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UX Design &
Pitch Decks

Early concept ideation and creating pitch decks are vital for visualizing game ideas and communicating them to stakeholders. They allow for quick identification of potential issues and generate interest among investors, publishers, and players - leading to successful game launches.

Dance Star
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Dance Star

With a new co-publishing agreement alongside Snap Inc., I helped lead the UX efforts to create an engaging Bitmoji-focused rhythm game concept aimed at retaining their 319 million daily active users. This section showcases unpublished pitch concepts created to help illustrate the game's potential.

Art Style Mock-Ups

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Rhythm Gameplay

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Pets & Studio

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Dance Studio

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The Objective

Snap Inc. aimed to capitalize on their existing audience by introducing an entirely fresh experience. Their existing revenue streams were rooted in their user engagement with curated culturally relevant content, largely consisting of user-generated content. My team's objective was to captivate, involve, and retain Snap Inc.'s daily active users in an off-platform gaming venture that relied less on user-generated content.

Miscellaneous Screen Mock-Ups

Early Research

Snap Inc. furnished us with an extensive analysis of their daily active users, covering details ranging from user demographics to their preferences and the reasons behind their engagement with the Snapchat platform. I helped review hundreds of pages of data, carefully documenting specific behaviors, motivations, and interests.

A few notable insights include:

52%

of users are ages 13-24

51%

of users are female

70%

or more play with or view AR filters daily

86%

use Snapchat to communicate with friends and family

Dance Star needed to seamlessly integrate with Snap Inc.'s social network, which required a thorough exploration of Snapchatters' most beloved and engaging features. I helped lead the effort in mapping Snapchat's features and conducted internal presentations to assess their functionalities and cultural significance. The aim was to pinpoint organic integration opportunities for potential future game features.

Player Motivations

Using data from Snapchat's DAU, including our own survey and third-party research, we defined a target user profile: Gen Z and Millennial females who value creativity, social responsibility, community, individuality, and friendships. We then identified games with similar audiences using Game Refinery and extracted key features to attract and retain gamers with specific motivations. I collaborated with a diverse team to develop features tailored to these motivations within our partnership context.

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Competitor Research

We studied popular games that appealed to our target audience, observing their engagement mechanisms. These insights provided a foundation for identifying potential experiences within our feature set.

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Homescapes

Social features and community-building are increasingly prevalent in traditionally single-player genres.

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BeatStar

BeatStar is in the Top 200 grossing games on iOS in the US since its release in Aug 2021.

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Project Makeover

Construction/Renovation/ Decoration elements appear in 49% of the US top-100 grossing iOS Match3 games, vs 7% just 6 years ago.

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Royal Match

UA ads that feature mini-game experiences are currently a rising trend, and they are starting to shape the design of games.

Core Loop

I held a key role in owning and designing the core loop for Dance Star. After the core loop was established, I collaborated with multiple team members across various disciplines to develop supplementary loops for meta layers aligned with the player motivations we had previously identified.

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Project Makeover

Construction/Renovation/ Decoration elements appear in 49% of the US top-100 grossing iOS Match3 games, vs 7% just 6 years ago.

Celebrating Snap's IP

While BeatStar's expertise laid the groundwork for rhythm gameplay on mobile in portrait orientation, we encountered notable challenges in integrating gameplay thematically with dance and Snap Inc.'s Bitmoji intellectual property.

Where could we position the user's Bitmoji to maintain its significance without diverting the player's attention from gameplay objectives?

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Complete focus on Rhythm Track completely obscures the IP, even when transparent

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IP truncates the players’ foresight of tiles on Track. Players rarely viewed the top UI since Catch Zone is at bottom

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IP at bottom either impedes Catch Zone, shows too little of the IP or a combo of both.

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Sporadic feedback from player inputs allows for too little focus on IP

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The Solution

To help bring more focus onto the Bitmoji assets, we introduced a second gameplay experience that allowed players to directly engage with the Bitmoji IP without any additional user interface interference.

