Counter-Strike:Global Offensive (CS:GO) is the 3rd highest grossing video game of all-time, currently boasting over $80 million annual revenue and approximately 4 million daily active players, most cite issues related to getting along with teammates as the biggest barrier to progressing competitively. To bridge that gap, I developed 5 Stack: a recruitment and team management tool (and then some) for CS:GO players.

This project was done as a response to a large gap found in the am-pro (amateur-professional, or semi-professional) gaming scene. From preliminary research to a high-fidelity prototype, it took five weeks. The project commenced on April 5, and culminated on May 7, 2021.

personas

Preliminary User Research dug deep into active CS:GO players’ mindset. Two particular personas were created: Bert “Old Bert” Jackson & Ernie “E-Sharp” Holt. Their personal and team goals were different, but they both have the same goal of finding the right teammates.

After weeks of market research, prospective user interviews, and deep dives into the world of “am-pro” (aspiring pro gamers) competitive leagues, I uncovered that while players vary greatly in their short- and long-term goals, they all shared similar pain points when it came to teaming up.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the users’ pain points directly related to their expectations of the “right” teammates. And while Old Bert and E-Sharp’s expectations vary, they tended to experience the same difficulties in the process of finding the right teammates.

While considering insights I gained from auditing both direct and indirect competition, I started to reconsider the typical process a user would have to go through in order to find teammates. I brainstormed on different ways the process could be made much easier for users to find teammates of a similar mindset.

As soon as the digital wireframes were fleshed out, I created a low fidelity prototype to be able to test how users would react to the information architecture, visual hierarchy, and general functionality of the platform. Though the long-term goal for this platform is to be compatible across multiple devices, I chose to start from the mobile device experience because it is the most commonly used among the target user group.

insights

After the test, I gathered and organized the data. After reviewing trends and conducting follow-up interviews and surveys, three key themes emerged. These themes lead to insights that turned into actionable tasks to refine the prototype.

While the project has culminated for now, its future still has potential. Should this platform be developed further, several considerations should take priority.