CASE STUDY
INTU8 Magic 8 Ball
How To Create an Intuitive Magic 8 Ball App
Roles:
Sadie Cruz
Project Manager, Prototyper,
Researcher, Visual Designer,
Co-Information Architecture
Isaac Wei
Co-Researcher
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Danna Balassyano
Information Architect,
Co-Researcher
Deliverables:
Brand Strategy, User Research Plan,
Wire-frames, Style Guide, Prototype
Tools:
Figma, Google Forms, Google Sheets, Miro
Time:
4 Weeks
INTU8
INTU8 is an astrology-based Magic 8 ball intended to ease anxiety when decision-making.
INTU8 helps build your intuition with Horary Astrology, a form of astrology that creates answers based on the astrology chart of your question. INTU8 is for the traveling astrologer and anxious decision-maker who are looking for a simple astrological way to find guidance.
We found frustrated users who were turning to a novelty app for honest advice.
EXAMINE
We looked at the origins of the magic 8 ball:
Founder, Albert C. Carter, was influenced by his mother who was a clairvoyant and believed in spiritual properties.
Initial Research
With so many other forms of Magic 8 Balls on the market we wanted an app that would stand out from the rest.
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Users in the app reviews wanted more authentic answers that related to them.
We looked at competing magic 8 balls:
Founder, Albert C. Carter, was influenced by his mother who was a clairvoyant and believed in spiritual properties.
So, our team asked...
How might we make the answers to an
8 ball app more intuitive for our users?
UNDERSTAND
INSIGHTS
We conducted market research, user interviews, and user surveys to test our theory and empathize with potential users.
How interested are people in using astrology for decision-making?
How often do you look outside of yourself to help you make a decision?
43% of users say Often
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Do you think Astrology can help you make decisions?
56% of users say Yes
Are people who use Magic 8 ball apps looking for more intuitive answers?
Users want a personalized app: During market research, users wanted the ability to customize their magic 8 ball and be able to give them more accurate advice.
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This gave us the idea to create a more intuitive app that was centered around astrology.
What is your biggest concern about using an intuitive Magic 8 ball app?
Addressing user concerns about astrology decisions: During our survey, people who believed in astrology wanted their advice to be accurate, specific, and reliable.
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Users said their main three concerns were
Reliability, Accuracy, and Privacy
UNDERSTAND
The User
From user interviews, we created...
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Jessica Khan represents the casual user that believes in astrology, wants to grow her intuition, and likes to keep her life problems private.
UNDERSTAND
The User Journey
We included pain points and needs from user interviews to inform the emotional experience of our users.
Based on this information, we have created a featured list and workflow that informed the information architecture of our app.
OUTCOME
Final Outcomes
We conducted our final round of usability tests with our target audience and a professional astrologer. This helped us test our solutions from the last round of testing and brought more accuracy to the horary astrology aspect of the app.
OUTCOME
#1: Sun sign to Moon Sign
In our usability test with Sanaa, professional astrologer,
In Horary astrology the moon sign is more relevant to decision making and represents the emotional aspects of a person.
BEFORE
AFTER
OUTCOME
#2: Using the Mental Models
for Menu Bar
In a usability test, it was pointed out the oddity of adding an about page to main menu.
After checking in with other sources, we decided to change the four menu buttons to three.
BEFORE
AFTER
OUTCOME
#3: Adding Personalizing Features
When conducting the usability test, most of the participants wanted more options for the page.
We add a button to change the photo that we miss in the first frame and add the moon sign information to personalize the page a bit more.
BEFORE
AFTER
IDEATE
The User Flow
After creating the story maps and the user journey, we started our user flow. We considered each step our users would have to go through to ensure they get the right answer to their questions using horary astrology.
IDEATE
Ideation Workshop
I lead ideation workshops for my team where we made crazy 8s for different features, work-shopped user flows, and created sketches to test out the app flow.
We wanted to get a chance to brainstorm and combine our ideas to make the best looking interface for our app.
IDEATE
The Wireframes
From the ideation workshops, we have created the right sketches to move forward to design the wireframe. After the first iteration of the wireframe, we conducted a user test.
IDEATE
Wireframe Testing
Wireframe Testing: We conducted an action test for different features and the overall app flow. We discovered clarity issues in our information architecture:
Found Confusing
Payment flow for premium sign-up
loading screen for decisions
the affordance of forgiveness
We reviewed the Nielsen's 10 Heuristic guidelines and made sure that we created a checklist for future development.
Fixed Confusion
IDEATE
Design Principles
From the main insights of our explore and understand phase we develop principles to inform the visual design of the app. This informed the way I created the app design system.
Nostalgia
Nostalgia is the main feature of using an 8 ball app. We want our users to feel reminded of the toy aspect of the 8 ball.
Personalization
Personalization helps separate us from the rest of the market and allows the user to connect to the app and make it their own space.
Authenticity
Authenticity is one of the main concerns that surveyors had, and it motivated us to make it as intuitive as possible and partner with professional astrologers.
Spirituality
Connecting to the origins of the 8 ball app made us realize that the 8 ball can be more than a toy and can be used as an actual tool to help grow the user's intuition.
IDEATE
The Brand
Combined with the competitive analysis and the initial research, we decided that the design elements for INTU8 had three themes in mind: a video game feel, a mystical and spiritual vibe, and an astrological dark but colorful design.
8 ball
Highlights the magic 8 ball
Hourglass
An hourglass represents the time which is a major aspect
of horary
Sand
The sand is in the shape of a triangle because it represents an aspect of astrology called Trine meaning the easy flow of communication.
IDEATE
The Prototype
We conducted usability testing for the wireframe, which helped us create the first version of our high-fidelity prototype. Using that feedback, we edited the first version and completed another round of usability tests that helped us make this latest version of INTU8.
OUTCOME
#4: Clarifying our Horary Astrology Results
While working on the prototype, we had an official reading done by an astrologer.
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We focused on the main aspects that needed to be shown to help make the user decide. Her direction made the app more accurate. We also added an "ask another question" button to make it easier for the user to start over.
BEFORE
AFTER
EXPLORE
Next Steps
This project has taught me a lot about researching for a niche market and making sure that this app meets their needs. How to organize and plan with a team. Many things can go wrong, but how you handle the issues is all that matters.
During the final rounds of testing, we found a few more ways to make INTU8 more intuitive.
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New Members Friendly
Even though there is a guide page on the app, we want to make the app more accessible to newcomers to astrology.
Usability Testing
We need to do another round of usability testing for the changes we made based on our previous usability testing round.
Testing Success Metrics
Positive Customer Feedback: to check that we addressed a missing need in the magic 8 ball market
Free to Premium conversion rates: to make sure we are targeting the right audience
Net Promoter Score: to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction