I am a huge fan for board games, and the game werewolf is one of my favorite. A lot of people around me find this game particularly interesting but also very complex and time-consuming. It’s not easy to play this game well and it requires the referee to be very professional in order to run the game smoothly. So, as I play this game while taking the Interaction Design Capstone Project, I was wondering:“how about creating an APP that could help novices quickly be familiar with the game and improve the whole game experience?” Having this thought in mind, I started observing guys playing werewolf game, trying to find some insights and pain points. Much to my surprise, once I settled down and focused on it, breakthroughs and insights were coming like a flush, furthermore, when I tried to talk about my ideas with those guys, they were all very supportive about it, saying it was a great idea. So, at that time I was pretty sure my idea was a correct one and things I created could make a difference.
In the observation and need-finding process, I found two main important points that influence the game experience. The first one is the referee’s proficiency about the game process, and another is the time control. So, I designed my prototype mainly solve these two problems: the APP is for the referee to manage the game, it will lead the user to go through the whole game process without any missing part, and it has a timer function to control time properly.
Latter in the Capstone Project was a constant improvement and modification through users test. I’ve tested my prototype on people actually played werewolf before, and also tested it on people who know nothing about werewolf. I’ve tested it in the real word, face-to-face and tested it online. All of them gave me a lot of great advice. For example, I add some short links in the page, I add more color in the APP and for online A/B test I know how to show the game results in a more visual way. After a long way, I am pretty confident about my design is good enough, although it is only a prototype now but it is unique and really can change something in the game of werewolf.
