@ PENN Entertainment / Score Media and Gaming Inc.
This is an early-stage study that I led to explore the viability of 5 potential in-game navigation features. Concept testing was conducted through survey and interviews with digital casino players to gauge perceived value and business impact. Research findings were presented to stakeholders to assist with product decisions and roadmapping.
Problem
The purpose of this research was to learn what in-game improvements can be made to increase player engagement and lower in-game drop-off.
Impact
The findings from this study immediately supported the product team with product decisions on which in-game navigational features to prioritize and launch. 2 of the 5 features are now publicly available on theScore Bet app.
In-Game Deposit: Players can now deposit funds from inside the game.
Recently Played Games: Players can now access recently played games from inside the game.
Collaboration
I worked with a senior UX Researcher who mentored and provided feedback on my user interview facilitation, data analysis and synthesis, and how to effectively communicate findings to stakeholders.
This project was a collaboration between the product manager and product designers on the casino engagement team; research findings informed product and design decisions.
Process: Data Collection & Analysis
Survey (n=800+)
Purpose: obtain large data paints to generalize findings to larger casino player population.
Approach: likert scale questions to gauge which features players think will be valuable to have and open-ended questions to discover attitudinal themes.
Findings: perceived value for each feature was quantified and identified player pain points that can be resolved by implementing certain in-game navigational features.
Semi-Structured Interviews (n=*13)
Purpose: uncover motivations behind why certain in-game features are valued higher by players.
Approach: participants were shown the 5 concepts in randomized order; afterwards, participants were asked to rank the 5 concepts.
Findings: learned why certain features are valued higher than others and which features may or may not affect current player behaviours.
* I conducted 6 out of 13 interviews.
Process: Synthesis
Putting everything together to tell a single story for which of the 5 concepts are high impact for the business and why.
Synthesized findings were summarized into actional recommendations.
Which features do players consider valuable? What are current attitudes toward the in-game casino experience?
– survey findings
Why will implementing these in-game features improve player experience and might it affect the business?
– interview findings
How do external literature on gamification and player psychology support the findings?
– desk research
Are other casinos solving a similar problem? Do these findings create a competitive edge?
– competitive analysis
How do the results from this study support and build upon past UX research?
– past internal UX Research