Because the Bitmoji assets were the sole focus of this second gameplay experience, it allowed us to seamlessly incorporate Bitmoji assets as a supporting element during the rhythm gameplay.

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New Player Onboarding

Onboarding players presented several significant challenges. I helped spearhead the development of the FTUE (First-Time User Experience), guiding players through the initial moments of launching the application. This encompassed tasks such as logging in, creating an account, utilizing a guest account, and navigating through their first few rhythm stages.

Our documentation had to be comprehensive enough to support a global engineering team, with a strong emphasis on fidelity and accuracy. I meticulously crafted annotated grey box layouts to clearly convey a series of guided actions for the player, each accompanied by high-level user stories and linked to more specific player motivations. Within hundreds of screens, I presented step-by-step instructions that covered various elements, including the integration of sound, animations, transitions, text, and game prompts.

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A question that came up: How could we effectively introduce Snapchat users unfamiliar with rhythm game mechanics?

Due to partner guidelines, players would eventually need to log in or create a Snapchat account to unlock the full game experience. However, implementing this requirement upon app launch could create a barrier for potential players less familiar with Snapchat or those with privacy concerns. After obtaining approval from Snapchat stakeholders, we proposed an alternative approach: First-time players would be greeted by a game host who would guide their initial experiences and provide a temporary Bitmoji character for gameplay.

This concept paved the way to seamlessly immerse players from the start, placing them directly into core gameplay and instructing them on the fundamentals of rhythm mechanics. In my initial iterations, I presented step-by-step instructions to guide the player without the complexity of characters for simplicity.

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Creative Expression Features

Dance Studio

Dance Studio was conceived as a platform for players to personalize and showcase their unique style, accomplishments, and rewards. By incorporating their Snapchat friends list, players have the opportunity to visit and be visited by friends represented by their Bitmoji avatars.

 

As both the lead on the art direction and the user experience on the game, I played a role in constructing the experiential framework that enabled players to utilize a HomeScapes-inspired interface. This interface allows players to choose from unlockable customizations to revamp their Dance Studio.

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Initial flow mock-up

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Dance Studio pitch concepts

Bitmoji Pets

Regrettably, Snapchat's IP guidelines imposed several noteworthy limitations that hindered us from enabling players to customize their Bitmojis beyond the Bitmoji and Snapchat platforms. This restriction meant that the only integration option available was redirecting players to first-party applications to customize their Bitmojis. Additionally, it precluded our game from directly rewarding players with customizations for their Bitmojis. Out of these constraints, the concept of Pets emerged.

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*Existing Bitmoji 'pet' asset

Conceived as a complementary avatar to accompany each player's Bitmoji, Pets introduced an additional means of expression. Players could collect and personalize a variety of sidekick-like characters to accompany their Bitmojis. The game had the capability to directly reward players for their achievements and progression, and it also presented opportunities for potential brand integrations with prospective partners.

Outcomes

Due to Snap Inc.'s shift in internal project priorities and team focus, they decided to suspend the development of all games, including Dance Star.

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Key Takeaways

Teaming up with Snap Inc., a globally renowned partner, presented a set of formidable challenges and objectives. These challenges included working with legacy technologies, navigating heightened internal security measures, and aligning with Snap Inc.'s distinctive business strategies. To address these concerns and foster a more seamless collaboration, we established regular weekly meetings to encourage transparent and ongoing communication. These sessions often unearthed valuable insights.

Throughout this collaborative journey, I honed both my art direction and user experience skills. My contributions included defining the target audience, understanding key player motivations, and providing a fresh perspective on elements that would culturally resonate with players. Moreover, I played a significant role in the initial game design phase, where I created wireframes, userflows, and visual asset mockups to establish an art style appealing to both Snap, Inc. and the intended audience. These design concepts and visual aids also aided the team in identifying potential designs that could pose financial or logistical challenges, given our budget constraints and tight timelines.

