User Research

This is an internal innovation research project at MSI, exploring gamers' overall behavior during gameplay. Through observation and interviews, we identified various minor disturbances, inconveniences, and players' habits and solutions. We collaborated with internal and external stakeholders and users to brainstorm solutions to meet their needs and alleviate pain points.

Service

Questionnaire survey
Behavioral observation
Brainstorming

Task testing
User interviews

Support

Brainstorming

Designer

Product Designer

Jin

Product Designer

Irene

Product Designer

Sonia

My Role

In this project, I initiated and drafted the research plan, designed the study content and procedures, and created questionnaires to screen participants. I planned testing tasks, developed a semi-structured interview guide, analyzed the data to identify user behaviors and pain points, and led brainstorming workshops to develop solutions with stakeholders.

Why ?

We researched factors causing inconvenience or bother for players during gameplay.

Players often encounter minor interruptions, such as phone calls, messages, eating, or drinking, which disrupt their gaming experience. This user study aims to identify these inconveniences and provide design recommendations to mitigate them.

Study Flow

Test Tasks

Design Tasks

Design task flows based on the participants' diary records of their gaming process.

Environmental Simulation

Arrange the testing room to resemble the participants' gaming rooms as closely as possible.

Task Testing

Have participants play games in the testing room as they normally would, while completing the tasks we designed during gameplay.

Study Workflow

Before the user test

Step 1

Questionnaire

We used questionnaires to select suitable gamers as research participants and conducted phone interviews to understand their gaming habits and explain the testing process.

Step 2

Diary Study

We created diary record sheets and invited gamers to document their gaming activities in detail for a week to help us understand their gaming processes.

Step 3

Actual field environment

We also invited gamers to take photos of their actual gaming rooms and setups. This helped researchers simulate their real environments for the study.

Define &  Co-Creation

We invited all stakeholders—player participants, designers, PMs, engineers, and decision-making executives—to our innovation workshop. Together, we brainstormed innovative product solutions and services based on the user research and behavior testing reports.

Prototype

We created a low-fidelity prototype test for players to ensure our co-created ideas met user needs and addressed their pain points.

Value Proposition

The research revealed that receiving external messages during gameplay is the biggest pain point for players. They must determine if it's a call or message, who sent it, the urgency, and whether it requires an immediate response. These interruptions affect their focus and handling of tasks or relationships.

Conclusion

Therefore, we created design advice for this pain point.

Gamers can connect their phones to their computers via Bluetooth or network. A hotkey shows urgent messages on the game screen, and another expands details. Players can reply using their keyboard and mouse without picking up their phones.
We developed software that enables gamers to make a designated section of the game screen transparent with one click. Players can place any needed content in the window behind this section for easy viewing during gameplay.
Additionally, the research team collaborated with industrial designers to develop a foot-controlled mouse. This device aids players by allowing macro execution or simple mouse control via foot pedals when their hands are occupied.

Record Behavior & Interview

Researchers documented participants' behaviors and responses during the gaming tasks. Each action was recorded on sticky notes and organized sequentially by pre-game, during-game, and post-game phases. Participants were then interviewed to discuss their actions, thoughts, and any issues encountered. These insights were also recorded on sticky notes, using different colors to distinguish each phase.