Primary competitor weaknesses were their reliance on real world landmarks, lack of satisfying interactions between players, or lengthy set-up times. 

I recruited and interviewed users with varied mobile apps and gaming experiences. Interview questions were crafted to be open-ended; exploring habits, attitudes towards competitors, desired features, and what interactions they found enjoyable in both games and mobile apps. Follow up questions were non-leading, but direct enough to attain information relevant to the project's goals.

I conducted a field study of basic hunting mechanics, replicated with sealed envelopes containing cards of various colors. The goal was to engage in participatory design by introducing a basic design framework from which participants could add to or modify as the study progress. My participants came up with a variety of mechanics including rules behind envelope opening, effects of different colored cards (such as a 10 second trap card), and discussed in length how points would be rewarded for different card combinations. The study provided insight into what interactions users liked or disliked, and what potential mechanics they would like to see implemented in future iterations. 

Personas were developed from user research. I created Chris, “the competitor”, Sam, “the wanderer” and Naysa, “the easy-going friend”.

I began creating a shareable, functional prototype. Features were simulated with animations and functional interactions. The goal at this stage was to create testable task flows and screens, so relevant feedback could be collected in subsequent usability tests. 

Users committed various errors during the game and character creation screens as a result of a cluttered layout. Future iterations would use a drawer menu instead of bottom navigation to help clear screen space. All users felt they had enough information from the tutorial to begin their first game, but they universally desired to control the pacing of the tutorial instead of the initial automated experience. Most importantly, all users expressed further interest in the scavenger hunt experience upon completing the tutorial, and enjoyed the interactions presented.

Following the usability tests were several cycles of iteration. Preference tests and peer reviews created a feedback loop which allowed for rapid testing and redesign. As usability changes were finalized, work began in earnest on the user interface. The peer reviewed feedback loop continued as color and graphical choices were made.

Early usability tests provided vital feedback on what users would like to see on an avatar creation screen. After performing additional competitive research I was able to determine a more logical layout that was flexible enough to accommodate many different customization options. Usability test feedback and preference tests also resulted in substantial changes to the layout.   

I explored a number of different layouts for the create game screen. Preference tests helped me deploy a drawer-menu system that left ample space on each screen for other functionalities. I also split the screen into a two-screen task flow which users found much more logical. 

My first iteration separated the Home and Play screens, but combining them allowed for users to more easily jump into the play experience each time they open the app. The redesigned drawer-menu navigation cleared up enough space to make this possible. 

The current prototype demonstrable features are: Sign Up, Tutorial, Character Creation, and New Game Creation. The next step would be to implement the Shop, Social, and Characters screens. Each of these features would require their own round of iterative design cycles.

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