JumpJump mobile game

OVERVIEW

Background

The game was inspired by own journey as someone new to gaming. As a (newbie) gamer, I want to design a game that could be picked up easily by anyone. Rather than having a complicated UI, I desired a simple interface that was intuitive and easy to play.

Problems

When onboarding processes ask too many questions, users tend to give up easily.
People who are not skilled at gaming often have a negative experience if you don’t understand a game quickly.
Players feel frustrated when they’re struggling with a game without adequate instructions

Solution

Designing an intuitive onboarding process for new users.
Creating an end-to-end process that is engaging and user-friendly.
Maintaining a cohesive and seamless user experience throughout the entire game.

1. Research

User Research

To better understand the onboarding process of a game and typical user flows, I wanted to ensure I truly understood the mindset and thought process behind people’s gaming habits. This included finding out how people approach a new game and what might not be enjoyable during gameplay. I know that conducting user research would help validate some of my insights and spark some new ideas.

Although different individuals have their own preferences, many respondents noted that casual and social aspects of a game made them feel compelled to keep playing. They valued games that weren’t complicated, but had just the right amount of increasingly difficult challenges to stay engaged.

Research type

Survey

Age Group

20-40

years old

Participants

Market Research

I looked into various types of games in the market to analyze their gameplay design and user flows. From this exploration, I was able to identify five popular games that align with my goals. Overall, the games were fun and engaging, allowing players to use simple gestures. I noticed these games share many similar pros and cons. The key learnings from these games include:

Keeping the onboarding process simple for new users can lead to smoother introductions
Incorporating varying obstacles and rewards will result in higher engagement with users
Having friendly aesthetic designs of not only characters, but the in-game text, language, and feel is vital to ensuring users feel welcomed and comfortable

Helix Jump

Pros :
‍Easy to play and includes engaging boosters and bonuses at the end of each round to excite the user

Cons:
Lots of ads which interrupts the user experience

Happy Rise

Pros:
Limited variety of game modes (rise or bounce) that could easily result in boredom as it has the same format every time

Cons:
‍Limited variety of game modes (rise or bounce) that could easily result in boredom, as it has the same structure every time

Minion Rush

Pros :
Simple signup process. It also engages the user using the characters’ emotions, creating a more interactive experience with them

Cons:
A limited number of lives. When the user runs of out of lives, they need to wait or purchase extra lives

Clash Royale

Pros :
New users can play first to try the game before official sign up. Clash Royale has multi-faceted items and characters to engage with.

Cons:
A bit more complicated as there are a lot of things to care about, resulting in difficulty in understanding all aspects of the game even with their guide

Candy Crush

Pros :
Ongoing engagement with user while providing hints and booster jellies. The use of limits (e.g. time and movement) along with obstacles make users feel challenged and reduces boredom

Cons:
Only allowed to play 5 times (once hearts are gone, the user can no longer play the game unless the user pays or waits)

2. Define

How Might We?

How might we design a smooth onboarding experience that improves user retention?

How might we design an intuitive game that users can play without frustration?

User Flow

Based on my learnings from my research, I designed my flow to incorporate intuitive navigation and clear instructions for new users. New players will have a game guide and tips as they’re playing the game. The flow is also designed to be straightforward, allowing users to quickly play again without worrying about too many additional factors, resulting in a more seamless experience.

3. Design

Wireframing

I began my process by structuring out a layout of each page. This is a crucial step in designing the user flow as it helps to identify the right placement of elements. Given that this is a mobile game, there are many more elements compared to a regular mobile page of a product or SaaS solution. The wireframes served as a useful guide, visualization, and discussion tool.

Low-fi Wireframing

Getting Feedback

To ensure my designs were on the right track towards my goals and that I was truly solving for the problems I identified, I conducted regular user testing to gather feedback. I focused on the user flow and understanding the players mindset at each step of the game using both broad and in-depth questions. This allowed me to get perspectives on not only the overall feel, but insights into each step of the journey / gameplay.

People may give up because they do not wish to sign up and provide a username before feeling a sense of engagement with the app.

Character selection page had a lot of whitespace while the characters themselves were too small. There was a lack of information for users to be able to relate to the characters.

They would want to see an ability to be able to pause the game (without dying) in order to adjust settings or to simply take a break.

"Sign up process is not yet user friendly"

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