THE STORY
A year or two ago, I came up with the basic idea for this app. I cut out circles and drew rings on paper to play it. I designed basic screens in Sketch, prototyping it in InVision. With a focus on minimalistic design and gameplay, I wanted to create an addictive game that’s fun to play but also beautiful to look at. In a world of intricate games, it’s a hyper-causal, minimalist game for the in-between moments in life.
GAMEPLAY
Tap or swipe the circles until all the colors match. Beat your record with a new challenge every-time.
THE DEVELOPMENT
Though all the designs were mine, I outsourced the development and worked closely with the iOS engineers in every step of the process. This included weekly meetings to discuss progress, provide feedback, and prepare for the App Store launch.
NOTABLE DISCOVERIES AND CHANGES
While the original vision of the game did not drastically change, there were small tweaks based off testing and user feedback that resulted in a better user experience and gameplay. Below are some of the most notable changes that were made in the development or added through testing:
• Swopster only featured a swipe motion but after feedback concerning the fastest way to move the circles, a tap feature was added and actually became the preferred interaction.
• Some colors were changed to provide a better range of shades and tints that wouldn't appear too similar when on a screen for all ages.
• A series of change were made to ensure that the swipe/tap motion would be smooth and easy for the user including increasing the target area for interaction, and locking the circles to move in straight lines.
• Changing the way the user's time would appear. Originally the timer was written as "1m 20s" but was changed to the format of "00:23:17" so that milliseconds were included to encourage the user to beat even the smallest millisecond of their record.
DESIGNS
ONBOARDING
Although the app is simple, we want the users to feel comfortable with the gameplay mechanics like tapping and swiping. The screens below show parts of our onboarding sequence.
MARKETING
A big part of releasing an app is marketing. Whether it's through word of mouth or through social media, any exposure matters. Below are the Instagram versions of designs and videos that I made to market the app through social media. We encourage users to follow Swopster on social media to see all the designs and stay updated with the app.
THE EXPERIENCE
As helpful as classes and tutorials are, nothing compares to the real life experience of creating an app and every obstacle and learning experience along the way. The small nuances of designing and developing an app can only be discovered in the process. From researching and picking the right sounds, to how the circles appear on the screen, every single detail matters and needs to be communicated with exact requirements with the development team, especially when they are overseas.