Matthieu Vanbecelaere

Portfolio

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Dualcat

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Building user research from scratch in a mobile video game studio

UX Research

Notion

PlaytestCloud

Miro

2023

Notion

PlaytestCloud

Miro

Situation

S

.

Context

Dual Cat is a mobile game studio based in Paris. They're developing specific products with a wide potential audience (hypercasual games).

Nothing besides a few quick and dirty user research trials (playtests with friends and family) had been done. However, there was a great deal of interest in UX and an emphasis on knowledge centralisation and information sharing which was a great foundation.

There was a well rounded data process in place to help validate projects. KPIs were identified and followed (user acquisition, day 3 retention, downloads, etc.)

Short product design process (3 weeks at most)

Strategic approach

Emboldened by a streak of very successful games, the studio put forward a plan. Part of that plan was to support the growth by investing in user research (beside other growth pathways).

Context

Dual Cat is a mobile game studio based in Paris. They're developing specific products with a wide potential audience (hypercasual games).

There was a well rounded data process in place to help validate projects. KPIs were identified and followed (user acquisition, day 3 retention, downloads, etc.)

Short product design process (3 weeks at most)

Strategic approach

Emboldened by a streak of very successful games, the studio put forward a plan. Part of that plan was to support the growth by investing in user research (beside other growth pathways).

Task (s)

T

.

My work at Dual Cat revolved around 3 tasks :

Task 1

Develop a fast and robust user research process to follow the development of each game.

Task 2

Develop player knowledge through the development of personas. These personas should allow for better acquisition through more relevant advertising content.

Task 3

Evangelize the applications of UX and psychology in the context of video game development.

Actions

A

.

T

TASK 1

A

S

K

1

Step 1 : Stakeholder interviews

Step 2 : Comparative study - user testing platforms

Step 3 : Synthesis and recommandations

Step 4 : Concept tests and playtests

Step 5 : Atomic Research

T

TASK 2

A

S

K

2

Step 1 : Stakeholder interviews

Step 2 : Desk/secondary research

Step 3 : Personae - first iteration

Step 4 : Surveys

Step 5 : Desk/secondary research

Step 6 : KPI definition and tracking methods

Step 7 : Personae - second iteration

Results

R

.

Operational

+00 %

days added to the project

No negative impact on the games' cycle of production

Process successfully implemented and on budget

Task 1

User Experience

+0,18

of stars (average of Android and iOS stores) on games with modifications based on research insights

Lower frequency of bad reviews as a result of pain point removal and higher quality perceived

Task 1

Operational

50

games tested - 300 millions downloads

Continuous improvement of game design in the studio

Spontaneous and very positive feedback of devs teams

Task 1

Operational

15

personas created in 2 iterations

Increase of player knowledge for the whole game studio

Positive returns from the marketing team on the second iteration

Task 2

Operational

55%

response rate

New in-game survey tool developed and tested

Comparison : vs 33% or 13% response for survey tools used in similar context

Task 2

Business

+6 % | +4% | +1,5%

early retention (day 1, 3 and 7 respectively)

Positive impact on KPIs observed via analytics example : LNR (LiveOps)

The introduction of a narrative goal, highlights of player progress and usability adjustements played a key roles in this result

Good early retention = the player understoods, likes and comes back

Task 2

Business

+13%

Click Through Rate on ads created with personas of the second iteration vs the first iteration

Better performance on creatives = visuals aligned with real motivations of potential players

Task 2

Operational

10

mobile game analysis performed

Each analysis exposed 2 or 3 notions of UX, psychology or behavioral economics.

Format was fun and accessible which triggered a high rate of participation, which in turn participated in a broader cultural change in the studio's game design