As a member of the UX King product marketing development team, I actively contributed to projects designed to elevate player engagement and foster loyalty. One initiative centered on optimising game events, strategically promoted by the marketing team within the game, to align seamlessly with the overarching objectives of both the business and the users.
In Candy Crush, users can play additional mini-quests and events beyond the regular game progression (game levels). The goal of this initiative was to increase engagement in live events and delight users seeking continuous enjoyment, even when out of game lives, or exploring side events to make the experience more dynamic.
While observing the Live events forum on the King community website, I noticed excitement and player retention regarding Events. However, data suggested a need for improved engagement. I mapped the primary entry point for live events and identified that the main entry was through a popup triggered before entering the game map view and after running out of lives. Data showed a potential issue in impressions: most users closed the popup within 2 seconds, indicating a lack of attention to the information.
Events are special quests and mini-games beyond the regular game levels. They typically appear in the game through a pop-up modal when players land on the map view or after running out of lives.
Events general rules:
Feedback from players found in the player forum community of King’s website revealed excitement and provided insights that Events was a great feature to improve player retention. However, data indicated a need for enhanced engagement. A survey was conducted among players participating in live events, and the feedback highlighted that players perceived the popup as intrusive and disruptive to the game flow, negatively impacting their overall experience.
After mapping the Events entry points and the user jorney, we could come up with a hypothesis to validate through an A/B test. We wanted to make the Events entry point more prominent to give users the control of when in the player journey they wanted to access the Event.
Through an A/B test focused on strategic placement, incorporating prominent entry points for key features in the user interface within the bottom navigation, we anticipate a measurable increase in user engagement. This strategic placement aims to enhance user visibility and accessibility to key features, granting users control over when they want to access and participate in the event.
The successful implementation of a redesigned entry point resulted in a notable increase in engagement with live events. This approach not only addressed user feedback but also enhanced the overall user experience by streamlining navigation and minimizing disruptions. The key takeaway is the importance of continuously testing and refining design elements to align with both business objectives and user preferences. With this approach we made sure to grant users control to how and when they want to participate on game Events.
To find out more about some creative game launch campaigns visit my behance page or the links below.
Candy Crush Friends – view creative launch
Bubble Witch 3 – view creative launch
Farm Heroes Super – view creative launch
© copyright Ligia Olmos 2023
Due to the confidentiality of this project, I’m unable to publish it publicly. Reach out to me for the project’s password.
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