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• Introduction
• Target audience analysis <--You're Here
• Justification for existence
• User Testing Design
• Low fidelity sketches
• User Testing “Typhon”
• Animation
• Appendix
  • User Interviews Final Boss
  • Testing Sessions Sketches & Design Concepts
  • Final Boss Typhon Sketches
  • User Testing High Fidelity Design

Target Audience Analysis

Aside from Mobile, PC, Console, VR headset gaming experiences a new "Spectator Gaming" trend emerged where people watch live streams on Twitch or YouTube [2] without buying the actual game (ex. new release or beta test). In addition, video gaming is a massive and broad industry that changes almost daily [2]. Considering this flexibility in change, there are plenty of design opportunities for every type of game. But will a person playing "AAA" rated release enjoy the Atlantis Sinks? Does our concept bring the same level of joy, satisfaction and excitement to the mobile users as "Plants vs Zombies"? [2] To answer these questions, it's paramount to identify our own user group who would enjoy playing Atlantis Sinks.

The goal is to define our user group, including individual needs and preferences looking beyond traditional key metrics such as average age, gender, or location [3]. We started by examining the game from two different perspectives:

• Visual representation - overall look and feel of the game, graphic design
• Experience within a game - level of difficulty, required skills to play the game

Derived from that, we analyzed several potential user groups [4] that could be defined as a primary target audience. Based on the findings we established 2 persona types which we think would be the most engaged and emotionally connected to the Atlantis Sinks game.

"Retro Enthusiasts" [5] (Visual Representation)

Visually Atlantis Sinks represents a very simplistic and pixelated gaming experience that match the overall look and feel of the games from the 80's. This fits with the potential needs of retro gamers. Keywords that would describe retro enthusiasts are classic games, nostalgia, retro, old console. From the psychological point of view keyword association is directly linked to the gamer's childhood [5].

It's because there is a strong connection between the old retro game and that sensitive moment when they fell in love with the game for the first time [5] or when a group of people got together to play the game. This nostalgia points to the physical interaction between people (switching turns to play, laughing and having fun together), as opposed to digital (soulless) communication using Discord, TeamSpeak. It's that sensitive, emotional, nostalgic response that triggers the need to purchase a 30-years old 8-bit console system.

"Super Swipers" [3] (Experience within a game)

This group of people come from a "casual gaming domain" [3]. The need to spend time with the family, watch a movie or cook a dinner outweigh the need to play a game. This casual interaction with video games means that they do not consider themselves as experienced gamers, nor do they think of themselves as professional e-sport players.

This user group established their presence within the mobile gaming sector, because of their lifestyle they prefer simple games such as Candy Crush [3]. Emotionally, Super Swipers derive enjoyment from the gaming experience itself, meaning that overcoming obstacles brings a sense of fulfillment to them. Tower defense functionality, resource collection feature, defeating a final boss in the Atlantis Sinks game already requires a basic strategic thinking to accomplish tasks and win the game thus it could be a primary reason for this type of users to become motivated and play the game.

To summarize, we looked beyond traditional characteristics of the user group like age, location, favorite device. Instead we tried to understand values, struggles and motivations. As a result key findings based on the data from the target audience analysis indicate the following aspects of our primary user group:

1. Occasional gamers who enjoy playing simple video games that require zero to none experience
2. People who like obstacles or challenges within a game
3. Players who do not need multiplayer functionality nor any social interactions in the game
4. Enthusiasts who occasionally play retro games
5. People who enjoy getting together physically
6. Nostalgic gamers who want to relive their first encounter with video games

Appendix:

References (IEEE Format)

[2] GlobalWebIndex Q3 2019, Gaming Category, “An exploration of how the gaming landscape is changing” https://www.gwi.com/hubfs/Downloads/Gaming-trends-2019.pdf

[3] Activision Blizzard Media, “Modern Gamer Personas” https://www.activisionblizzardmedia.com/content/dam/atvi/ab-media/gamer-identity/Gallery_of_the_Gamer_-_Modern_Gamer_Personas.pdf

[4] GlobalWebIndex Q3 2020, Gaming personas, “An audience profile on the digital attitudes and behaviors of six gamer types” https://www.gwi.com/hubfs/Downloads/Gaming_Personas.pdf

[5] Retro-Games And Consoles Are The Latest Craze In The Gamer World. Washington, D.C: NPR, 2017. https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/docview/2056828330