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DanceBattle
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All work displayed on this page is for initial prototyping sales tool phases only and would need further exploration and development for the final iteration.

Prototype
Design Phase

I was tasked with exploring and developing a core gameplay mechanic and basic gameplay flow for the existing freeform prototype build.

The Objective

Following two years of outsourcing visual exploration and game concept development, both internal and external stakeholders were dissatisfied with the previous team's prototype, which lacked a clear objective and directives. Our new team was tasked with incorporating a new game mechanic (bubble popping) into the existing prototype within a three-week timeframe. The goal was to establish a clear, concise, and actionable feedback loop from the game's environment and interface to the player.

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Competitor Research 

By studying and analyzing successful features and core game mechanics used by competitors, we can leverage these learnings to improve own game and enhance the overall gaming experience for players.

Here are some popular games that we referenced:

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BeatStar

Clear a set pattern of tiles perfectly to beat song levels

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Cooking City

Build recipes to satisfy customers' orders

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Tetris

Rotate falling blocks strategically to clear levels

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Zuma

Clear the level before the balls reach the end of the path

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Gameplay Mechanic

In each level, players encounter dance requests that they must fulfill, and we aimed to enhance this mechanic while allowing players to maintain their creative freedom in executing these requests, including the length, sequences, and timing of individual dance moves. The goal is to complete all dance move requests within the session timer's limit. Due to time constraints, we began with a straightforward set of gameplay rules, opting not to develop a more intricate AI algorithm.

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Before

Gameplay
UI Layout

I corrected the positioning of the bottom UI elements, mirroring the arch of the dance move buttons on both sides of the screen. Then, I focused on scale and positioning - relocating the Score and Round Timers to the upper left corner of the screen.

After

The Objective UI needs to have a lot of different functions. It needs to:

  • Inform the player of specific Bubble Crowd Requests

  • Preview upcoming bubble requests

  • Show how many bubble requests are left

  • What moves a player has successfully linked

  • How much time the player has to link another dance move

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Alternate
Game Modes

Additional Screen
Mock-ups

Character Select

This mock-up shows a visualization of a character selection screen where players can unlock, level up, and customize the appearance of their selected dancers.

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Round Results &
Leaderboard

These mock-ups show what the Rewards and Tournament screens could look like after a player completes a round of gameplay.

Dance Studio

This feature would be a space where players can build and customize their own space, practice dance routines, and create shareable dance content that reflects their creativity and personal identity.

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Initial room concept for DanceStudio

Rage Rally
Mining Plant
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The Concept

Battle other monster trucks to be the last

one standing!

 

Every time your monster truck runs over an object in the environment (and successfully crushes it!) - your monster truck grows in size! If your monster truck is bigger than your opponents’ truck, run them over and knock them out of the game!

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Competitor Research 

If we take a closer look at what makes our competitors' games successful, we can use those same strategies to make our game even better and more fun for our players.

Here are some popular games that we referenced:

Hole.io

Become the biggest hole by eating everything and everyone!

Katamari Damacy

Collect objects to form the largest Katamari ball to clear each level!

Rocket League

High-powered hybrid of arcade-style soccer and vehicular mayhem!

Home Screen

Initial UX Design

Vertical Tab Layout

Horizontal Tab Layout

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Truck Customization

The ability to personalize your monster truck is an important aspect that can greatly enhance the player experience. Players are able to choose from a wide range of customization options, such as tires and rims, unique paint jobs, and outlandish VFX which allows them to make their monster truck unique and stand out from other players. This personalization not only adds a sense of ownership and pride to the player, but it also creates a stronger emotional connection to the game.

Body Shop

Vertical Tab Layout

Horizontal Tab Layout

Paint Shop

Rally Menu

Additional Mock-Ups

Next Section >

Game Art

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