PLAY-PRO, UX case study of a cloud-based gaming app.
Overview
I was looking for my next project. so I went to UI coach to get a challenge and I got challenged to Design an online platform where users can play all their favorite video games for free.
My further desk research
well, during any project after hearing a basic goal statement, I do further desk research. it helps me to understand the project in abbreviation.
so I just started searching about the project on google. and I got to know about cloud-based gaming. so I found the following things about cloud gaming…
- Cloud gaming is a growing market with a value of 1.72 billion USD in 2021 and is projected to grow to 40.81 billion USD by 2029.
- Cloud gaming services deliver a smooth gaming experience to users without any additional hardware configuration which supports our project’s fundamental goal.
- Today’s increasingly digital environment is driving smartphone adoption, so game developers and network providers are focusing on mobile gaming to provide a better gaming environment.
Goal statement
After further desk research, I learned that I have to design a cloud-based mobile gaming app that provides users with a long list of video games for free.
Competitors analysis
In the market of cloud gaming, I found a big name google-stadia.
but after more research, I found Google is going to shut down stadia services on January 18, 2023.
but why? I researched stadia’s failure.
I found the following major points…
- The first impression was not good — The vaunted “free tier” was nowhere to be found, players were forced to spend more than $100 upfront, and the PC and smartphone apps didn’t work properly. and on its launching time, it was missing its many functionalities.
- Nothing special — The vast majority of games on stadia are available on other platforms and the target audience for the games already owned those platforms, for the most part. stadia’s library is small so here there is not a vast variety.
- Failed to target a wider audience — Stadia’s library has core games so stadia tried to target core gamers who had the hobby of gaming but problem is that the core gamers already own consoles or powerful PCs. so stadia’s library was not for the variety of audience.
Well, after analyzing google stadia. I found an overview of which points I need to work on. so my next move is to understand the user.
User research
User interview
To understand the user in-depth, I talked with 10 gamers. I found them from Facebook gaming groups. I asked them the following questions.
- How often do you play games?
- Do you aware of cloud gaming?
- Do you play games on cloud-based platforms?
- What do you expect from a cloud-based gaming platform?
- What are your pain points?
User interview is a conversation and I talked with each user separately. So each time the conversation was different, I mentioned the main questions I asked every time. I believe I should not make users feel they are having an official interview. It should be a normal conversation so that they can express their feelings without any other filter.
User Journey
After taking user interviews I drew a user journey map. it helps me to understand users’ goals and frustrations in brief.
User stories
My goals as a designer
After user research, I found that I have to design an app with the following features.
An app that suggests games to users according to their interests.
( During sign-up, the app will ask users about their interests by a chart. )
An app that recommends Games to users according to their last activities.
( App algorism will help To find the user’s flow. )
An app that classifies a vast variety of games according to their zoner.
An app that allows making communities where people can play together, can do chat, and can do live streaming on the app and on other social apps.
An app that allows creating and playing games’ marathons.
