Interactive Onboarding
Target: Web Browser
My Role included:
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User flow charts
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Audience research
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Post-release analytics
Problem: GameMaker's user retention dropped day-by-day despite high downloads. We also wanted better methods to introduce beginners to the game engine.
Solution: An interactive sandbox-tutorial targeting beginners. It demonstrated GameMaker's workflow with playable results to User input. Due to technical limitations, this had to exist outside the tool & became and browser-based.
Establishing Game Content
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After reviewing genre options, the Space Rocks tutorial was chosen as the basis for our project. It covered fundamental game development concepts in a simple scenario.
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Prior to this I'd explored other game genres and tutorials for alternatives, also breaking them into smaller teachable sections.
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Collaborated regularly with Opera's Gothenburg office and updated stakeholders throughout the project.
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The tool was originally a linear sequence of tasks; I designed its flow, interactive elements and wrote its copy.
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The more tasks a User completes, the more they’re rewarded with new sprites and animations to customise the game.
Once chosen I structured the Space Rocks tutorial into 'chapters', separated by game objects e.g. Players, Enemies etc. I outlined code excerpts developers should present with variables to interact with,
Script copy & code excerpts written for one of the tutorial tasks. My documents were informed UI mock-ups and prototype development.
Originally the tool was a linear step-by-step tutorial. This is an early prototype - its task flow and copy are based on my script documents.
Once chosen I structured the Space Rocks tutorial into 'chapters', separated by game objects e.g. Players, Enemies etc. I outlined code excerpts developers should present with variables to interact with,
Sandbox-Style Exploration
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After internal testing it was clear the tutorial format didn't reflect the fun of GameMaker's development cycle. Based off this it was redesigned into a free-form 'sandbox' editor, with optional guided tutorials.
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I was responsible for keeping documents accurate to design changes, which UI designers and developers referred to throughout the project.
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I defined when rewards were awarded based on User actions. This ensured experimentation was rewarded as equally as traditional tutorials. Users could even jump between these modes without commitment.
Flow: Moving between Sandbox and Tutorial modes
When the tool became more of a sandbox, I wanted rewards to still unlock and reward User exploration. Here I defined which rewards triggered and when, which informed the developers for final release.
Tutorial flow - Includes copy, UI changes & code examples
Flow: Moving between Sandbox and Tutorial modes
Post-Release Analysis
The tool was soft launched on GX Corner - Opera's game marketplace. I tracked engagement via Mixpanel, observing high click-throughs but low turnover into GameMaker installs.
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I investigated this drop-off and presented findings to Gothenburg stakeholders, which later informed post-release changes.
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Analysed results from quantitative and qualitative data to map the User's journey and possible pain points. This covered previous playtesting, community feedback, analytics and identifying export bugs.
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Distilled large quantities of information to summarise for stakeholders, suggesting reasons for user falloff and identifying key areas to improve.
Excerpts: Qualitative & quantitative feedback summarised
Actions based on Mixpanel data
Excerpts: Qualitative & quantitative feedback summarised