About Project
Timeline
April 2021- July 2021
My Role
Junior UX/UI DESIGNER
Creation of a Minecraft Play-to-Earn Game and Promoting User Creation
Incorporation of Blockchain and Crypto into the Environment
Delivering NFT Avatars as Benefits for NFTs
Integration of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens)
The goal was to provide users with the ability to download and explore Minecraft worlds, customize their characters with skins, and create and edit their own virtual environments. Additionally, the project aims to incorporate monetization strategies and features that enhance user engagement and encourage long-term retention.
Our primary objective was to find UX solutions for our product. Due to limited real-time user access, I suggested starting with secondary research, beginning with a competitive analysis (SWOT)
The rationale was to grasp the market and our competitors' offerings, identifying their strengths and UX weaknesses. This formed the basis for unique value propositions.
Though direct user feedback is crucial, focusing on competitive analysis initially helped us gather insights and ideas. Understanding the landscape allowed us to shape our approach and explore UX solutions to differentiate our product.
Following the completion of the competitive analysis, a meeting was held with stakeholders to finalize the feature set for the application. The purpose was to narrow down the features based on insights gained from the analysis and align with stakeholders' priorities. This step aimed to ensure a focused and efficient development process.
In this project, the creation and mapping of Information Architecture and user flow were essential tasks, as with any other project. However, a unique challenge we faced was to enhance user engagement by incorporating gamification into the application. This prompted us to study various applications and analyze how they successfully promote user engagement, retention, and monetization through gamification strategies. We delved into understanding their approaches to ensure that we could implement effective gamification elements in our own application.
To boost user engagement and retention, the focus was on creating a community within the app.
Inspired by games like Minecraft, the concept of building and selling virtual worlds using blocks was introduced.
The app featured a user-friendly interface with two main components: world exploration and world editing.
Users could explore pre-existing worlds and also have the ability to customize and edit their own.
In addition to world-building and customization, a badge system was implemented as a reward mechanism.
Badges served as recognition for user achievements, motivating them to stay engaged and contribute to the community.
The combination of community-building, world creation, avatar customization, and a reward system aimed to enhance user retention and foster a sense of involvement and enjoyment within the app
Feature Sets
Tickets Jar - This feature basically has tickets to explore the world and hence you can only buy these tickets or probably chances of getting them as a reward. The tickets can be bought using coins.
Coins- each world exploration, sharing the application with peers, creating a skin, or creating a world can give you coins as rewards.
Rubies- rubies however are the rare gem that you ask the user to find in the world.
Spin wheel- can give you rewards of various kinds including coins, tickets or even some deals that we can offer.
In crafting the visual design for our application, we consciously embraced a theme inspired by Minecraft, utilizing pixelated cards and button designs reminiscent of Minecraft's iconic blocky aesthetic. Additionally, we opted for a block-style font to complement this theme. Here's a deeper look into the rationale behind this design choice
Minecraft fans instantly relate to the blocky design, enhancing user engagement and making them feel at home in our app
Visual Appeal and Clarity
The pixelated, block-inspired design is visually captivating and aids in intuitive navigation, enhancing the overall user experience.
Meeting User Expectations
Aligning with Minecraft's design caters directly to our target audience's expectations, fostering a stronger connection with users.
Promoting Creativity
The blocky design encourages users to explore and be creative with Minecraft skins and builds, enhancing user engagement.
Brand Recognition and Cohesion
Resembling Minecraft's design elements, including fonts, ensures brand cohesion and helps users identify with our app.
Typography
The art of typography plays a major role. Through alphabetical letters, a company’s personality and values are conveyed. Recognizable typeface that we believe carries established perceptions which we want to portray.
Aa
Aa
Minecraft
The art of typography plays a major role. Through alphabetical letters, a company’s personality and values are conveyed. Recognizable typeface that we believe carries established perceptions which we want to portray.
Colors used as the base color through out the application, color on the inactive state of buttons, and color used in dropdown cards.
#090E26
#252644
#3E4A86
#1D285B
#1E2752
#33345A
Accent 1.1
#C355E5
#E59BFF
#5A36BB
Accent 2.2
#835DDA
Home Screen
The whole concept of home screen was based on the idea of welcoming the user to the platform and giving them elite feeling. Along with which we had all the necessary buttons right at the disposal of the user. We also had the FTUI for better recognition and usage of each button.
Search Screen
Search screen Designed with respect to providing user to all assets and UGC content in one place. Hence, giving them the liberty to search through.
Store Screen
Store screen basically gave user the access to go around and purchase from other users store's hence a way to monetize the platform.
Monetization Mastery: Exploring the art of integrating monetization strategies seamlessly into the application, deciphering the key elements that contribute to financial success.
Pixel Perfection Challenge: Taking on the challenge of crafting a design that is pixel-perfect, emphasizing precision and creativity in the pixel-based design process.
Gamification Unveiled: Embarking on a journey to understand and implement gamification within the application, unraveling the layers of its inputs and exploring its diverse applications on various platforms.
Dynamic Design System Management: Mastering the art of managing a design system, adapting it to regular changes while maintaining coherence and efficiency.
Collaborative Game Design Synergy: Engaging in collaborative efforts with the game design team, comprehending their unique needs and requirements to foster a harmonious and effective partnership.
Gamification Deconstructed: Delving deep into the world of gamification, gaining insights into its mechanisms, inputs, and strategic use across different platforms..
Escape from Reality Nexus: Recognizing the intrinsic need for an escape from reality and exploring how the application can serve as a fulfilling outlet for users seeking immersive experiences.
User Engagement Loop Creation: Crafting a captivating loop within the application to encourage users to revisit, fostering a sense of community by connecting with friends.
Target Audience Triumph: Emphasizing the critical role of identifying and reaching the right target audience, acknowledging that aligning the product with the audience's preferences is paramount for success and progress.
Psychology of Gaming: Unraveling the psychological aspects behind why people engage with gaming apps, exploring the inherent benefits and needs that cater to the dynamic gaming market.
Viewer Dynamics in Gaming: Understanding the phenomenon of watching others play games, exploring the diverse types and the emotions associated with observing someone else's gameplay.
Headspace's Design Elegance: Drawing inspiration from Headspace, where the focus lies on seamlessly integrating smooth animations and a cohesive design language, learning the art of creating a visually pleasing and user-friendly interface.
Duolingo's Gamification Magic: Taking cues from Duolingo's success, understanding the power of gamification as a pivotal strategy to break the mold of acquiring recurring users, and incorporating engaging game-like elements into design practices.
Roblox's Generational Alignment: Embracing the design insights from Roblox, recognizing the importance of aligning with the target audience, especially in terms of generational preferences, and immersing in the world of block design to resonate with the chosen demographic. Taking cues from Duolingo's success, understanding the power of gamification as a pivotal strategy to break the mold of acquiring recurring users, and incorporating engaging game-like elements into design practices.