The Process

My user-centred process, grounded in Design Thinking and the Double Diamond approach, encompasses four phases: Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver. Employing the non-linear nature of the Double Diamond, I conducted iterative testing throughout the process, ensuring my solutions effectively addressed user needs. This resulted in meaningful andeffective solutions that were validated through user feedback.

Phase 1: Discover

Secondary Research - Understanding the problem

To bridge the gap in understanding the emotional aspects of online friendships, I conducted secondary research on online vs. offline friendship dynamics. This research informed the design of my primary research, particularly in areas where the emotional connection might be less well-understood.
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Key findings:

• Gamers' online friendships are as strong and positive as non-gamers' offline friendships.
  (Friendships in gamers and non-gamers by Frederick & Zhang, 2021).
• Online communication can convey more emotion and affection than face-to-face interactions.
  (Computer-mediated Communication: Impersonal, Interpersonal, and Hyper-personal Interaction by Walther, 1996).
• Friendships across multiple online platforms offer diverse social benefits, more than those confined to a single space.
  (Development of online friendship in different social spaces
by Tang, 2009).

Phase 2: Define

Sensemaking & Iteration

Leveraging user research data and Affinity Diagramming, I identified recurring themes and pain points related to trust in online gaming. These insights, validated through secondary research and aligned with trust-building theories, empowered me to address user challenges and inform design decisions, ultimately leading to impactful solutions.

Based on 'Trust in Close Relationship (Holmes, 1985),' this illustration depicts the theory that the development of trust is a process of reducing uncertainty.

User Persona

This persona was built on user research, market analysis, and service design tools. The approach ensured the service aligned with both user needs and business goals. To achieve a richer and more inclusive user experience, I leveraged Cards for Humanity, a tool designed to help designers overcome unconscious bias. It injected unique traits (excitable, non-binary, English as Second Language) into the persona, ensuring it reflected diverse user backgrounds and fostered a sense of connection with the target audience.

Vincent is a user persona that embodies a diverse and inclusive user base. His traits were carefully chosen to reflect real-world experiences, creating a strong sense of connection and resonance with our actual users.

User Need Statement

As a designer, understanding users' needs and pain points is key to designing user-centred solutions. From the users' perspective, these are the goals that this service needs to achieve.

Phase 3: Develop

Ideation

At this stage, the focus was on generating a wide range of ideas, regardless of their initial quality. To achieve this, I facilitated co-designing sessions with fellow designers and users. We explored various brainstorming activities such as Crazy 8s, Tech & Trend Matrix, 'What ifs', and Superheroes. These activities helped to push the boundaries of creativity and avoid the trap of obvious solutions. Later, we voted on the most promising ideas and refined them into practical features for the service.

Superheroes 🦸🦹

create a superhero who could solve the problem or could make the wish come true using thier superpowers

In the 'Superheroes' activity, we imagined heroes with extraordinary powers to address various challenges. We then identified which powers could be applied to enhance our service offerings.

Defining the MVP

With the input from users, we identified the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for the service. I conducted online workshops to evaluate ideas using the Desirable, Viable, and Feasible framework, ensuring alignment with user needs, business objectives, and operational capabilities.

Fig: Crafting a service that intersects desirability, feasibility, and viability to guide optimal decision-making

We identified the following key features:

✅ Seamless Account Linking (Verification): Users verify themselves by connecting our service with gaming platforms like Steam, Discord, Twitch, and Nintendo, building trust within the community.

🪪 Profile and Online ID Card: Upon verification, users receive an Online ID Card visible across platforms, fostering trust and providing a recognisable identity.

🔒 AI-Driven Close Friend List & Privacy Settings: Users categorise friends based on closeness and customise privacy settings for each tier, ensuring privacy while maintaining connections.

🎉 Forming Parties and Gaining Party Points: Users create gaming parties, completing quests together to earn party points redeemable for rewards in partnered games.

🗣️ Avatar Video Calls: Users engage in video calls using AR avatars, enhancing comfort during interactions while maintaining privacy.

❣️Friend Quiz: Users deepen connections beyond gaming with fun and insightful questions, fostering meaningful friendships.

Phase 4: Deliver

The Overall Process

During the delivery phase, my focus shifted to ensuring that I was 'designing the thing right.' I conducted iterative testing and prototyping at various stages to gather user insights. This process began with validating the design concepts to ensure they solved users' problems effectively. Then, ensuring that the actual design and features I detailed came together to provide users with the best possible experience using the service.

Following each feedback collection, I revisited the designs, making informed adjustments and conducting further testing as needed.

Here is an overview of my process at this stage...

This diagram illustrates the iterative process of prototyping and testing, from hypothesis validation to usability testing of the final service design.

Validating MVP Features with Hypothesis Testing

Before proceeding, it is crucial to confirm whether the identified MVP features effectively address user needs. To assess this, I conducted hypothesis tests to determine if users who typically avoid video calls for privacy reasons would feel comfortable using the 'Avatar Video Call' feature. This evaluation involved testing the feature using the 'REALITY' app, which allows users to create virtual avatars. This choice was made because the app enables testing of technology and simulating experiences that would be challenging to replicate at this stage of the process.

Fig: Participants created virtual avatars in the 'REALITY' app to experience video calling with virtual avatar filters, simulating conversations while concealing theirtruephysical appearance.

Learn, Iterate, Repeat

Testing our low-fidelity prototype revealed a lengthy and unexciting user flow, with users losing interest during sign-up and ID card creation – crucial trust-building steps. To address this, I streamlined the user flow and explored engagement strategies. This led to the incorporation of gamification and emotional design elements, making the mentioned flows more captivating and enjoyable.