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Designing Multiplayer Modes

Turn 10 Studios is a AAA video game developer established in 2001 under Microsoft Game Studios to develop the Forza Motorsport series for Xbox platforms.

Role

UX Designer

Tools

Adobe XD

Team

Individual Contributer

Duration

12 weeks

How Do You Make A Spectate Mode that Players will want to use?

The Creative Director wanted to revitalize this feature to promote usage among players, noting that the feature was criticized heavily in the previous game

Challenges:

  • No previous documentation from the last game 

  • Hefty list of complaints about lack of control/clarity

Solution

Prioritizing user feedback, I focused on modeling the experience for a player in spectate mode to that of a stream watcher using Twitch or Youtube Live.

Design Process

With my resources, I focused on spending the first part of my time analyzing the data received to figure out what users didn't like. From then, I spoke to designers who knew about the feature, as well as other Project Managers to see how these features could be utilize throughout the game, particularly in Live Sessions. 

Then I hosted a brainstorming session to see what players would want to see in these kinds of modes.

All I had to do from there was determine which features had the most value for these modes, create the user flows, and make a prototype for user testing. 

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I started by interviewing stakeholders to get more information about the modes and their usage throughout the game. Then I hosted a focus group to gauge what features current and prospective players would like to see from these modes

The focus group debated on what features would appeal to them as first time players. We also discussed what appealed to them about watching live streams, youtubers, sports and other spectate heavy activities.

PRIMARY CHALLENGE

A serious gap in data.

All the data used to create these modes on the previous game was not documented and kept in “tribal knowledge” which is common in gaming, but meant that there was a considerable amount of interviews to be done to catch myself up to speed with the way the modes were designed, and more importantly, why.

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Once I had all that together, I got to sketching. Paper (digital paper at least( prototyping is my mode of choice while figuring out how these features all fit together. This builds confidence while user flows are mapped out. 

Then, wireframes were made at a low fidelity level in order to start user testing. 

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Sketches served as a storyboard as I created a set of wireframes to fill out the user flow created. The goal was to have a fleshed-out prototype that could go through a round of usability testing within the studio. 

Wireframes were made in Adobe XD.

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Outcomes

The User Testing resulted in surprising information, mainly that some of my assumptions were wrong. 

While Users responded positively to some additions, other features were confusing to them or seemed unnecessary. Listening to their feedback was enlightening and paved the way for the improvement of these features.

Interestingly enough, the features they commented on being most confusing or unnecessary were direct results of the feedback from the previous game, while the portions borrowed from live streams were praised. Players ultimately wanted control of their viewership, with the option to pause and replay as they desired. 

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Working with the TURN 10 Team on this project was a fantastic experience with various challenges that allowed me to push myself as a designer.

This project focused on the importance of
Interviews
User feedback, and
Feature Development

In order to make a cohesive mode that worked throughout the game. For instance, options that would be useful in watching a simple multiplayer race would potentially be more useful in Live events with different objectives than simply making it to the finish line first.

I’m happy with the results and am excited to see how these modes were translated into the game.

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