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In a nutshell
Steam is a digital distribution platform used for purchasing and playing video games on PC. The platform is extremely popular, hosting over 120 million active users worldwide. It also acts as a hub for gamers - offering forums, social features, and cloud-saving functionality.
This project explores the information architecture and content strategy of Steam’s mobile site, as well as proposes an updated design based on user test results.
Steam's current mobile website presents its users with an overwhelming amount of information with no meaningful tool to filter, resulting in key features being buried.
Our objectives were to assess current information architecture, understand user needs, and use testing to validate proposed solutions.
01   Content inventory - User challenges
We performed a Content Inventory of primary and secondary navigation items on Steam's current mobile website. This resulted in 236 separate items over four main navigation categories: Store, Community, Profile, and Support.
Insights
  • Too many promotional materials meant that important features were buried in secondary navigation levels.
     
  • Too many genre sub-categories made navigating the ‘Store’ page challenging.
     
  • The user experience was continuously interrupted by an aggressive push of (redundant) feature recommendations around upcoming Valve hardware.
     
  • Confusing and inconsistent naming conventions.
02   User Profiles
We approached the redesign through the lens of three distinct personas:
The Noob
A casual gamer with a mid-tier setup who likes to play popular games alone or with friends.
The Elite
A seasoned gamer who likes to play competitively and is an active member in the community forums.
The Scout
An avid gamer who is on a tight budget and keeps track of sales to buy games on their wishlist.
03   Card sort
We distilled Steam into 38 crucial features/cards and asked test participants to assign them to five categories:
Store
Profile
Community
Support
I don’t know
We conducted three rounds of card sorts. Changes were made to each subsequent round based on our insights from the previous round.
Insights
  • Participants found jargon and abbreviations difficult to understand.
     
  • Reducing the number of features by grouping them under broader umbrellas helped participants sort cards accurately.
     
  • Having consistent nomenclature under each main category helped participants sort cards accurately.
05   Tree Test
We used the tree test method to test the effectiveness of our site map. Participants were asked to complete the following tasks:
  • You want to purchase a new game on Steam. Using this site, where would you go to find games that are currently on sale?
     
  • You purchased a game that you aren't satisfied with. Using this site, where would you go to request a refund?
     
  • You want to purchase an in-game item. Using this site, where would you go to browse and make your purchase?
     
  • You want to read user discussions for a game that you frequently play. Using this site, where would you go to find this content?
We conducted three rounds of tree tests. Changes were made to each subsequent round based on our insights from the previous round.
Insights
  • Participants had a mediocre success rate but a high rate of directness.
     
  • Participants selected the correct main navigation category consistently but struggled with the next level of organization.
     
  • Participants found jargon and abbreviations difficult to understand.
     
  • Having consistent nomenclature under each main category helped participants navigate the site more accurately.
07   Wireframes
We designed an updated proposal for Steam’s mobile site based on our card sort and tree test results, and the updated site map.
The wireframes explore the following scenarios:
  • The Noob   Looking through budget-friendly games on sale and making a purchase.
     
  • The Elite   Finding the discussion boards for a specific game.
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