EVO
Providing inclusive gaming communities for people of all backgrounds
Phase 1 - Overview
To provide an inclusive gaming experience
Toxicity is unfortunately very prevalent in the world of online gaming. EVO is a cloud gaming service centered around inclusivity. EVO aims to provide safe and welcoming gaming communities for users of all different backgrounds and walks of life. Users will be able to play their favorite games with like minded people.
Team:
Myself, Alenna Sun, Greyson Jennings, Seth Vigesaa
Tools Used:
Figma, Illustrator, Photoshop
My Role:
Research, wireframing, visuals, prototyping
Timeline:
2 weeks (May 2021)
The problem
Toxicity in the gaming community is unfortunately very prevent. Playing in a toxic environment leads to quitting or even depressive/ suicidal thoughts. Gamers need access to diverse and safe gaming communities so that they can have a positive gaming experience with people that share similar interests.
The solution
EVO is an inclusive gaming service that provides a wide range of communities for gamers of diverse backgrounds and skill levels. With these communities, we aim to create an inclusive space where gamers of all backgrounds can explore, meet, and play with friends that share their similar interests.
Phase 2 - Research
Cloud gaming lets you stream video games
Video game streaming -
think Netflix for video games
No downloads or updates - instantly play anywhere
Play on any device -
no need for a console
Gamers value a fun, social experience
The team conducted user interviews with 7 gamers (both avid and casual gamers) to gain some insight on why they game, where they get gaming information, and what they like/ dislike about their current gaming experience.
I love playing and meeting people from all over the world!
-Gamer 1
I hate listening to immature and sexist insults when I play.
-Gamer 2
But toxicity ruins the gamers' experience
A toxic environment ruins the user's entire gaming experience.
Users strongly value the social aspect of gaming.
• Users play video games as a distraction to escape reality.
• Users enjoy meeting new people to play video games with.
• Users like the fact that video games bring people together.
(Click to zoom in on the affinity map)
81% of gamers have experienced harrassment
After research analysis and determining our focus, we dove into deeper research regarding community inclusion in the gaming world. It turns out toxicity in the gaming community is very prevalent, making certain people feel unwelcome and unsafe.
Statistics backing up claims of gaming community toxicity that stood out to us:
• For 2020, 81% of U.S. adults aged 18-45 who played online multiplayer games experienced some form of harassment related to race/ ethnicity, religion, ability, gender, or sexual orientation.
• Over 10% of players impacted by toxicity have had depressive or suicidal thoughts and 20% have quit playing.
81% of U.S. adult gamers have experienced harassment
10% of players impacted by toxicity have had depressive/ suicidal thoughts
No other gaming platforms address inclusivity
We wanted to see what major cloud gaming platforms were doing to enhance the social aspect of gaming. Most of them addressed basic features (ex. a friends list).
No competitors have created a space for members of shared interests to meet, socialize, and hang out.
Our target user needs an inclusive gaming community
We created two user personas, based off of our interviews, to help us gain insight and build empathy for our target users.
This is Payton (the Avid Gamer)
Payton frequently gets frustrated when they hear derogatory remarks from toxic gamers online.
This is Alex (the Casual Gamer)
Alex's friends are slowly getting away from gaming as they get older and he misses the social connection of being able to play with others.
How might we create inclusive and safe gaming communities?
Phase 3 - Design
Design inspiration
We looked at existing and successful platforms that promote a community aspect.
From there, we were able to see what worked well and gain design inspiration for our own pages.
Steam Communities
Steam encourages members to share information and coordinate gaming activities.
Facebook Groups
Facebook Groups has a very simple yet obvious way to join and invite new members, talk with current members, and broadcast upcoming events.
Discord Communities
Discord makes it easy and visually engaging to find and understand new communities.
Ideation process
From our research, 5/7 gamers mentioned they played to escape everyday life and stress. By including large hero images and engaging scrolls, we wanted the user to feel less like they are clicking through a website and more as though they are being transported to another world every time they open EVO.
Initial Sketches
Home Page
Communities Page
Store
Lo-Fi Prototypes
Home Page
Communities Page
Store
Home Page
Store
Initial Hi-Fi Prototypes
Communities Page
(Click to zoom in on lo-fi and initial hi-fi prototypes)
EVO's brand identity
We really wanted to bring forward the immersive feeling our interviewees got when they first push the "on" button and escape into a different world. Key words leading our design decisions: playful, relaxing, fun, vibrant.
The pastel purple was chosen as it encompasses a feeling of being playful yet relaxing.
The sans-serif font, Noto Sans JP, was chosen as it is soft, modern, and fun.
Colors
Main Purple
#A898E5
Dark Purple
#605A79
Background
#1F2022
White
#FFFFFF
Gradient Purple
#D3D1FC - #8E89FA
Typography
Titles / Noto Sans JP / Bold / 50 px
Heading 1
Heading 2
Categories / Noto Sans JP / Bold / 30 px
Body Text 1
Descriptions / Noto Sans JP / Regular / 16 px
Body Text 2
Paragraphs / Noto Sans JP / Regular / 12 px
Elements
Play Button
Scroll Button
Logo
Cancel Button
Validating the prototype
We gave our users (all gamers) 2 scenarios to test out:
1. Navigate to the community page and join a community
2. Find a friend within a community and jump into their game within one minute
5/5 users successfully found and joined the Community page
4/5 users were able to jump into their friends' games within one minute
"I like how there are so
many unique communities!"
-Tested Gamer
Phase 4 - Final Prototype
EVO
Communities
Find your community. Join your community. Play with like-minded friends in a safe, welcoming space.
Explore Community hubs
Included is a novice gaming community, a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community, and a community for female gamers to uplift each other!
Join Community
events
These are both virtual and in person (local) meet ups/ group hangouts. A great way to meet new people that also love gaming.
Play with new friends!
Scroll through and play with friends or create your own Party for others within the community to join.
Phase 5 - Takeaways
Such a fun project!
I loved every second of working on this project with my team.
Outcomes:
• "It's interesting there are so many unique communities! Not what I'd usually see at all." -Gamer 1 (during usability test)
• "I usually use Steam and this was much simpler and easier to navigate through." -Gamer 2 (during usability test)
Next Steps Forward:
• We would love to further expand on some of our other community ideas (ex. chat rooms, video streaming, etc.) that we were not able to implement the first time around.
• To offer the user multiple search options and different paths of finding/ playing their favorite games.
​
What I Learned:
• It's ok to backtrack! We revisited our affinity map a few times before landing on focus of toxicity within the gaming community.
• Ask for feedback often. There were a few times in our process that we thought we had all our bases covered, only to be challenged with new user feedback.