Background:

     This app is an entertainment game for (dog loving) users to play an interactive bingo game on the go. It’s like a treasure hunt but the treasure is dogs that match the bingo cards description. This will be an idle game where users can come and go from the app as they please without requiring the player to complete the goal. This will be good for casual gamers who prefer entertainment without committing to competitive play. (although bingo cards will be timed so competitiveness against friends for top position on the leaderboard is encouraged).

Goals:

      I want to create a fun game for animal lovers and walkers. This app will require a smart device with a camera in order for users to take pictures of the subject, such as, an iPhone or Android. Users will be able to share their results with friends and encourage them to play and compete who can complete their bingo card quickest.

My impact:

      I have done user research, wiremaps, POV statements, created flow charts and user journey maps to understand user needs and to help me design the app. I have used videos on YouTube to help me create my game within unity. adjusting found shared C# script online to suit my game in order for it to work to build a prototype. In hopes that in the future this will get developed and properly functioning.

Risks:

      Privacy to dog owners, people not posting the correct image to fill their bingo card.

When making a game for iPhone, apple have a guideline and rules that must be followed to get an app approved to be put in the app store. https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/  . Meanwhile Android has no requirements to publish apps through the Google Play store.

Will app run in background for timer to continue? Which can lead to battery drainage for the mobile user.

Summary:

       During the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) classes I studied at University, I learnt the fundamentals of designing websites/apps using unity. And to understand by users by creating wireframes, journey maps, mood boards, and POV statements.

Research

Goal areas I would like to explore:

What are the pain points of the app?

Are there similar apps - the app where user can enter what they want in the bingo card and user has to take Pictures and play with friends

How can people without a dog play?

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Methodology

User interviews with dog owners and non dog owners.

App and website analysis to discover competitors.

Secondary research of locations for best dog meet up spots or walking trails.

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Current evaluation

To help understand pain points in using the app:

Needing to use the camera for the game has privacy complications - in app permissions

Having games timed - will timer run in background of app if user hasn't found subject? can users come off the game and resume their bingo card when they find subject?

Needing service/Wi-Fi to upload data and to share online - users can save data and share data once connected to internet.

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Demographic

"The rise of mobile gaming and data acquisition has allowed game developers and marketers to understand their audience significantly and hyper-target potential new players. This allowed them to stop marketing games so broadly and begin to appeal to specific audiences such as older gamers and women.

Targeting such niche audiences can prove beneficial as well – as there is less competition with niche audiences vs. mainstream audiences.

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In addition to being able to target potential players more effectively, game developers could also display ads in their games more effectively – allowing them to charge more for niche targeting and make more revenue from ads."  - Uptic (2022)

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My target would potentially be midcore/causal gamers due to people who walk dogs would be in the typical ages of 20-50.

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POV statement chart