Typically, customers would not find out if an arcade cabinet is out of service until they are physically in front of the machine. Communication like this would help immensely with customer frustrations.
A local arcade is having issues with customer service and workers spending extra time with their inventory. They want an overhaul of their system to better match modern game stores, with a digital catalogue full of relevant info.
Lead UX Designer - Wireframing, Prototyping
UX Researcher - User Testing, Analysis
Graphics - UI Designing
It can be easy to forget about the time when products weren't at the touch of a fingerprint. Companies like GameStop or Amazon make it all too easy to see what's in stock, what people are saying about it, purchase and then wait for it to be delivered to your front door. Before that, you would have to go to a physical location and either browse by hand or ask for an associate.
For places like arcades, that system never seemed to get an upgrade. When you visit sites like Dave n Busters or the locally owned Pinballz, it isn't always clear what games are available, what the prices are, or if they're even worth your time. No one likes the feeling of arriving at an arcade only to find out the cabinet they wanted to play is out of service.
These were the concerns that were brought to me by Cabbie's Arcade, another small but cult classic franchise. Why not have an advanced system integrated into their inventory? That way customers could easily see which locations had what cabinets, what you can expect to pay per machine, browse by categories, and more. Bring the most of what people get out of video game purchasing websites and bring it to a niche that sorely needs it.
We had a lot of good inspiration to go off of since game cataloging had been done in the past. But surveying a wide range of different types of people who frequent arcades revealed different pain points and concerns that we needed to consider. For the more casual person who enjoyed going for fun on their own, there was more of an interest in better categorization for the types of games to be expected, as well as an interest in seeing and leaving reviews. Some of the more competitive gamers had a great interest in being able to see a ranking system.
The biggest group of people were mostly interested in attending arcades for special occasions, such as birthdays or large parties. As such, they were especially interested in seeing pricing, as well as wanting to see any sort of bundles to save money and reservation of machines. VIP Passes for games and / or parking was also a factor that was mentioned and considered.
In general, everyone seemed eager for a cleaner inventory of a local arcade's game offerings, but the prospect of having the functionality of online discussions and interactions was also appealing. This overhaul would bring the arcade community closer together while making it much easier for workers.
The app needed to have a very straightforward interface but with a lot of character to go with the environment of the arcades they supported. I studied various ways that other sites navigated through inventory systems and took a lot of inspiration there. The biggest takeaway was to include a genre filter system much like online game libraries have for their stock.
I also wanted to be sure there was a small amount of community interfacing as well, such as the ability to leave comments, review games, and showcase high scores.
Initial feedback on the low fidelity greatly helped with better functionality. Not everyone could figure out how to apply tags and filter properly for the results they wanted. It was also unclear on which locations had the games at their brick and mortar. These changes helped the user experience to ensure the tasks they needed to complete could be done with ease and without unnecessary roadblocks.
High fidelity feedback gave me good insight on making sure colors had enough contrast for the best visibility. It also helped with adjusting font sizing to make sure things were legible in such a compact space. Though they were small in the grand scheme of things, it gave the entire app a more polished feel.
With the integration of this new system, arcade return customers have increased by 23%, which also affected quarterly revenue positively. On top of that, the digital inventory helps structure employee time as well, which freed up calls and inquiries about game availability and questions by up to 45%!
Overall ratings of the business grew as well. Frustrations were eased because of how effortless it was to find information that the user wanted. Customer experience was higher and a stronger community was formed because of a newfound way to connect to others.
Though this is a great tool for the owners to help with their business, I think it can be pushed even further. What I'd like to see as the next big push is to add means to purchase party bundles and host tournaments on the app. This would only grow the community more and lend to further interest in their business.
