Tabletop gaming is extremely popular, but it can still be tricky for players to find other gamers who share their specific interests and play styles. It can also be a challenge to keep everything necessary for smooth gameplay together in a single location -- especially when playing virtually.
I designed Site of Many Things as a convenient tool for finding like-minded games and gamers, and for playing together, all in one place. |
COMPETITOR & USER RESEARCH
|
I conducted a SWOT analysis on four competitor sites: Roll20, Board Game Arena, StartPlaying, and Meetup.
In doing so, I found that there are many sites who do some of the things I wanted my project to do, but most are lacking in some way. Roll20, which has a virtual tabletop, game finder, and marketplace, would be the strongest competitor to my website, but there were still gaps that needed to be filled. After speaking to users, I determined that one of the pain points faced is finding consistent, reliable groups to play with who are compatible with the gamers' beliefs and preferences. This can be especially important for women, LGBTQ+, and other players from marginalized groups who may face harassment and have historically felt unwelcome in gaming spaces. Additionally, while there are other virtual tabletop systems in existence, many are lacking features that players want. |
PERSONAS
FEATURE SET & SCOPE
My research led me to focus on two website features: the virtual tabletop and a comprehensive profile with search process to find other gamers to play with.
USER FLOW
This flow exemplifies the search process. The user would navigate to "find players" and use the filter menu to narrow down the results. If, after browsing matches, they don't find anyone that interests them, they would repeat the filtering and browsing process until they do. Upon finding someone they can click a thumbs up icon in their profile and/or send them a message.
BRANDING & UI
Given the fantasy nature of this site and its audience, I wanted a touch of whimsy. So I had a little fun with the colors and design -- hence the dragon background and use of colorful icons. The die in the logo exemplifies the 20-sided die used in most tabletop RPG games, and the rolling lines bring a bit of movement to the image. The color scheme is reminiscent of fantasy settings and retro games, and using gem icons throughout the site references the very same. My goal was to make the site fun and playful while still being sophisticated and sleek.
WIREFRAMES
Since the site needed to be responsive and work on phone, tablet, and desktop, my main challenge was getting the tabletop section right. I knew this would be especially difficult at the mobile phone size, so I started there and then scaled up.
With the small screen size, I decided to create a series of retractable windows with everything the player would need -- their character sheet, a place to take notes, a chat, and the videos of other players. This seemed like a great solution to prevent those elements from blocking the map, and I opted to continue that feature on all three sizes.
With the small screen size, I decided to create a series of retractable windows with everything the player would need -- their character sheet, a place to take notes, a chat, and the videos of other players. This seemed like a great solution to prevent those elements from blocking the map, and I opted to continue that feature on all three sizes.
HIGH FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
The virtual tabletop was well-received in user tests, so I made very few changes to it when increasing the fidelity. The menus needed to be accessible, but also not clash with whatever map the game master uploads to the background. I also added a dropdown window for virtual dice, allowing users to roll multiples at once and use advantage (roll two and use the higher number) or disadvantage (roll two and use the lower number).
In addition to the virtual tabletop, I created a profile and search feature so gamers can find others to play with. In this, users can specify their preferred game systems and role, their schedule, how often and long they want to play, and what they want or don't want from a game. They can also indicate whether they want to play virtually or in-person, if they are COVID conscious, and if they are LGBTQ+ friendly, which is displayed alongside their name, age, location, and gender.
Tablet
Desktop
FINAL PROTOTYPE
See the website in action by watching the videos below.