Coin Shop
As part of the overall UI revamp for Smeet, a top priority was the redesign of the Coin Shop.
Overview
Role
UI/UX Design
Genre
Social Game
Engine
In-House Engine
Tools
Photoshop, Illustrator, Miro, Midjourney
Team Size: 1
Duration
Jan 2023 – Nov 2023
Platform
PC, Web Browser, Android,
macOS, iOS
Background
The social game Smeet fosters connections through interactive chat, dynamic challenges that blend collaboration and competition, and engaging social events.
Players can enhance their experience by purchasing Coins, which allows them to acquire Premium-grade clothing, room decor, and other upgrades to personalize their journey even further and gain an edge in challenges.
Goals
A vital aspect is enhancing our user engagement and conversion by creating a frictionless buying experience that encourages spending, e.g., by the introduction of new coin bundles. The new approach introduces a more engaging and visually appealing layout while maintaining alignment with the established design guidelines.
Challenges
The focus is ensuring clarity and simplicity. All prices, conversion rates, and package benefits must be clearly presented to ensure an intuitive purchasing process, from selection to check out.
Upselling opportunities should be designed with the user in mind, ensuring transparency and trust, while also aligning with the necessary monetization goals.
The limitations set by partnering payment providers and the outdated engine present technical constraints. So it requires some ingenuity when it comes to a seamless implementation of the new coin shop features while simultaneously ensuring the continued functionality of the existing system.
Roles and Responsibilities
Research and Data Analysis
Besides personas, surveys, analyzing competitors and analyzing the current user behavior, the coins shop required an in-depth research on monetization models and prizing strategies. Especially information about what price points tend to drive the most purchases or which discounts are most effective, informed some upcoming design decisions.
UX Design
The redesigned coin shop introduces features for premium members, offering the ability to purchase limited-edition items, resources, and special advantages in challenges. The shop’s offerings are dynamically tailored, showcasing more appealing and relevant deals for different types of players. This includes a revamped selection of bundles, featuring, e.g., unique items or currency packs. The new pricing strategy for these bundles is designed to provide greater value for users and to enhance the purchasing experience.
UI Design
I translated UX requirements and prototypes into visually engaging and functional UI elements, ensuring a smooth transition from concept to execution. Within that process, I prioritized creating an intuitive and accessible interface, designed to accommodate players of all experience levels, ensuring an inclusive and enjoyable experience for everyone.
To facilitate future scalability, I developed reusable components that simplified updates and ensured consistency across the design.
Key Takeaways
Monetization Balance
Ensuring a balance between monetization goals and the user experience can be tricky. In-game purchases are supposed to be enticing, but not coercive. The project started out as a UI adjustment, but soon raised questions about the current flow/user journey concerning acquiring coins. We needed to provide players with more direct non-monetary ways to earn rewards, making the shop feel optional but rewarding.Achievements
Emphasize
Clear benefit and currency displays built trust and credibility, using ethical monetization that made players feel valued. This fostered long-term loyalty and a positive player-game relationship.