MOBILE APP
GAMIFICATION
DESIGN
EM CAPYBARA
Team up with friends to care for and customize your adorable capybara. Share the fun, embark on adventures, and create memories together as your capybara grows!
2024
YEAR
Figma
PLATFORM
ROLE
Designer
SUMMARY
EM Capybara was designed to foster a sense of community and shared responsibility through collaborative virtual pet care. By allowing players to co-own and care for a capybara together, the game builds a cooperative experience that strengthens friendships and partnerships. Players can work and collaborate to keep their pet happy and healthy. This unique cooperative element encourages teamwork and communication, creating a sense of joint ownership that sets EM Capybara apart from traditional solo pet care games.
This case study explores the design and development process behind EM Capybara, focusing on addressing common issues found in similar apps and creating a unique, engaging experience.
THE PROBLEM
Traditional virtual pet games, such as Tamagotchi and Neopets, often face limitations in terms of cooperative gameplay, interface complexity, and overall user engagement.
Issues include:
Lack of meaningful co-op gameplay, leading to a solitary experience.
Overwhelming or cluttered interfaces, making navigation difficult.
Limited progression and customization, resulting in repetitive gameplay.
THE PROCESS
Research: Analyzed existing virtual pet games (Tamagotchi, Neopets, Snackpass) to identify common shortcomings and opportunities for improvement.
User Interviews: Conducted interviews with potential players to understand their preferences and pain points with current virtual pet apps.
Brainstorming: Generated ideas for features that would enhance cooperative gameplay, simplify the interface, and increase user engagement.
Sketching: Created initial sketches of the user interface and key gameplay elements.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
I first conducted a comparative analysis to understand the strengths and weaknesses of existing virtual pet games and identify opportunities for EM Capybara to stand out.
Tamagotchi is a classic virtual pet game focused on real-time care, requiring players to feed, clean, and play with their pet. The game has limited social features, repetitive cycles, and high dependency on constant attention, leading to frustration if the pet "dies" from neglect.
Shallow Social Features
Issue: Tamagotchi’s social interactions are minimal, with basic connections between friends' pets. There is no significant collaborative gameplay or shared responsibilities in pet care.
Solution in EM Capybara: EM Capybara will emphasize deep social engagement by allowing friends to co-own and co-care for a single capybara. Players can send the pet back and forth, engage in shared tasks, and go on joint adventures. This cooperative gameplay fosters stronger bonds between players as they work together to nurture their virtual pet.
Short Lifespan and Repetitive Cycles
Issue: Tamagotchi follows repetitive cycles, and after the pet evolves or "dies," the gameplay becomes stagnant with limited progression incentives.
Solution in EM Capybara: EM Capybara will feature pets that grow and unlock new abilities, environments, and customizations such as accessories and outfits. Players can continuously personalize their capybara, ensuring long-term engagement without the frustration of the pet "dying." Progression is rewarding, with each milestone leading to exciting cosmetic unlocks, keeping gameplay fresh and personalized.
High Dependency on Real-Time Attention
Issue: Tamagotchi requires constant real-time attention, and if neglected, the pet can "die," frustrating players with busy schedules.
Solution in EM Capybara: EM Capybara will introduce a flexible care schedule. Players can temporarily send their capybara to a friend for care, ensuring no progress is lost during busy periods. The game will also feature reminders and adaptable check-in intervals, giving players more freedom and reducing stress while maintaining pet well-being.
Neopets is a virtual pet game with an open world and many activities, faces certain limitations related to social interaction, progression, and user experience.
Limited Cooperative Gameplay
Issue: In Neopets, players care for their pets individually with minimal collaborative features.
Solution: EM Capybara revolutionizes this by allowing players to co-own and co-care for a single capybara, sharing responsibilities and working together on joint activities.
Overwhelming and Confusing Interface
Issue: Neopets has grown complex, which can overwhelm users.
Solution: EM Capybara will offer a clean, user-friendly interface that simplifies navigation and focuses on core features related to pet care and cooperative play.
Snackpass is a food ordering app that integrates a social gamification feature with its virtual "Chicken" pet, allowing users to send their pet to friends as a playful interaction. While it adds a fun layer to the experience, its virtual pet system is quite limited in terms of engagement, progression, and co-op interaction. EM Capybara will expand on these concepts, providing more meaningful, immersive, and collaborative gameplay that fosters real bonds between friends through shared care.
Limited Interaction with Virtual Pet
Issue: The virtual "Chicken" in Snackpass is a novelty with minimal interaction options.
Solution: EM Capybara centers around a deeply interactive pet, offering rich care mechanics and co-op play.
No Meaningful Co-Ownership or Collaboration
Issue: While the Chicken are shared between friends, it lacks deeper co-ownership.
Solution: EM Capybara enables shared responsibility and collaboration, fostering a sense of joint ownership and connection through meaningful gameplay.
Lack of Customization and Progression
Issue: The Chicken doesn’t evolve or change.
