity to reflect on and demonstrate how much I had learned about UX research, design, and project management, but also to reinforce how crucial empathy and adaptability are to the design process.
Challenges
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Scope Creep: It was easy to get overly excited about all the design possibilities rather than focusing on the minimal viable product. Regular design critiques and documentation really helped to keep this at bay; ruthless prioritization and adaptability became key factors to my success.
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Time & Resources: While this project spanned two separate courses, working full-time at the same time meant I had a limited amount of time to devote to research and iterations. This impacted the methods and tools as I had to focus on quickly gathering valuable, accurate insights in the most efficient way possible. For example, I planned for moderated usability testing but did unmoderated due to time constraints; moderated would have been more appropriate from where I was in the design process.
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One-Person Team: Operating as the principal researcher and designer allowed me to make decisions quickly, but also presented unique challenges. Working alone often left me designing in a vacuum whereas working on a diverse team can bring additional resources and perspectives that greatly improve a product; I was able to combat this by regularly seeking feedback from peers, industry professionals, and of course users.
Methodology
Phase One: Establish Empathy
September 9–October 20, 2021
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Survey and User Interviews to validate personas and inform design through data analysis
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Competitive Analysis to understand competitors and how platforms address gender identity and safety
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Social Media Mining for an inside look at the gaming industry from a feminine perspective
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Proto-Personas made using the Personify site to outline the target audience
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Process Map and Prototype to identify how casual gamers engage with their favorite games and communities and where to improve
Phase Two: Build and Refine
March 15–May 4, 2022
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Mindmap with User Stories to organize existing research, identify direction, and brainstorm
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Design Critiques weekly with industry professionals and fellow classmates to refine prototype
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User Interviews focused on user behavior to explore potential features and priorities
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Usability Testing through Maze for rapid results including session clips and screenshots with heatmaps
Phase Two: Build and Refine
Mindmap and User Stories
I decided to continue this project for my thesis; a mindmap was necessary to reorient myself and see if anything had changed in the space.
Using insights from this mindmap, I outlined the following user stories:
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As a casual gamer I want to post about my favorite games so that I can connect with other gamers.
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As a casual gamer I want to view related games so that I can find more games I like.
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As a casual gamer I want to take quizzes so that I can define my gaming style.
Design Critiques and User Interviews
After weekly design critiques from my colleagues and industry professionals, I realized the prototype was too long and focused more on telling rather than showing. So I conducted more interviews and went back to the (literal) drawing board.
5 interviews to ask gamers of various gender identities:
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How do casual and novice gamers decide to get a new game?
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What resources or content do casual and novice gamers look for when starting a new game?
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What resources or content do casual and novice gamers look for when playing a game they are familiar with?
The most common answers included:
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How to be good at a game, for beginners and more advanced players
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Help and/or guidance when stuck in a game
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Locations of in-game items, collectibles, or characters
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What platform the game is available on
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Information about the type of game(s) and reviews
Sketches of journeys including adding to the game library, making a post, and joining a guild.
User Interviews
I initially conducted three interviews with 2 casual gamers and 1 content creator between the ages of 18-34.
All play 4+ hours of games a week but none consider themselves gamers and all feel alienated from the gaming industry.
Maze Heatmaps
Usability Testing
Unmoderated usability testing through Maze offered a lot of qualitative data alongside heatmaps that I used to update the final prototype.
100%
Success Rate
10
Responses
78%
Women & Gender Non-Conforming
Background
Gaming communities are traditionally known as male-dominated spaces, often unwelcoming and hostile towards women and feminine-presenting people. Of those employed in the gaming industry, only 24% identify as women and, in the past few years, several major video game companies - including Riot Games and Blizzard Entertainment - have been faced with multiple sexual harassment and gender discrimination accusations.
Women actually make up nearly half (45%) of gamers, but often avoid community spaces to avoid toxic behavior.
My Role
UX Research & Designer: Conducted foundational research including discovery, ideation, and testing
Visual Designer: Created UI design system and branding
Product Manager: Maintained adapative, agile strategy to prioritize feature design based on research findings
Goals & Objectives
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Foster a safe space fo people of all gender identities to connect
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Provide an accessible platform for gamers of varying technological capabilities
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Promote a sense of community among women & gender non-conforming gamers