Case study: Users have no limits

This article outlines my graduating capstone project from my UX Design program at MICA. It showcases a detailed overview of my research goals, methodologies, findings, and ultimately a proposed PlayStation 5 user interface. I hope this article is informative to all, but specifically for those that are new to UX.

Photo by Alexey Savchenko on Unsplash

High-level project goal

My intent for this project is to design a hypothetical interface for the PlayStation 5 that improves upon the PS4 interface. Based upon qualitative and quantitative research, these improvements aim to increase the overall usability and satisfaction for the player.

Project goals

1. Research the usability of the PS4 dashboard.
2. Research the user, their needs, and pain points.
3. Design a new user interface that improves upon the current PS4 user experience.

Problem statement

PlayStation 4 players who use the console for gaming, find navigating the user interface for features supporting gameplay awkward, cumbersome, and time-consuming. These features include, but may not be limited to the general navigation of the home screen or main dashboard, recently played games, game library, PlayStation Store, and connecting with friends.

The challenge

Research the PlayStation 4 and its user to design a new console user interface. The success of this project, from a business standpoint, could be evaluated based upon PlayStation’s market growth increase.

Proposal

1. Perform robust UX research to identify system inefficiencies, user pain points, and pitfalls that hinder or reduce a player’s overall satisfaction.
2. Test a proof of concept, based upon qualitative and quantitative research, to validate if the user interface is solving problems appropriately.

Methodology

A combination of UX strategies that aim to understand, explore, and materialize the digital product. More specifically, a discovery session was conducted through user interviews and user surveys.

Week 1 (week 7) — User research

User research aims to understand the user, their behavior, motivations, frustrations, and how they interact with the system and product. The information gained provides insights into the problems they face, how they feel, and how they overcome any obstacles.

Work to be done

1. Targeted audience identified
2. Interview screening questions designed
3. User survey questions crafted
4. Users surveyed
5. User interview questions crafted
6. Users interviewed
7. Research analyzed

Week 2 - Craft user personas

User personas provide a high-level snapshot of the primary and secondary users. Crafting personas help designers develop empathy with specific users in order to design targeted and meaningful solutions.

Work to be done

1. Craft a user personas
2. Craft a user empathy map
3. Craft the user’s mental model

Week 3— Competitive analysis

Thorough competitive analysis and research expose how other products are solving similar problems. This strategy aims to identify both the strengths and weaknesses of other systems so we can better craft our solutions.

Proposed competitors to study

1. Xbox One
2. Epic Games Launcher
3. Steam
4. Stadia
5. Twitch Launcher
6. Netflix (non-direct)
7. HBO MAX (non-direct)
8. Hulu (non-direct)

Week 4— User epics & stories

User epics and stories provide specific user needs to solve for. Epics are considered large, high-level goals and the stories within are smaller steps to achieve the high-end goal. In addition, user flows document the steps a user will take in order to complete a goal.

Proposed work to be done

1. Design user epics & stories
2. Sketch user storyboards
3. Sketch and map new flows for key scenarios

Week 5— Wireframes and wireflows

Similar to user flows, these artifacts visually represent each screen a user will interact with and how all the screens will connect together.

Proposed work to be done

1. Sketch wireframes for key interactions
2. Sketch wireflows for key interactions

Week 6— Lo-Fi prototypes

Low fidelity prototypes is a low stake method to design and test our visual solutions. If incremental tests are performed throughout the design process we can more confidently propose appropriate solutions.

Proposed work to be done

1. Design low fidelity prototypes for key flows
2. Test low fidelity prototypes to validate usability

Week 7 — Hi-Fi prototypes

Higher-level prototypes begin to add the brand’s visual style and aesthetic to the project. It’s at this stage that we begin to see how the finished product might look, feel, and work.

Proposed work to be done

1. Increase prototype fidelity
2. Test prototypes
3. Edit and refine visual solutions

Week 8— “Final” adjustments

At this point, a near-complete prototype should be designed and we can begin final testing and evaluation of the system. Final testing should include key scenarios that examine the end-to-end flow.

