Preferred Squads

Project Description

We were tasked by Activision to redesign their Call of Duty companion app in order to attract current and new players and to create a sense of community through the app. My team created a rating system called Preferred Players where players are able to rate each other as Preferred and Not Preferred. Players then have the ability to access a locked feature called Preferred SQUADS where they can interact with other like-minded players and form groups.

Problem

From our observation and research on the Call of Duty female audience, we came to the conclusion that for female gamers the gaming community is not a very welcoming environment for them especially in the Call of Duty community that is known for its toxic players. So we thought, how might we be able to use the companion app to create a more inclusive environment for female gamers and to help them find a community they feel safe with.

Insights

My teammate and I conducted some secondary research. We both focused on looking up and reading articles on the experience of female gamers and on what causes aggression and toxic behavior in players. According to our research, we came to the conclusion that the main reasons players engaged in toxic behavior when gaming is when a player is already an aggressive person in general or when the player is aggressive due to the competitive nature of the gaming community. We also interviewed women that have been playing video games since they were young and identify as female gamers. From these interviews, we found that most of them prefer to play with their friends instead of strangers so that they can avoid the constant harassment that comes with being a female gamer, especially when playing on mic in a multiplayer game. These women have also expressed that they have been harassed and degraded so often while playing video games that they have just accepted it as part of their gaming experience.

Solutions

We created a rating system called Preferred Players where players are able to rate each other as Preferred and Not Preferred. Those with a high Preferred rating are able to access a locked Preferred SQUADS feature where they are able to form groups to play with. Those groups would contain like-minded, good-natured players.