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Recommendation
Help users discover new content and shortcuts, aiming to enhance user engagement and reduce drop-off during the content discovery process
My Role:
Product Design Intern @ Growth Team
Skills:
Project Development
Prototyping
UI/ UX Design
Pitch Presentation
User Testing
Timeline:
May 2024 - Aug 2024
Stakeholders:
Director: Tim Wong
Manager: Michael Herrera
Mentor: Tan Ma
Engineer: Wenqi Mao
PM: Chen Zhang, Chris Aston
Project Overview

Project Goal

Today, Roblox offers various features to help users discover new games and experiences on the platform. However, users sometimes still struggle to find new content, often feeling bored or unsure of what to play next. This can lead them to disengage and ultimately close the app.

The goal of this project was to identify key moments where users lose interest during the discovery stage and design solutions to reduce drop-offs while improving reengagement.

My Contributions

  • Led the 'Recommendation Next' and 'Random Shuffle' features, developing prototypes in Figma and Protopie for multiple platforms (laptop, mobile, VR), streamlining the content discovery process with a 60% reduction in steps.
  • Conducted a product audit of 27 discovery-related products, working closely with PMs to integrate insights and refine feature designs.
  • Led a cross-team workshop involving 9 designers and stakeholders to ideate potential solutions.
  • Collaborated with a UXR to lead usability tests with 10 users, gathering insights to inform key design decisions.
Background

“The Boredom in the Discovery Journey”

Roblox offers billions of experiences, games, and features to help users discover content on the platform. However, users still find themselves feeling bored, not knowing what to explore, and eventually closing the app.

Problem

“How might we re-engage users and capture their attention when they're feeling bored?”

To dive deeper into the problem, I collaborated with a User Researcher to understand why users feel bored, close the app, or leave a game. Based on the quantitative data provided, I categorized the reasons into the following categories:

54%
Game related reasons:
Poor quality
Repetitive play
...
30%
Social related reasons:
Friends left
Switching servers
...
16%
Other reasons:
Time to get dinner
Need to do something else
...

Then I realized that the main reasons for user drop-off are boredom and not knowing what to do next when they feel boredom. To address the core user problem I decided to revive users' attention by combating boredom and providing new content to reignite their discovery journey.

Process

Competitor Audit

To better understand how to revive users from boredom, I conducted a visual audit of 27 similar competitors and synthesized common design patterns. During this process, I explored how different apps utilize content strategies to revive user interest, combat boredom, and re-engage users in the discovery phase.

Competitor Audit Overview (Content blurred due to NDA)
Similar Content
Signal Collection
Auto-play
Recap
Random Shuffle
Social Sharing

The audit opened my mind to various ways of re-engaging users. For example, some competitors use social sharing, while others utilize similar content to re-engage users. Additionally, I discovered that the entry point for re-engagement doesn't have to be when users are already bored; it can also appear during or even before users consume content.

Cross-function Brainstorming

Based on the audit takeaways, I realized the potential for re-engagement content extended beyond the Discovery team. So, I reached out to product managers and designers from four other teams and outlined potential re-engagement content options to prevent user churn.

To further facilitate the collaboration and consolidate the content options I hosted a workshop with 10 designers from 4 different teams to brainstorm, where in the workshop I gathered a tons of amazing ideas to re-engage users on perspectives from different teams and content.

Discovery Content
Social Sharing
Upselling Information
Market Purchase
Developer Community
Account Safety & Report
Brainstorm Whiteboard Screenshot (Content blurred due to NDA)
Iterations

Based on the amazing ideas I gathered in the workshop session, I started to visualize some of the core features, and iterated on several designs from low-fidelity sketches to high-fidelity prototypes with input from PMs and engineers. Below are some major iteration design treatments I focused on.

Entry Points
Content Hierarchy
Pop-up window Interactions
Cross-platform Design
Design Explorations Overview (Content blurred due to NDA)

Cross Platform Design

Another challenge I faced was designing for multiple platforms, as Roblox products span mobile, console, and VR devices. I worked on adapting the designs to fit various screen sizes, ensuring a unified experience across the range of devices used by Roblox users.

User Testing

To validate the design, I conducted 9 user testing sessions. In the user testing sessions I showed them different design treatments, and asked their perceptions on the new design. These sessions validated many of my decisions, and based on their feedback, I iterated on the design to better serve users. And here are some of the quotes from them.

Final Design

Based on feedback from user testing and internal design critiques, I iterated on the final design. Additionally, I prototyped the "Random Shuffle" feature in Protopie to explore micro interactions and transition screens. Ultimately, I delivered a comprehensive "UpNext Recommendation" feature across Laptop, Mobile, and VR platforms.

Leaving Page Interaction

Random Shuffle Interaction

Before
After
Impacts

Made it 60% faster for users to find their next content

The project streamlined the process for users to discover new games at the end of each play session.

Harmonized solutions to resolve problems for 4 teams

The project spans content across 4 teams, and my design created a unified interface to accommodate the diverse content.

Designed across mobile, laptop, and VR screens

I designed project screens to be consistent and functional across various platforms, including laptop, mobile, and VR devices

Reflections

Fostering Collaboration:  
I practiced that design can lead a project and spark meaningful conversations across team collaborations. In this project, my design influenced 5 project teams, facilitating discussions that drove the transition from ideas to development.

Designing in Depth and Breadth:
‍I learned to design across a wide range of content, including collaborating with different teams, as well as focusing on detailed aspects, such as implementing algorithms in content layout.

Reasoning with Testings and Data:
I leveraged user testing and data to inform my design decisions. This approach not only shaped the design but also served as a powerful tool for aligning with stakeholders.

Next: Roblox "Messaging Reaction"
Copyright © 2024 Peiyi Sun