Guild Gaming: Seamlessly elevating the experience of planning and hosting events
Client: Clay McCoy
Project Sector: Software Development, Event Management, and Gaming Community
Role: UX/UI Design Intern
Team: 5 Designers
Duration: 1 month
Deliverables: Research Report, Presentation, and Sketches
Through extensive client meetings and team discussions, we successfully identified and addressed the challenges faced by our target audience.
Problem
Event organizers and gamers need a centralized platform to organize tournaments, track key metrics like engagement, attendance, and finances, and enhance participant experiences, ultimately attracting more attendees.
Our target audience calls for a centralized platform because:
Using spreadsheets requires manual data entry, increasing the risk of errors and inefficiencies while tracking key metrics.
“Our goal is to run things in a timely matter and always ask players who are new or from out of the region if they had a good time.”- Interviewee
Our insights, from the survey, reconfirmed the problem statement that we had initially highlighted—Our target audience has highlighted the importance of a platform that considers organization and insights from attendees.
Start.gg, a commonly used event platform, can be frustrating for new or intermediate hosts due to its complex interface, limited customization, slow updates, and lack of support.
How can we increase the productivity workflow of our users?
Initially, I couldn't find any competitors that aligned with Guild Gaming’s value proposition. This led me to rethink my approach by narrowing down the scope of my search using these criteria: products that track analytics and user feedback, a chat feature, and a progress bar for indication of task completion
Key Takeaways
Optix
- Real-time centralized communications through notifications and messaging.
- Breakdowns of revenue.
Twitch
- Tracks viewer engagement.
- SEO trackers to monitor how viewers discover streams.
- Displays new follower statistics to enhance participant experience and engagement.
Event Organizers want to see the benefits of their intense event planning pay off.
Each participant emphasized how crucial planning was, the lack of standardized communication, and the need for a more sophisticated and intuitive platform for tracking analytics
Planning
Event organizers need a checklist to tackle venue availability challenges. This tool simplifies planning, keeps timelines on track, and minimizes stress and effort.
Amplitude
- Tracking source of revenues.
- Offers insights into customer retention through SEO metrics.
Lack of Accountability
Event organizers struggle to reach tournament organizers and need a reliable way to contact venue owners.
Analytics
Analytics are manually recorded in Excel, but reviewing this data is crucial for measuring the success of planning and advertising efforts.
I realized that my emphasis on the interface's aesthetics caused me to overlook User-Centered Design
While designing the interface, I prioritized a gaming-theme aesthetic, which was unintentionally different from what our users expected. Instead of solving their problems, I was making it more complicated.
For a platform with many features, we needed a simple framework to keep things organized and easy to navigate. The goal was to ensure a smooth flow between features and make planning feel effortless.
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Always stick to your style of design
I learned my lesson the difficult way with the amount of time it took me to realize that a gaming theme aesthetic is not something that I have done before. Therefore, I had to stick to my style of designing- clean and subtle features.
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“Information architecture isn’t just about website navigation, it is the entire structure, the backbone of the product. Users will not return to your product if it takes them too long to navigate or understand.” - Ray Tang
My Internship Experience
I truly enjoyed my internship with the UX Department. Although our team consisted of just myself, two other interns, a junior designer, and my manager, I learned valuable lessons from everyone, including myself.
Creation of Personas: During the internship, I had the opportunity to create personas to highlight the needs and wants of different gaming archetypes for our presentations. It was my first time creating personas and I made a rookie mistake of using the images and names of my favorite musicians. I am thankful for Generous’ feedback to use pseudonym names instead.
Designers cannot be Biased: I learned that as designers we cannot afford to be biased by letting our preconceived ideas influence our decisions or knowing what is best for the user. Instead, we should be data-driven by conducting user research and gathering insights to inform our design decisions.
Designs carry weight: Reflecting on this project, I've come to realize the significant impact designs carry. Initially, it was about achieving a futuristic gaming vibe, but the process unfolded, revealing the weight each design choice holds. The struggle to balance aesthetics while deciding on feature appearances highlighted the profound influence a design can have on the overall user experience. It's a journey that underscored the importance of thoughtful and intentional design, making me more aware of the nuanced decisions that shape the user interface.
Presentation Skills: For the first few assignments, I struggled with creating presentations since the organization of my slides wasn’t there and the hierarchy of texts wasn’t there. Thanks to the feedback from my manager, I was able to make adequate changes.
Thanks for your time!
Due to the short duration of my internship, I couldn't collaborate with my team on the final designs. However, this is my vision for how I would approach them.
