Case Study: Dice with Buddies
Year: 2014–2015
Scopely's flagship mobile product, Dice with Buddies, has always been a multiplayer experience. Due to the asynchronous gameplay, players often face idle time while waiting for their opponents to take turns, impacting engagement and retention.
Player Feedback: Qualitative feedback from player surveys and reviews highlighted that idle time often left players feeling disconnected from the game, leading to a less immersive experience.
Industry Context: Successful casual games had previously addressed idle time by adding features like single-player challenges or mini-meta game features to keep players engaged. Competitor games adopted similar strategies to ensure players felt continuously involved.
Objectives: To address these challenges, our key goals include:
1. Reducing idle time to enhance player satisfaction.
2. Increasing player engagement by introducing new gameplay modes that provided value even during opponent turns.
3. Creating single-player events that encouraged continuous play, regardless of opponent availability.
By introducing single-player events, we aimed to foster a more seamless and engaging player experience, ensuring that players remained immersed in the game even when waiting for others.
Designer
UX Design: wireframe flows, low fidelity prototypes, usability testing
UI Design: interaction, and motion design, low fidelity micro-interaction libraries, technical documentation, presentation
UX Wireframe Flows: Created detailed UX wireframe flows to establish the structure of user interactions and guide the overall game experience.
Wireframing and Prototyping: Developed wireframes and low-fidelity prototypes to visualize core user flows, ensuring efficient iteration during the design phase.
Interaction and Motion Design: Created interactive elements and animations that enhanced player engagement and elevated the overall game experience.
Micro-Interaction Library Development: Built a library of reusable micro-interactions to maintain design consistency across all screens and features.
Technical Documentation: Prepared comprehensive documentation to guide developers in implementing the visual and interaction designs accurately.
Stakeholder Presentations: Presented design concepts, iterations, and progress updates to stakeholders, incorporating feedback to align project goals and secure approvals.
Building on foundational research from the UXR team and competitive analysis conducted by the product manager, we identified that introducing a single-player event would be the most effective way to enhance engagement in this primarily multiplayer game. I led the iterative design process, starting with paper wireframes and progressing to digital wireframes, to shape the recurring event experience. Additionally, I developed a low-fidelity micro-interactions library to ensure a cohesive player journey across the event.
The primary challenge was to create a user flow that was intuitive, aligned with the existing app experience, and effectively encouraged player interaction.
Once the foundational elements of the feature were in place, I transitioned to building a micro-interaction library to further enhance the player experience. These micro-interactions were integral in adding subtle but important layers of feedback, making the single-player event more dynamic and engaging. By integrating animations and responsive cues, I aimed to reduce friction for players transitioning between multiplayer and single-player modes, ultimately creating a more cohesive and enjoyable experience. This ensured that the single-player event felt lively and rewarding, keeping players connected and enhancing their overall engagement.
Home Screen Update
Event Onboarding
Event Lobby Transition
Event Onboarding
Home Screen Overflow Menu
Home Screen Overflow Menu
The single-player event successfully addressed the challenge of idle time in asynchronous gameplay, leading to a measurable increase in daily active players and improved retention. Metrics revealed a significant rise in session length and engagement, indicating the effectiveness of reducing wait times.
The micro-interaction library played a vital role in creating a cohesive and responsive experience. It reinforced consistency in motion design, enhancing player engagement by providing immediate feedback and teaching behaviors through intuitive gestures. These interactions made the game feel more connected, reducing friction and encouraging continuous play.
Following the positive reception, the feature was adopted across other Scopely titles, such as Yahtzee with Buddies. This broader adoption further validated the design's impact, showing its adaptability and effectiveness.
For this contribution, I received the Innovation Impact Award from Scopely, recognizing the streamlined process developed during the design phase, which led to more efficient product development.
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