TIMELINE
November 2021
Three Week Sprint
TEAM
Daniel Park
Ty Allen
Holly Jackson
ROLE
UX Researcher and Designer
METHODS & DELIVERABLES
User Interviews, Surveys, Market Research, Affinity Mapping, User Personas, Journey Mapping, Competitive & Comparative Analysis, Task Analysis, Feature Prioritization, User Flows, Wireframes, Prototypes, Usability Testing, High Fidelity Mockup, Client Presentation
TOOLS
Figma, Whimsical, Google Workspace, Zoom, Slack, Canva
Project Overview
The Challenge
The esports sector is growing exponentially larger by the day, and is expected to generate $175.8 billion in global revenue by the close of 2021, according to market research firm Newzoo.
Thanks to the soaring popularity of multiplayer video games such as League of Legends, DOTA and CS:GO, a complex web of competitive leagues has sprung up across the globe, allowing dedicated players the chance to forge a successful career out of their gameplay.
Unfortunately, external esports tools haven’t kept pace with the rapid growth of the industry.
- Managers of top tier leagues are forced to manually compile and maintain clunky spreadsheets of statistical data, patched together from multiple disparate sources.
- Professional gamers have to scour multiple forums and servers in order to connect with others in the community, and to schedule matches and tournaments.
- Team and league managers don’t have the time or resources to build their own websites, so it’s difficult for them to promote their brand.
- The gaming world can be very insular and toxic. It can be hard for new gamers to break into the scene. They also have to contend with the prevalence of smurfing, a deceptive practice in which highly skilled gamers play under an assumed name in order to dominate lower-level players.
The Idea
Our stakeholder has been part of the gaming world for many years, and has seen this disorganization firsthand. The inspiration for Dex arose out of his own frustration with trying to piece together everything he needed to keep track of outside of the game. What if there was a central hub where gamers of all levels could go to find all the information they needed - somewhere they could all convene to plan and schedule matches, view comprehensive stats, and network with others in the community? Something akin to a gamer roloDEX...
The Process
Our team of three UX Designers was entrusted to bring this clearly essential product one step closer to launch. Over the course of a three week sprint, we focused on developing an MVP that could be presented to investors in a Series A funding round. Our client already had several clear ideas of product features and functionality, four proto-personas, a plan to use game developer APIs to pull in statistical data, and the engineering knowledge to build the product. We were brought in to assess the esports community's most pressing needs and pain points, and to envision the product's user interface.
Feature prioritization was key for this first iteration of the product, as was sticking to one popular game with a robust API, League of Legends. We focused on the two primary personas, gamer and league manager, while setting aside the secondary personas (team manager and coach) for future iterations. We narrowed down the product's many possible features, focusing on the essential solutions to our users' most pressing problems. Our client requested a mobile-first prototype, which helped us further crystallize the most important aspects of the product's functionality.
The Outcome
Our stakeholders had this to say about working with us:
"It was really exciting to watch them put my vision down to paper. I think they got it right on the head, what we were trying to get to, and it’s been extremely valuable.”
- Loren Kerr, Founder and CEO
"The team worked really well together. They were incredibly communicative and collaborative. They asked clarifying questions throughout and really engaged us in the process. They worked incredibly hard and it looks amazing.”
- Jillian Berger, Chief Experience Officer
The final designs will be shown to investors in Q2 2022 to raise the initial capital needed to bring Dex to the gaming world.
Full Case Study coming soon...
In the meantime, you can view the final prototypes below.
League Manager's Flow
Gamer's Flow
Recent Work
