Swaparoo
An app for board and card game enthusiasts who want to discover games by sharing them between friend circles.
This project was done during a bootcamp learning UI/UX design methods, from researching, ideating over to designing and prototyping.
Connecting People.
Let’s be real – we live in a reality where people consume highly individual social media feeds and feel isolated more and more. Board and card games let people come together for a common goal or to challenge yourself – and all of that with fun!
Assumptions Confirmed!
unused until someone miraculously organises a gaming evening.
since they need to know that they get proper value out of them – it can be a costly hobby.
Without actually having a lot of games to choose from makes it unlikely that they will be suggested in the first place.
Aha Moments!
What I found especially interesting is that people are very willing to lend game to others but were very concerned about trusting people to treat their games well. To address this and other issues my MVP emphasises sharing games between friend circles you can set up.
of people answering the survey own 1-5 games.
of people answering
the survey wish to play more often.
A majority of people are likely to borrow games from someone!
A majority of people are very likely to lend games to someone!
← | →
Just Do It!
Next was transforming all the insights into actual features. I could only focus on so much but chose to create an app that tackles the identified problems while reducing the friction about trust issues. And all of that with sustainability, exploration and community building in mind.
Work, Work, Work!
In my design I focussed on the experience of finding new games, having all the information needed to see if the game is worth a try and borrowing it from people that are reliable.
Discovery Page
The discovery page offers a individually tailored selection and even suggests to connect to players nearby.
Game Catalogue
Games are being catalogued, so people can check details, rules, reviews and importantly availability. Every game can be added to your own collection so you can let people know you have it, share it with specific people or just catalogue them for yourself.
Borrow Details
Borrowing is made easy by letting people suggest borrowing dates and even pick-up / return time slots.
Swaparoo
is an app that allows to share games between individuals so they can explore and play together!
The user flow is about finding the game Exploding Puppies, finding availability in a friend circle and organising the pick-up and return.
Lessons Learned!
Kill Your Darlings!
Compromises had to be made and not loosing myself in tasks that are just nice-to-have was key. I wanted to showcase some animation skills but I had to limit these to get the project done in time.
When In Doubt: Test It!
By testing I was able to gain valuable insights about user behaviour early on in the design process.
Done Is Better Than Perfect!
Good enough is a better mentality than perfectionism. Why? Because it creates more small victories than an endless process of self-doubt. In the end projects have to be released to the world so learnings can be applied to new projects.
Don't Go Alone!
If you are surrounded by people that are able to give valuable feedback you will enjoy the process. I had plenty of moments where just talking to a colleagues got me out of my tunnel vision.
To Be Continued...
Is there room for improvement? Plenty! The goal was to create my first UI/UX project during a 12 week bootcamp and the deadline was met.
The topics that sadly could not be prioritised were a reviewing process, gamification aspects to encourage people to try games and borrow them, the aspects of creating and maintaining a collection, … – I’m looking forward to tackle all these topics next, so be sure to stop by now and then to see the process.
