UX Case Study

Game Spark Website

An online store for games and consoles.

Game Spark is focused on offering games, entertainment products and technology through its e-commerce properties and stores. It offers a range of products in various categories, which include hardware and accessories, and software.

My Role

I managed all aspects of product design from conception to user research, ideation, visualization and user testing.

Timeline

February - April 2022 ( 12 Weeks )
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The Problem

Gamers get distracted by games and deals they are not interested in while browsing.

As a gamer, I’ve noticed that gamers usually use one platform for gaming ex: PS5, XBOX, Nintendo or PC. While browsing or shopping, they prefer to only see deals for their own platform.

The Solution

Separate platforms into clear and easy to use sections.

1- Choose your own platform as soon as you reach the home page.

2- Choose the catergory for the products you want to browse.

Research

After designing the logo and the brand identity, I started my research by knowing the target audience.

The research gave me the background needed to come up with the project's target user. This project is targeted towards gamers most of them are 18-35 year old men, but in fact video games are suitable for the entire population of all ages. The proportion of female players has gradually increased in recent years.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

The second step was for me to identify what current options users have when it comes to searching for consoles and video games.

I analyzed the 4 most popular websites. I found that almost all of them use the same hamburger menu to navigate the website which takes a few steps and mapping to reach your desired section . This then became my opportunity for the solution.

USER INTERVIEWS

For the next phase of the research for my project, I interviewed five individuals that indicated they were willing to participate in an interview.

Interview Objectives:

Understand how users are currently browsing and buying consoles and video games.
How much time is spent searching for video games.
Learn more about the features the user needs from gaming e-commerce websites.

THE MAIN INSIGHT

Most users do not browse gaming websites; instead, they use official stores for their platforms because it’s much easier to navigate with no distractions.

Key findings:

Most gamers only buy games on discounts, not at release dates of the games, specially if it’s an offline game.
Wishlist feature is a must. Most gamers use wishlist feature if available on gaming websites to check prices updates.
Participants suggested categorizing games with genre (Adventure, Sports, Action) to make it easier to browse games.

PERSONAS

A persona was built based on the data collected to help drive decision making and keep the product focused on solving users pain points, frustrations, and goals.

SKETCHES + WIREFRAMES

After creating the user persona, It was time to start sketching my landing page and create wireframes.

TESTING + IMPROVEMENTS

3 major improvements in my design.

Based on various feedback from 4 friends + mentor feedback, I continually iterated my design over the span of 2 weeks- with 3 improvements.

ISSUE #1

Removal of contact info from the top

Based on mentor feedback, contact info is better on the footer only because expect to find it there.

First desired to place it on top to allow users to find it immediately.

ISSUE #2

Changed breadcrumps to sub navbar.

Two of the participants got confused and thought the section for ps5 is the home page, because it looks the same and the breadcrumps is small enough to notice.

To solve this issue, I decided to change the design of the section page entirely to make it easier for users to navigate easily.

ISSUE #3

Changed wishlist icon.

Participants didn’t recognize the spark icon to be the wishlist button.

To solve this issue, I decided to change the icon for a heart icon which is easily recognized.