GamerGroups is an hypothetical app that allows people that are interested in online gaming to create friends and build communities. Users would be able to comfortably interact with others in a controlled environment.
Responsibilities
UI/UX
User Research
Wireframing
Prototyping
Context
Personal Project
Timeline
September - November 2023
Tools
Figma
Final Walkthrough Video
A personalized, friendly gaming survey
All users start by filling out a survey on their preferences, goals, and demographic information. Users can choose whether they want demographic information to be revealed or kept anonymous, which is just one of the app's barriers against judgement or hate speech.
A looping video of the user survey interface.
A looping video of the chats interface.
Safe chatting with a focus on building relationships
GamerGroups chat uses AI to approve new friend messages to protect users from unsolicited requests.
The app is designed to help people build friendships based on their previously-established gaming interests.
An intuitive algorithm for making friends while protecting privacy
FriendFinder analyzes user survey results to match potential friends together based on interests, games, and experience level rather than demographics.
Users can explore potential friends without being judged based on looks, gender, or age.
A looping video of the user survey interface.
UX & User Research
"Despite larger numbers of women gaming today, racial and gender inequities and harassment persist in gaming."
While a similar number of men and woman play videogames, there are significant social barriers that prevent people from playing games, specifically in online communities, for fear of being shamed, excluded, or judged. Popular online gaming communities such as Twitch and Discord have limited amounts of female-identifying users, which limits this audience from being introduced to online games.
There is a disproportionate amount of women that use videogame media platforms (below), compared to the amount of woman that play videogames. Close to 45% of gamers are women (Surveyed in 2021).
Source: https://www.cigionline.org/articles/the-world-of-online-gaming-is-uniquely-uncivil-for-women-and-people-of-colour/
68.3% of users on Discord, the most popular game-communication platform, are male-identifying.
79.02% of users on Twitch, the most popular game-streaming platform, are male-identifying.
A visual comparison of the gender-identification of Discord and Twitch users.
Creating a user flow that makes people feel invited
I imagined an app that would create an easy, inviting interface that allows users of any gender or experience level to embrace online gaming without feeling alone or judged.
The user flow highlights the importance of personalizing your experience and privacy throughout the entire experience. Users can use the app freely without their identity being revealed to others, if desired.
A user flowchart of the planned app experience.
An app interface that expands the gaming audience
I wanted the interface to mimic other gaming interfaces, but also use inviting attributes such as rounded corners and familiar social media features to make the app intuitive to learn.
The app uses gold and off-black colors to be colorblind accessible to any users with potential color limitations. Important textual information remains white on black for legibility.
Annotated low-fidelity sketches of the app prototype.
Video walkthrough with voice annotations
Video walkthrough of GamerGroups
Final Thoughts
This project is so important because it brings attention to issues of inaccessibility and harassment within the online gaming community.
While my project only exists as limited solution to the issue, it would hopefully provide a safe experience for users to find belonging in a community they would otherwise feel excluded from.
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