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INFINITY BALL
Infinity Ball is a fresh new take on the classic Magic 8 Ball toy that's aimed at providing users with a hilariously fun and entertaining way to receive answers to all of life's most difficult questions.
THE TASK
Reimagine the design and experience of the classic Magic 8 Ball toy by creating an MVP mobile app that is fitting for the 21st century.
THE PROBLEM STATEMENT
How can we provide a fun and entertaining way for users to receive answers to their everyday questions?
MY ROLE
UX Researcher
Information Architect
DELIVERABLES
Competitive Analysis
User Surveys
Personas
User Story
User Flow
Wireframes
Usability Testing
Prototype
TOOLS
Figma
Zoom
Miro
Google Forms
Google Sheets
PowerPoint
THE PROCESS
I.COMPETITIVE SWOT ANALYSIS
Before my team and I could begin to discover who our target users were, we first had to discover who our competitors were. My research began with a competitive SWOT analysis of both direct and indirect competitors. My goal was to gain insight on what the competition was like for other Magic 8 Ball apps on the market. I looked at four different Magic 8 Ball apps, as well as one tarot card mobile app, where I analyzed each of the app's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for improvement, and areas potential threats.
TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS:
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Users enjoy the ability to personalize their experience via advanced settings options
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Apps lack intuitive UI and users found them difficult to navigate
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Users dislike the limited amount of answers
II. USER SURVEY
I continued my research by conducting two user surveys to gather baseline qualitative and quantitative data about the potential end-users for the Infinity Ball mobile app. These questions centered around revealing a respondents' wants, needs, fears, and pain points as they relate to their experience with the Magic 8 Ball. Additionally, I wanted to gain a better understanding as to why these individuals use, or have used, a Magic 8 Ball in the first place, and what their goals in using it were.
USER SURVEY INSIGHTS
*Percentages based on 55 responses
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90%
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84%
Have used a Magic 8 Ball before
Use a Magic 8 Ball for entertainment
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56%
Use a Magic 8 Ball for humor
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50%
Asked life-related questions
III. USER PERSONA
Using the findings from the user surveys, I was able to create a user persona that was representative of what a potential end-user of the Infinity Ball might look like. Keeping the goals, needs, motivations, and fears of this persona in mind, I knew that the design and functionality of the Infinity Ball app would have to include solutions for individuals like Academia Ashley.
ACADEMIA ASHLEY'S GOALS:
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An app that is easily accessible and reliable
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Fun, entertaining, and passes time quickly
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Doesn't require Wi-FI or cellular service to work
ACADEMIA ASHLEY'S FEARS:
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Boring answers, boring experience
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Repeated answers/lack of possible outcomes
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Poorly designed interface that is not intuitive
IV. USER STORY
Armed with Academia Ashley and the user research findings, I was able to put together two user stories, each prioritizing different tasks that different types of users might accomplish. I took into consideration both new and returning users which emerged out of the user research. The high priority tasks resulted in the MVP.
V. USER JOURNEY & USER FLOW
USER JOURNEY
Understanding the user story allowed me to develop the user journey and user flow. Through the user journey, I discovered ways that I could improve the overall user experience of an Infinity Ball user.
USER FLOW
Creating the user flow helped me visualize the most direct path that Academia Ashley would take while using the Infinity Ball app. As a result, I was able to identify each of the screens that needed to be created for the app's interface, as well as where they would fit in the user flow.
VI. WIREFRAME CREATION
After analyzing the user research findings and generating actionable insights, I was able to begin sketching design mockups and wireframes for Infinity Ball.
WIREFRAME SKETCHES
LOW-FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
Welcome Screen
Onboarding Screen 1
Onboarding Screen 2
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Settings Screen
Infinity Ball Response Screen
Set Text Size Screen
VII. RENEWED INFINITY BALL ANSWERS
While it was assumed that users of the Infinity Ball app would want an experience that was different from the classic Magic 8 Ball, it was important to take a look at the user research findings and determine what exactly users were looking for in this updated experience. Based on these findings I was able to conclude that users wanted 1) a greater amount of answers, 2) answers that were funnier, and 3) answers that were more definitive. From here, my team and I were able to come up with a list of refreshed Infinity Ball answers that appropriately reflected the end-users wants and needs.