Proposed work to be done

1. Develop and design user scenarios
2. Test scenarios with users
3. Make final adjustments
4. Design stakeholder presentation

Now back to the actual work

If you’re still with me by this long-winded point, thank you. For those of you that may not know, here is a screenshot of the PlayStation 4 dashboard.

PlayStation 4 dashboard

Proposed PlayStation 5 dashboard

If you like the landscape art on the wall by the TV, that was illustrated by me.

Process

The UX design process is an empathetic one. Empathy is key to understanding the human experience. Just like the behavioral, neurological, and therapeutic wizards, I’m trying to understand what the user is experiencing. Although the tools may vary from project to project, the core process remains relatively the same:

1. Understand the business, its goals, and needs
2. Understand the user and their goals
3. Brainstorm and model what the new system may be and test it to validate if these solutions are worth continuing
4. Design a prototype of the product and an interface
5. Test and validate the system
6. Document your results and iterate upon your design decisions

User interviews

After evaluating my assumptions on how the user may feel and what the user may want in a new design, I set out to find participants to interview. In general, my assumptions were mainly concerned whether this project was worthy of investigation. For all I knew, users are completely happy and satisfied with the PlayStation 4 experience. The results of my discovery interviews are below.

1. 27 users surveyed
2. 8 users interviewed
3. All users were between the ages of 28 and 37
4. All users had 22 to 33 years of gaming experience
5. All users were male
6. All users averaged between 1 to 2 hours of gameplay a day
7. All users play casually and are not professional gamers

Interview trends

The list below gave me actionable experiences to design meaningful solutions.

1. Players use the PS4 to play video games, stream movies, listen to music and connect with friends
2. Players expressed a tendency to use the PS4 as a form of therapy and emotional release
3. Players complained about too many clicks or scrolls to navigate the interface. Users want to customize their dashboard.
4. Users expressed wanting meaningful awards and trophies for their in-game achievements (unrelated to the native dashboard)
5. Users want to more easily connect and share with friends
6. Users are frustrated with the content organization.

Research organization

All of my research lived within Adobe XD. I organized and curated my content in one central hub for more efficient access.

Crafting empathy

In order to synthesize the material and better understand the user and their needs, a few artifacts were crafted to help solidify the primary user and guide design decisions.

Wireframing & wireflows

With a better understanding of the primary user and their needs, I began sketching wireframes and wireflows.

If we skip ahead, after all the numerous piles of sketches, I began to increase the fidelity and work toward a prototype.

Proposed new dashboard

PS4 PS Store

Proposed PS5 PS Store

PS4 friend list

Proposed PS5 friend list

PS4 settings

Proposed PS5 settings

PS4 profile

Proposed PS5 profile

Project success

A hypothetical business success metric was created. If the PlayStation could increase its monthly subscriptions and by 3% then the potential revenue generated could be over $136 million dollars.

Project challenges

The above information is but a small sample of a much larger project presentation. To date, this has been the largest project I’ve tackled by myself. Most of my graduate projects of this caliber were group projects where we all divided and conquered to produce a profound project.

Challenges

1. 1. Crafting & articulating user interview questions
2. Synthesizing user interview results
3. Maintaining proper project scope without much creep
4. Structuring user flows and paths
5. Trusting the process and my design workflow
6. Designing a new system
7. Designing a new functionality for a mouse or typical gaming controller
8. Designing for scale on a large screen TV
9. Information Architecture — how many screens and submenus are necessary?

Next Steps

Our work as UX Designers is never done. There is always more to research, design, and refine.

1. Mapping Key interactions between screens
2. Designing all end-to-end screens
3. Defining key paths
4. User testing
5. Research based design iteration

Let’s connect

If you like what you read you can connect with me on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-kelley-4a82a1119/

Thank you for reading and wishing you all the best,

Ian