UX RESEARCH
I did the research, talking with players of all levels of experience, learning their frustrations, gathering what I learned, and distilling them into actionable recommendations.

UX DESIGN
I designed wireframes in Sketch and flows, thinking about which interface design patterns were appropriate for the goals of the project and the limitations of the platforms they would be on.

(MORE) UX RESEARCH
With the wireframes ready, I created prototypes and tested the ideas before committing to full-on development.

VISUAL DESIGN
I did the graphic design, intentionally choosing typography, colors, and photography to project a feeling of grand adventure and reflect the Wizards of the Coast’s already well-established D&D brand.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
I orchestrated all of the above tasks, thinking of priorities and constraints while managing expectations as the project moved forward.

Creating SOMETHING NEW

THE DESIGN PROCESS

1. Discover: Gather Data

   • User Interviews

   • User Personas

2. Define: Narrow Scope

   • Problem Statement

3. Develop: Explore Possibilities

   • Ideation & Solution Exploration

   • Storyboarding & Use Cases

   • Deliverables

     • User Flows

     • Paper Prototyping & Usability Testing

     • Information Architecture

       • Card Sorting

       • Sitemap

       • Content Strategy & Content Hierarchy

     • Low to High Fidelity Wireframing, Prototyping, & More Usability Testing

     • Mockups, Style Guides, & More

   • Problem Redefinition & Pivots

4. Deliver: Define Constraints

   • Results: Goals Accomplished & Next Steps

   • Retrospective & Lessons Learned

DEFINING USERS

AUDIENCE

This project was designed for new and old fans of the game alike.

While well-crafted and meticulously balanced, the game itself is not inherently flawed. The way it is presented is.

No new player of the game finds the rules or the system engaging or easy to pick up. New players often spend their first year with the game floundering to understand how to play and most game sessions looking up rules in large textbook-like manuals.

Many older fans of the game have created personal systems to manage all the information they must juggle. They enjoy their personal and are very set in their ways. While some of those players may never change, many more long-time fans of the game crave a simpler way to play the game they love. DMs with little free time and resources can place tremendous value in this new app.

2 User Personas were crafted to reflect both the new player as the primary persona, the Player, and the experienced player running the game as the secondary persona, the Dungeon Master

NARROW SCOPE

2. DEFINE

PROBLEM STATEMENT

D&D Players need a better way to organize and run their game, because the current pen & paper method is boring, frustrating, and inefficient.

DISCOVERY

THE PROBLEM(S)

I hoped to create a simpler and easier experience for new players and a more concise and organized experience for veteran players.

These issues were initially hunches from my own personal observations of fans of the hobby. I had seen many new players who failed to get hooked despite strong interest and excitement, and I had seen many long-time fans of the game fail to finish their campaigns since they eventually were no longer able to keep their long-running games organized.

I initially recognized these issues from my own experiences and used those experiences as inspiration. However, I had to recognize my own personal biases during the research phase, so I learned about these issues further by interviewing players of all experience levels and by interviewing people who had no experience with any Role-Playing Games (RPGs). Additionally, I observed different campaigns being played to see where the major hiccups in each game occurred during actual uninterrupted playtime.

understanding the issues 

PROBLEM AREAS

1. High Barrier to Entry for New Players

Even the most basic rules are daunting and filled with confusing acronyms, character creation is long and complex, and the overall experience is intimidating and difficult. The overall experience can be frustrating and unrewarding for players who are not already deeply familiar with the system.

2. Messy & Inconvenient even for Veteran Players

Even players with max level characters keep all their spells bookmarked and a copy of the Player’s Handbook nearby. Dungeon Masters (DMs) have massive folders and screens pinned with cheat sheets for everything: Non-Player Character (NPC) names, common rule look ups, party members’ Armor Classes (ACs) and Hit Point (HP) totals, combat trackers, etc. The list is exhaustive.

3. In short: D&D is a lot of work.

PREPARATION TO CRAFT A SOLUTION

SETTING GOALS

Make the game easier to pick up & play.

Make the meticulous notes and rules faster & cleaner for both players and DMs.

Less work. More play.

AVOIDING THE CLUTTER

• No more DM binders and no more lost Character Sheets. Everything’s backed up to the cloud.

• Send your dice from your phone to the TV in seconds. An engaging way to play while streamlining any math from added bonuses, avoiding fudging dice rolls, and forgetting which one the d6 is (it’s the normal dice-looking one) or how a Percentile Die works (nobody really knows).

• Track Combat and Roll Initiative in seconds. The DM prompts the group to roll and within moments, the entire party’s order is displayed on screen for everyone to see.

LOWERING THE BARRIER TO ENTRY

• Learn to Play by Actually Playing. It takes an elite type of person to read a couple hundred pages of rules just to start playing a game. Double or even triple that amount for a first time DM. Instead, teach rules as they come up naturally through play.

• No more lengthy rule lookups. Unsure of what that Ability does? Wondering how long it takes to cast a certain Spell? What are Somatic Components anyways? Tap on a term for its definition or cast it to your SmartTV to share with either the DM or the Party.

Character Creation Use-Case

• Use-Case 1: Player creates a new character

• Actor: Player

• Use-Case Overview: It is Session 0 (the first time the group meets up to discuss their game), and the party needs to create new characters for their upcoming campaign. The group parties up. Each individual player begins working through the flow from race to class to background until they’ve completed their character.

Party Management Use-Case

• Use-Case 1: Player views information about other members of their party.

• Actor: Player

• Use-Case Overview: A player is in the middle of the game and needs to quickly see what his teammates’ abilities are and their current status. The player can quickly see if any party member is in danger or if they have strengths/weaknesses relevant to the current situation.

Combat Tracker Use-Case

• Use-Case 1: Dungeon Master tracks important combat information and shares anything relevant.

• Actor: Dungeon Master

• Use-Case Overview: The DM prompts the group to begin combat by rolling initiative. The initiative order is set and a screen is cast to a TV depicting the turn order, the status of all party members, and the number of enemies. The DM then uses this tool to run combat. 

Party Overview Use-Case

• Use-Case 1: Dungeon Master views the party’s status and abilities.

• Actor: Dungeon Master

• Use-Case Overview: The DM is approaching an encounter they have prepared. They quickly view the party’s status and abilities to ensure they know if the encounter will be appropriate or if it will need to be adjusted.