B I N G O !
Parlay Games is one of the early adopters in online Bingo which I have been designing since 2000. Parlay Bingo has been through many redesigns and evolved over the years as technology changed from Delphi to Java to Flash and now HTML5. Every platform presented challenges to overcome from look and feel, play-ability, adding mini games and branding without compromising performance.
Research
Creating the Persona for Bingo helped in paving the way for the next steps in creating the bingo experience. Going to bingo halls and observing WHO comes on a weekly basis and WHAT do they do was important in the beginning stages of the drawing out the wants and needs of the product. I looked at the 75, 80, 90 bingo cards and boards and replicated them into the game design. Players would purchase multiple bingo daubers and stack them on the table where they were playing, right beside all their lucky charms they brought from home to help them win on their bingo experience.
A bingo caller sat at the front of the room with a large bingo call board overhead and a machine blowing the bingo balls was to the side. The blower machine would spit out numbered balls that the bingo caller would call out and light up on the call board. When the bingo was finally won by a lucky player from getting a particular pattern on the card they would stand out and shout with great job B I N G O !
Flows
Bingo Anatomy
Searching for the right layout was paramount in the bingo experience. Stepping back and taking in all the research at the bingo halls and talking to players, I wanted to organize information on the stage to increase game play flow and usability for a better experience. We needed to have a place a player can play, deposit, see all the information, and be social. Wireframing low fidelity mock ups was important to iron out the layout before the final design as it went through many iterations to find the right fit. It was like a puzzle taking form right in front of our eyes with every new version.
Mini Games
To add more value to the gaming experience, mini games were introduced as a way to keep the player engaged between bingo sessions. The nature of the bingo game has waiting times between sessions so having mini games available to play while the next game is scheduled to play, the player cad be engaged with mini games either in-between or during a bingo session.
Chat
Bingo is a social game and the chat module is where players get together, make friends, and talk about their daily lives. We can have multiple chat rooms, setup chat games, send widgets, and use emoticons. Some players launch bingo games just to chat while the games play in the background. With all these players typing away we need to have chat moderators and a application that manages chatrooms, users, language, and schedule games.
The Chatter Box Application is an online tool that allows chat moderators to login and manage the chat rooms.
Back Office
Promotions
Marketing managers provided monthly campaigns that were focused on seasonal themes, bonuses, or the addition of new games. Promotions would be designed with images and typography that are themed to achieve a particular look and feel for each campaign in different image sizes and languages.
