Cuttle Cards is an open source project powered by a small discord community, a handful of engineers and designers, and a fun little game. I was asked to help in any capacity with designs for this game and wanted to start with an area that I thought needed the most improvement: user onboarding.
Overview
Role:
Lead Product Designer
Design Systems
Timeline:
4 weeks
How might we improve the sign up experience for new users?
Challenge
Discovery
I started with a usability audit of the entire site, identifying areas where pain points, confusion, or suspicion might arise.
When I signed up for the first time the process was easy enough, but without context from the creator - I probably would not have signed up because the initial design felt a bit rough and unpolished.
Because the goal of the creators is framed around growing the community, I wanted to focus on the new user.
Observations
You will likely not be able to play unless you are part of the Discord group
Currently the only button to find the Discord server was in the lobby page, and it was nearly invisible
When you come to Cuttle for the first time, the login page appears first instead of sign-up
We want to keep the sign up at the forefront and put the login behind the tertiary button instead
The rules need to be accessed through a button below a large paragraph
Bring the rules button further up in hierarchy to help people
Design Solutions
I added some friendly copy through a large welcome title along with a short tag line to quickly introduce the game
The video from the rules page was brought to the front page.
I moved rules button further up the screen to help users to access it easier
For the sign-up section, I instilled a more harmonious design using an 8px scale and colors that matched the game view theme
Made the sign up page appear first and provided a tertiary link for users who want to sign in
For engineering: communicated to send users straight to login screen if they had come to the site before
Added a larger, brand-oriented Discord button, helping signal users to join the community before even signing up