VIII. PROTOTYPING & TESTING
In order to test our designs and gather user feedback, I conducted 5 usability tests. The findings showed that, while users generally had a pleasurable experience navigating through the flow of our prototype, some updates were needed to improve the overall usability of the app.
ITERATION #2
During our low-fidelity usability tests, participants expressed feeling "confused" and "dissatisfied" with the way the Infinity Ball answers were being displayed.
Users felt that having the answers shown both inside the ball and on the bottom of the screen was "redundant," and that it ultimately caused the interface to feel "cramped and cluttered." As a result, we removed the answers at the bottom of the screen in our high-fidelity prototype and made it so that the answers only displayed inside of the magic 8-ball.
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Low-fidelity prototype with answers inside ball and on bottom
High-fidelity prototype with answers only inside the ball
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Mid-fidelity prototype with no "next" call-to-action button
Final prototype with "next" call-to-action button
ITERATION #3
For our high-fidelity usability tests, 4 out of the 5 users tested were unable to navigate out of the "Welcome" screen when trying to move on to the next part of the app.
After entering their name and language, users expressed feeling "frustrated" and "confused" when trying to move on to the next step in the user flow. Based on this feedback, it was clear that the current functionality of users first needing to tap on the screen in order to move on to the next screen was not an intuitive experience. To address this issue, in our final prototype we added a call-to-action "next" button on the welcome screen so that users could quickly and easily determine what action is required of them to continue on in the app experience.
Low-fidelity prototype
with birthday field
High-fidelity prototype without birthday field
ITERATION #1
In our low-fidelity prototype we included a birthday field for users to fill out, assuming that this element of personalization would be well-received by users.
To my surprise, each of the 5 participants expressed some degree of disfavor towards the birthday field. Negating our original assumption, users felt as though the birthday field was "irrelevant" and an "unnecessary extra step in the onboarding process." As a result, we removed the birthday field in our high-fidelity prototype.
IX. THE FINAL PROTOTYPE
After testing our high-fidelity prototype with 4 users, a few additional improvements were revealed:
1. Add a call-to-action button on the 'Welcome' screen to provide direction on how to move to the next screen
2. Remove unnecessary "Infinity Ball" launch page
3. Add horizontal and vertical scroll option to settings option "Text Size."
XI. NEXT STEPS & KEY TAKEAWAYS
NEXT STEPS
1. TEST, TEST, TEST!
Testing with users often and at various stages of the design process is integral to the success of your end-product.
2. BUILD OUT CURRENT SETTINGS OPTIONS
Building out the settings option would be ideal for customization of the Infinity Ball app. Providing a more personalized experience for users is key, and this would take form in adding more language options for users, background colors, ball colors, sounds, and music.
3. IMPROVE OVERALL DESIGN
Due to the time constraints on this project, we had no choice but to design and test the MVP (minimal viable product). With that said, there are many additional pages we could design to enhance the overall experience of our app.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
1. COMMUNICATION IS KEY
Effectively communicating with your teammates is essential to the success of any project. Regardless of how amazing your project might seem in theory, if you and your team are unable to communicate respectfully and openly with each other, then there is no chance of your project ever getting off the ground.
2. ALWAYS TEST YOUR ASSUMPTIONS
No matter how convicted we are in our beliefs, this does not mean they are always the truth. This was proven true in our original design vs our high-fidelity mockup. What we thought users would want in a Magic 8 Ball app vs. what they actually wanted was completely different at some points. This is why it’s imperative to listen to users, appropriately analyze the data, and suspend any prior biases or beliefs you may have.