Crosswords have a rich tradition, uniting enthusiasts globally for over a century. Crosswordr, in its role as a place for community, contributes to the next chapter of crossword history. It provides constructors with a platform to easily and directly connect with those who love solving their puzzles (“Solvers”). Through studying competitors and collaborative design workshops, we elevated the user interface, creating a more community-focused environment.
Constructors now have the flexibility to upload, edit, and control access to their puzzles, tailoring them for their followers or subscribers. On the solver's side, solvers can save, share, react to, or comment on puzzles, fostering a vibrant and interactive puzzle-solving community. Crosswordr is not just a place for solving puzzles (see Crosswordr Solving); it's a thriving community hub where constructors and solvers seamlessly connect and collaborate.
Beginning the design process for Crosswordr, our central focus revolved around amplifying engagement and streamlining usability. Yet, beyond this, our primary mission was to cultivate a sense of vibrant community among both crossword solvers and constructors.
1. Community Building
Establish Crosswordr as a thriving community hub where crossword enthusiasts can connect, collaborate, and share their passion for puzzles.
Our exploration began with a comprehensive analysis of existing crossword puzzle platforms. It became evident that the community-centric features were either rudimentary or entirely absent. Limited access and a lack of interactive spaces hindered the organic growth of a community among constructors and solvers. Recognizing this gap in the market, we were determined to infuse a vibrant community essence into Crosswordr.
To ensure our design decisions aligned with user needs, we hosted targeted workshops with external stakeholders deeply embedded in the crossword puzzle community. Engaging directly with active participants, including constructors and solvers immersed in various crossword communities, we aimed to grasp their pain points, desires, and expectations from a crossword platform. These insightful conversations not only affirmed our initial observations but also unveiled nuanced perspectives, shedding light on the multifaceted nature of community within this context.
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Having built a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), we gave early access to a curated group of solvers and constructors. This pivotal phase allowed us to observe user interactions firsthand, collecting valuable feedback that served as a guide for refining the platform's overall user experience. Through iterative testing, we not only refined the website's usability but also discovered profound insights into the user requirements essential for the upcoming development phase. This iterative feedback loop was instrumental in shaping the foundation for our next milestone—the introduction of a user-centric community hub.
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Informed by insights from design workshops with external stakeholders and enriched through MVP and early user testing, we crafted detailed user personas. These guides capture the diverse needs and motivations of constructors and solvers, guiding our design choices to genuinely align with our community's unique expectations.
Solver Persona
Constructor Persona
In this stage, we transition from insights gained through research and persona creation to the dynamic phase of prototyping and iteration. Through design refinement and user feedback cycles, we refined the Crosswordr experience, ensuring it aligns seamlessly with user needs, characteristics and usage patterns.
Actions
Refined the puzzle-sharing process, enabling users to seamlessly save and share puzzles within the community.
Implemented prompts for unregistered users, highlighting the benefits of signing up to share or save puzzles.
Impacts
Elevated community engagement through an intuitive sharing experience.
Increased user registration, expanding the active community and enhancing user retention.
Puzzle sharing for registered solvers
Prompting unregistered solver for signup
Actions
Refined constructor profiles, allowing for personalized color schemes, cover images, and a curated portfolio of created puzzles.
Added the ability for constructors to put their profiles in a private mode, allowing real-time review before making them public.
Impacts
Improved the overall user experience by empowering constructors to express their unique styles and facilitating easier discovery of constructors' creative works.
Provider profile settings page (Constructor)
Provider profile public page (Solver)
Actions
Provided constructors the ability to define puzzle visibility (draft, scheduled and public) and audience (public, followers and subscribers).
Impacts
Enhanced puzzle personalization, allowing constructors to cater to specific audiences.
Scheduled releases provided constructors with a posting rhythm and built anticipation among solvers, fostering continuous connection and engagement as they awaited upcoming puzzles.
Puzzle visibility and audience on puzzle detail page (Constructor)
Provider public profile with follower only puzzles banner (Solver)
Actions
Introduced interactive reaction options for puzzle clues, the puzzle itself, and real-time commenting during and after solving.
Impacts
Elevating user retention and community commitment, the integration of dynamic commenting and reactions created a vibrant puzzle-solving experience. Users actively engaged, fostering a deeper sense of belonging and connection within the community through collaborative discussions and shared reactions.
Clue reaction while solving (Solver & Constructor)
Commenting while solving (Solver & Constructor)
Puzzle reaction post-solve (Solver & Constructor)
Commenting post-solve (Solver & Constructor)
Actions
Created a dedicated puzzle management page for constructors with Puzzle Statistics and details of each puzzles.
Impacts
Constructors gained a comprehensive overview of their performance, allowing them to efficiently manage puzzles.
The introduction of bulk functions and filtering options streamlined the puzzle creation process, facilitating the identification of effective strategies and areas for improvement.
Puzzle Management page (Constructor)
Actions
Conducted a thorough review of the Crosswordr interface to ensure optimal performance and usability across diverse devices, including desktops, tablets, and mobile phones.
Impacts
The responsive design approach ensures that crossword enthusiasts can seamlessly enjoy the platform's engaging experience across various devices, fostering inclusivity and accessibility.
This flexibility has not only expanded the platform's reach but also contributed to increased user engagement and satisfaction.
The key to a successful translation of design into a working product lies in the effective communication between designers and developers. To foster this collaboration, I conducted regular meetings with the development team to to go through the design and address any questions or feedback.
To ensure a smooth dev handoff, I prepared design deliverables such as detailed design specifications, assets, and style guides. This approach ensured that the development team is well-equipped with all the necessary information, minimized the chances of oversight and facilitated a smooth and accurate implementation of the design into a functional product.
One of the fundamental lessons I gained from this project revolves around the adoption of Agile methodology. Agile is not just a project management framework; it's a mindset that prioritizes adaptability and collaboration. By breaking down the project into small increments Agile enabled us to respond swiftly to changing requirements and delivered tangible results at the end of each iteration.
Through my experience, I learned that Agile promotes constant communication among team members and stakeholders. Daily stand-ups and sprint reviews fostered an environment where feedback was encouraged. This iterative approach not only enhances project flexibility but also ensures that the final product aligned more closely with the evolving needs of the end-users.
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