UI/UX DesignAdobe XD | Illustrator | Photoshop
Oink Games To Go is a personal project where I envisioned how Oink Games, a small company that makes wonderful tiny board games, would translate their titles to a smartphone application and thus reach a broader audience. Disclaimer: This project is in no way endorsed by Oink Games. Artwork and assets belong to Oink Games. Designer | Timothy Lui |
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The Beginning |
Whenever I told someone I had recently gotten into board games, the first response that I would get from them was “Oh, you mean like The Game of Life or Uno?” or every now and then “You mean those games that take hours to complete and with a ton of rules?” and it got me thinking, why haven’t more people experienced modern board gaming? With that in mind, I set out to create the perfect starting companion for those looking to get into the board game hobby featuring the wonderful games by the company Oink Games.
A little background on the company Oink Games; they specialize in games that are simple and elegantly designed. Their games come in tiny beautiful boxes which adds to the accessibility of their game collection. |
The first thing I did was do a quick look up online to see what board games can be played digitally. Some great sites I found included some like Board Game Arena (a site with hundreds of games but appeal more to enthusiasts) or Oink Games own Switch collection (a great game but somewhat limited by being exclusive to the Nintendo Switch).
After that, I went around asking people what they thought of board games and if they haven’t played them, what was stopping them from trying them. The majority of those asked had not played any modern board games and the responses to why were varied but a couple of the responses stood out as more pressing than others. |
After analyzing the data, I could tell that accessibility, and perception would be the biggest barriers for anyone who had not dabbled in the hobby. Taking all of this into account, I knew the app would have to be welcoming, fun, and easy to use. In addition, it would have to do not just do a good job, but a great job of explaining the rules.
The first step was creating an Information Architecture Diagram which helped figure out the flow of the application and the scope of the project. Additionally, simple wireframes were also created to help solidify the vision for how the final product would work. |
Prototyping
Soon afterwards, I created an early prototype to get a feel for how the app would work as well as how intuitive it was to use. In addition, I wanted to see if users would get the right feel that I had been aiming for which was welcoming, fun, and easy to use.
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After showing early versions to various people I knew, I looked through the first batch of feedback and found that though many had thought that the application was fun looking and friendly, many had issues with its intuitiveness as well as the amount of information on screen at once.
Though I wanted to highlight the bright colours and the uniqueness of each game, the amount of colours and the contrast between certain elements were not hitting the mark in terms of usability. Many users also felt that the way the library was organized was hard to grasp and would have preferred a more common setup. |
A Step in the Right Direction |
With all the feedback in mind, I went back to the drawing board and set out to recreate a more welcoming version that retained the cheerful feel of the first prototype. Additionally, the way the library is organized has gotten a complete retooling and features a new menu that should be more familiar to users.
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Another big focus this time was on envisioning how to translate a board game into an application. Trying to fit as much information into one screen so everything can be gleaned at once was the main mission. A lot of other board game apps tend to hide information between different screens thus destroying the illusion of looking around at a table to see what other players are doing.
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Furthermore, lots of time was spent on putting the teaching tools together. It has been said that people learn in many different ways so a goal was to include a variety of ways the app could teach players. This was done by implementing tutorials, videos, as well as a written manual.
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An App Worth Fighting For
Though a lot of the functions are incomplete, this is a good foundation for what I had originally set out to make and can see it become more fully fleshed out over the course of future revisions.
Check out the latest prototype below: |