Ecospark
Your personal sustainability companion
View DeliverablesAn Introduction
Genworld is a super fun mobile life simulator passionately crafted with rich, standard-setting detail. Live a fictional life with greater realism and minimal paywalls, all without sacrificing the intuitive user-centric design you come to expect. This brand new life simulator entry is player-focused, ethically monetised, and detail-packed, making it the perfect life sim for those seeking an accessible yet fully featured alternative.
Project Information
Tools Used:
Figma, Notion, and Google forms
Team Size:
Individual
Design Timeframe:
3 Months
Project Type:
Conceptual Project
Competitor Analysis
Understanding the competition
SWOT Analysis Takeaway
While there are alternatives to market leaders such as Bitlife, Bitlife remains at the forefront due to its superior quality of design and feature execution, advantageous access to large financial and talent resources, and carefully crafted product identity. For a market alternative to have potential to successfully compete against Bitlife it needs to tick the following boxes:
1.
Offers most features and content to players for free.
2.
Is available on both iOS (App Store) and Android (Google Play Store) for free.
3.
Is surrounded by a large and dedicated community which shows an active interest in the project being developed.
4.
Offers one or more stand out features which both differentiates the game from all other competitors and meaningfully changes the core gameplay.
5.
Offers an experience which is still familiar to existing players of mobile text-based life simulators.
6.
Has a UI/UX which is consistent in-game and across many screen types, visually appealing, easy to navigate, and stands out when compared to alternative text based mobile life simulators.
7.
Receives consistent updates which meaningfully add to the gameplay experience.
User Research Goals
1.
What monetisation models are most preferred among players of text-based life simulators and what is the overall attitude towards monetisation within this market?
2.
Why do players of text-based life simulators play these kinds of games?
3.
What level of performance do the mobile devices of text-based life simulator players most commonly have?
4.
How often do players of text-based life simulators play these kinds of games and how does this differ compared to their playtime of other types of games?
5.
What are the most commonly spoken languages among players of text-based life simulators?
6.
How do players of text-based life simulators view the life simulator game market and its future trajectory?
7.
What do players of text-based life simulators associate with a high-quality gaming experience when playing text-based life simulators?
Quick Findings
As the next step in understanding the target audience, I conducted 3 separate surveys which included a total of 75 participants between all surveys.
User Goals
1.
Increase sustainability of personal lifestyle.
2.
Make a larger positive impact in environmental health.
3.
Track personal environmental impact.
User Persona
Using all research findings from the topic research, surveys, and interviews I pieced together a user persona to help empathise with the target audience, ensuring design decisions are done with the upmost consideration of the player.
User Journey Map
To further empathise with the target audience and the journey they may go through. To create this journey map, I mapped out the touch points, pain points, expectations, and opportunities that a player within the target audience may go through before discovering Genworld.
Information Architecture
To avoid designing without any clear direction, I designed the user flows and sitemap based on the prior ideation. This ensures that the screens which need to be designed are designed without unecessary back and forth due to the game's navigational structure remaining fluid.
.03 Wireframes
Free The Design Tools!
Low-Fidelity Wireframe
Now that the structure, goals, and target audience were all clearly defined, it was time to design Genworld. For low-fidelity wireframes I decided to experiment with dozens of layouts and approaches. These different approaches were then considered and considered for the layout of the high-fidelity concepts and final design.
High Fidelity Wireframes
Based on the designs which were created from the low-fidelity wireframes, I created 3 concepts which combined various different layouts and aesthetics into 1. Once designed, one of the concept designs were chosen as a foundation for the final design's layout and aesthetic.
.05 Final Design
It's Alive!
