UX Design | Research | Consultation
Project Length: 3 Months
The Problem
While my employer, High 5 Games, had found success in releasing apps for our target demographic there was a notable lack of growth in other markets. Up until this point the strength in our products came from providing a realistic casino experience in our online slots. This, paired with the regular release of new slot game content, kept users satisfied over the years but did little to promote growth.
To remedy this, a shotgun approach was initiated in which multiple apps were developed in tandem, each one targeting a specific audience. The heart of these new app designs would be the White Label template, the reasons for this template were twofold:
It reduced the amount of resources and time needed to design each app.
The design language and user flow would remain consistent between products.
The TEAM
In-house creative team comprising of a UX Designer, UI Designer, and Project Manager with an Art Director providing oversight. As the UX Designer my responsibilities included research, feature prioritization, documentation, and wireframing. After the design was finalized I provided UX consultation during development of the apps.
The Requirements
As with most projects we started with multiple rounds of internal stakeholder interviews and workshops. After enough data was collected the following core requirements were identified:
Each app would target a different demographic via their own unique game economy, feature sets, and design.
As such, the White Label template needed to be modular in its design to allow for the addition or removal of certain features and UI elements depending on the app.
While different, the new apps were to exist as a family of products under the High 5 Games brand.
In addition to these core requirements we knew that there were two audiences this White Label design needed to appeal to:
Current Demographic
Mostly middle aged.
Enjoys playing online slot games with realistic payouts similar to what they would find in a casino.
Is more conservative, preferring to stick to games and features that they know.
New Demographic
Could be of any age but preferably young adult.
Enjoys social features and is less interested in playing realistic slots.
More likely to adopt new mechanics if they are of interest.
As our current audience was more conservative in both their tech literacy and playstyle we wanted to avoid alienating them with a design they could not become accustomed to. At the same time, this White Label design was meant to reach new (potentially younger) markets. We needed to walk a fine line between innovation and accessibility while making sure that the template was flexible enough to support a wide range of content and features.
The Solution
Modular Content
In order to allow for multiple variations of features and layouts a number of systems were designed to keep the White Label template modular. One of which, the nav bar template, was created with the full suite of features across all apps in mind. By doing so, nav elements could be removed or included based on the focus of the app.
The top nav bar was kept universal across the app and did not change much from screen to screen. The bottom nav bar was more flexible in its layout and would differ based on the screen.
In order to lessen the time sink required to maintain separate sets of assets across multiple apps a content grid was designed for the lobby. In this way each app could have it’s own selection of unique content with minimal overhead. In addition, the look and feel of the lobby would remain consistent between apps.
Example of the content grid, assets could vary in shape and size along the grid depending on the design.
Revamped Social Features
While our online casino led the market in realistic slot games our social features were not as developed as some of our competitors. In order to cater to a wider audience we knew that we had to revamp our current feature set.
Gifting was a staple feature from our flagship app, however its user flow was cumbersome. Users needed to go through an unnecessary step before selecting friends to send gifts. The requirements for sending a gift were also not visibly clear, only until the user attempted to send a gift would they be alerted whether or not it was a valid request.
Original two-step user flow for the Gifting feature.
Optimized one-step design.
The revised design improved the flow by reducing the two-step process to just one screen with a “Send Gift” CTA for each friend. By leveraging different CTA states we could also make clear which friends were eligible for gifting.
VIP Points
In order to increase engagement throughout the app we developed a point system that would reward players for certain tasks. As our current players were already accustomed to game leveling and tiered reward systems it was a natural fit to combine the two into one feature.
To designate which actions earned VIP points we implemented a badge that could be appended to CTAs or lockups.
This worked as both a means of engagement as well as retention, by tying VIP points to recurring activities such as daily bonuses and gifting it encouraged users to visit the app periodically. The additional element of prestige appealed to our core player base who were used to VIP treatment from casinos.
Based on their VIP tier users were rewarded certain perks such as store discounts and daily bonus multipliers.
Research & Documentation
As this was a large project that spanned multiple months it was necessary to maintain clear and concise documentation at every step of the design process. Feature functionality, requirements, and user stories were all outlined in a collective wiki, more complex flows were visualized with user flows and low fi prototypes.
User flow mapping out the onboarding experience for a first time player.
In addition to documentation, usability testing and user research were carried out throughout the project’s lifespan. Early data collection included surveys and interviews to gather information on our user base. Mid-way through the project’s lifespan focus was shifted to remote and in-person testing, with more emphasis on remote via the third party platform UserTesting.com.
Example of the test script used to direct users during remote testing along with a sample of results from the pre/post test questionnaires.
The Results
By utilizing the White Label template the turn around on these apps was only a few months time. The flagship app of the group, High 5 Vegas, performed particularly well and has maintained an average of 4.5 across all app stores making it a key source of revenue for the company.
Overall, I was happy with the success of the project, noting the following areas for improvement:
Implementing more user testing earlier in the design process where there is a lower time sink for redesign.
Looping in members from the development team earlier in the design process to better facilitate design handoff.
Increasing the communication between analytics and product for better access to user data.