Solution: EM Capybara provides robust customization and progression, with evolving abilities and personalized accessories to keep players engaged.
By addressing these issues, EM Capybara offers a more immersive and socially engaging experience, distinguishing itself from the simpler interactions and static features found in Tamagotchi, Neopets, and Snackpass.
USER RESEARCH
I then conducted user research through surveys and interviews with individuals who regularly play virtual pet games to ensure EM Capybara meets the needs pf potential players. The goal of the research was to identify pain points in existing games and understand player expectations for social and collaborative features.
Key Insights:
Desire for Social Interaction: Many players expressed an interest in features that allow them to interact with friends in a meaningful way. They suggested adding a feature that would allow them to play alongside their friends, such as a "co-op mode".
Customization and Personalization: Players suggested a feature that would allow them to customize and personalize their pets instead of having a default, generic pet. Allowing players to customize their virtual pets with outfits and accessories would foster engagement and build emotional attachment to their pets.
Flexibility in Gameplay: Several players with busy schedules mentioned that they were frustrated with the required constant attention. The game would punished them when they couldn’t check in regularly. They wanted a game that provided flexibility without penalizing them for taking breaks. They suggested a feature that would allow them to freeze time or pause the game till they are able to resume the game at their own pace or schedule.
STARTING THE DESIGN
Based on the comparative analysis and user research, I began by sketching initial wireframes to outline the app's structure and layout. I then proceeded to create a lo-fidelity prototype to gather further feedback and insights,
LO- FIDELITY PROTOTYPES
USABILITY TESTING
After developing the lo-fi prototype of EM Capybara, I conducted usability testing with a group of potential users to evaluate the core features of the game. The testing focused on four main areas: co-op mode, customization and personalization, navigation and layout, and flexibility in gameplay.
Co-op Mode
Objective: To test how intuitive and enjoyable the co-op pet care experience is for players.
Findings:
Users found the co-op feature engaging and appreciated the ability to share responsibility for the pet’s care with others. Most players easily understood how to send the capybara to a friend and enjoyed collaborating on tasks like feeding and playing with the pet together. Some users suggested adding more joint activities and mini-games to enhance the sense of teamwork and fun in the co-op experience.
Future Design Changes:
Based on feedback, I added cooperative mini-games to increase the level of interaction and collaboration between players.
Customization and Personalization
Objective: To determine if players found the customization options sufficient and easy to use.
Findings:
Players loved the ability to personalize their capybara with different outfits and accessories. Many testers said that these options made the game feel more personal and encouraged long-term engagement.
Navigation and Layout
Objective: To test whether users found the interface intuitive and easy to navigate.
Findings:
Overall, users found the game’s interface simple and easy to navigate. The clean layout helped them quickly find the essential pet care features and co-op modes.
Flexibility in Gameplay
Objective: To see if players felt that the game’s schedule allowed for flexibility without causing stress or penalties.
Findings:
Users appreciated the ability to send the capybara to a friend for care during busy periods. This feature was well-received, as it eliminated the pressure to check in constantly while still allowing progress to be maintained. Some players wanted clearer reminders or notifications when their capybara was with a friend or needed attention.
Future Design Changes:
An notification system can be added to alert players when their capybara is being cared for by a friend or needs attention, giving players better control over their interaction schedule.
USABILITY TESTING
Based on the user testing, I iterated on the previous design and created another iteration of the design. I made 2 major changes based on the user feedback.
Notification
Some players expressed a desire for clearer reminders or notifications when their capybara was with a friend or needed attention. In response, I introduced a playful feature where the capybara sends a letter to the player through in-game mail, letting them know it has been sent to their friend's phone. This adds a charming touch while ensuring players stay informed about their pet's status in an engaging and non-intrusive way.
Introducing Playtime
Some users suggested incorporating more joint activities and mini-games to further enhance the sense of teamwork and fun in the co-op experience.
In response, I added a series of cooperative mini-games, including:
Capybara Cards: A memory match game where players take turns flipping over capybara-themed cards to find pairs, improving memory skills while earning rewards for their pet.
Food Hunt: Players work together to find hidden food items in various environments, gathering enough to keep their capybara happy and healthy.
Catch the Fish: A timed game where players take turns tapping the screen to catch fish from a stream, feeding their capybara and boosting its happiness.
These cooperative games create shared moments of accomplishment, fostering a deeper connection between players while they nurture their virtual pet together.
HI- FIDELITY PROTOTYPES
FINAL DESIGNS
WHAT I LEARNED
Throughout my time working on this project, I’ve learned that a streamlined and intuitive interface are key to retain new users and ensure a positive experience. Continuous feedback and iteration during the design process are important when refining the user experience.
In the future, I would conduct further user testing to fine-tune features and address any remaining issues. I would also explore additional customization options and interactive features to enrich the gameplay experience.
GREAT DESIGN IS ITERATION
OF GOOD DESIGN
M. COBANLI