hello!

i’m omzee pitchford, an interaction designer with a passion for games and stories.

Call of Duty Companion App

A new vision for Call of Duty’s Regiments




Overview


This was part of a senior capstone project with Activision’s design team, with the aim of improving the Call of Duty (CoD) companion app.

Client: Activision

Timeline: September - Nov 2020

Role: UX Researcher, Video Editor, Concept Artist

Teammate: Miguel Juteau

Tools: Photoshop, After Effects, Excel

Regiment Suggestions New Member Suggestions



Research


Stakeholder Interview


Alex - Senior UI Designer


Mark - Director


Drew - Senior UX Designer

Key takeaways:
  • • Be sure not to allow the reward system to be easily exploitable
  • • They’re working on a loadout editor, but it will require work from the dev team
  • • Think about what kind of achievements players want to see on the app


Secondary Research

I read about how MMORPG gamers were able to create community for themselves, and how the guild systems assisted them in doing so.

“The findings of this study confirm that MMOG players can form gaming communities. Almost all participants accessed or provided in-game social support, and some gave or received broader emotional support.”






Audience Interviews


Tomoya One
Chiefly plays games on his iPad, and didn’t really start playing “action games” until he lived in America. Before that he played games that

Lucian

Goes to smash bros tournaments with his friends. He’s pretty casual compared to his friends.

Jake

He plays multiplayer games whenever his friends are on, otherwise, he just plays single-player games.


Key takeaways:
  • • People play the games that their friends are playing.
  • • The app’s “squads” features was very confusing
  • • They don’t care all too much about their stats.



Reflections


Measuring Results

Quantitative Success:
  • •Demonstrating that a larger percentage of players are joining regiments.
  • •People are playing more often, and for longer sessions.

Qualitative Success:
  • •Players are making friends within the CoD Community
  • •Players are finding less toxicity
  • •Minority players are feeling welcome

Review

What worked:
The idea of focusing on strengthening regiments by suggesting new players was a strong one.

What didn’t:
Unfortunately changing the lobby would require work from the dev team, and they’re currently tied up with different projects.

How I’ll move forward:
I’m going to be teaming up with members of other groups that had a similar idea, and we’re going to work on improving the regiment system together!