👰♀️💣 Bridezilla Keno Game
From calm bride to explosive "zilla" in seconds!
In this project, I organized all game requirements, created detailed wireframes, and developed tangible solutions that captured the game’s core mechanics and unique features. Below, you'll find a precise breakdown of how I approached the project, from user journeys to final design implementation, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable player experience.
Bridezilla Game UX
⏱️Time: 2023, 6 weeks
📱Type: Keno Game
🧑🏼💻 Role: Information Architecture, Sketches, Wireframes, Prototyping
✏️Tools: Figma, Photoshop
📝 Project Overview
Bridezilla Keno Game is a fast-paced, bridal-themed Keno game that blends humor, tension, and exciting gameplay. As the Lead UX Designer, I collaborated with a cross-functional team to create an engaging and seamless user experience for mobile players. The core goal was to improve player retention, enhance engagement, and simplify gameplay interactions. The game's humor and chaos were reflected through the bride’s transformation from calm to enraged, creating a fun, immersive experience.
💡 Challenges:
Designing for mobile screens while maintaining clear, engaging visuals.
Managing the visual complexity of slot mechanics, including the rage meter, wild symbols, and multipliers.
Ensuring intuitive, touch-friendly controls for a smooth player experience.
🔍 Research & Player Insights
👤 Player Personas:
Primary Persona: Reality TV enthusiasts (mainly women aged 25-54) who enjoy bridal-themed humor and high-stakes gameplay, similar to fans of Bridezillas.
Secondary Persona: Casual players and Keno enthusiasts who prefer quick, simple gameplay with escalating rewards through multipliers and bonus rounds.
🎯 Emotional Triggers:
Players relate to the bride’s transformation from calm to angry, reflecting the real-life stress of wedding planning. The Rage Meter captures the tension, and players are rewarded for managing the bride's emotions and completing patterns, unlocking features.
📊 Research Findings: Through user surveys and player interviews, we identified that the audience enjoyed games with humor, simple mechanics, and escalating rewards. Players were particularly drawn to bonus features, quick wins, and themed games that had emotional layers.
🏆 Competitor Analysis: I studied other Keno games, both external and internal (like Playtech’s Chickeno), to learn how they managed bonus triggers, progression, and engagement. We differentiated Bridezilla Keno with a more humorous, emotionally-driven progression mechanic (Rage Meter) that kept players engaged by combining humor with high-stakes rewards.
📐 Conceptualization & Wireframes
💡 Brainstorm Core Features
Wild Hair Feature: Up to 4 wild symbols, giving players extra chances to match numbers.
Dress Distress: Awards multipliers (up to 3), increasing strategy and potential rewards.
Manicure from Hell: Up to 4 number multipliers, tied to the bride's rising frustration.
RSVP Rampage: Adds 2 extra invites, enhancing chances of number matches in later rounds.
Calm Bride Bonus: Triggered at the end of the game if no other features were activated, offering the player a final chance for rewards.
🚶 User Journeys
The Bridezilla Game Flow follows a structured and clear journey, ensuring players progress through the game while engaging with core features such as matching numbers, bonus triggers, and purchasing extra invites. The user journey can be broken down as follows:
Game Start:
Players open the game and select their stake or ticket price.
After viewing introductory screens (if needed), they are prompted to click Play to begin the game.
Phased Gameplay:
The game consists of 5 rounds, each phase allowing players to match at least one number from their ticket to continue progressing.
After each phase (round), players receive feedback on whether a Feature was triggered (such as Wild Hair, Dress Distress, or Manicure from Hell) and how their progress contributes to the overall game.
Feature Reel Activation:
Matching a number triggers the Feature Reel, giving players the chance to unlock features such as multipliers or wild symbols. This introduces strategic elements, where players must manage the bride’s rising anger as indicated by the Rage Meter.
Endgame Features:
If no major features are triggered after the 5th phase, players are offered the Calm Bride Bonus, which involves selecting a guest to receive a final prize.
Players are given the option to Buy Extra Invites before the game ends, increasing their chances of triggering additional rewards in the final moments.
✏️ Initial Layout
This initial layout helped to visualize the game's core mechanics, such as the number matching grid, the progress bar, and the buy extra envelopes option. It served as a foundation for brainstorming key interactions and visualizing how players would engage with the game features in different phases. The image reflects the use of overlays for purchasing extra envelopes and emphasizes simplicity in player interaction, where no dismissal of messages is required, enhancing flow and player engagement.
🎨 Wireframing & Prototyping
✏️ Low-fidelity Wireframes:
Screen 1 (Overview): Displays the transformation from calm to angry bride. Each number match increases the Rage Meter and spins the Feature Reel.
Screen 2 (Features): Introduces four feature icons: Wild Hair, Dress Distress, Manicure from Hell, and RSVP Rampage.
Screen 3 (Bridal Bliss & Buy Extra): Explains the Calm Bride Bonus and the option to buy extra invites.
Screen 4 (RTP & Rules): Simple layout summarizing RTP percentages and game rules, directing players to the help file for more details.
📱 High-fidelity Prototypes:
Created detailed prototypes using Figma and Adobe XD, simulating the bride’s transformation and bonus feature triggers.
Gameplay Visuals: Demonstrated how the Feature Reel spins after each matched number, offering rewards like Dress Distress and RSVP Rampage.
The Calm Bride Bonus allows players to choose a guest for a final multiplier if no other bonuses are triggered.
🔧 Usability Testing & Iteration
🧪 Conduct Usability Testing:
Tested four intro screens and features with players to ensure they understood how to match numbers and spin the Feature Reel.
Collected feedback on how engaging the Calm Bride Bonus felt, and whether the extra invite mechanic was intuitive.
🔄 Iterate Based on Feedback:
Simplified descriptions of the four features to avoid overwhelming users.
Adjusted the frequency of the Feature Reel to maintain excitement.
Refined the Calm Bride Bonus for clarity, ensuring players understood how guest choices impacted their final rewards.
📊 Results & Metrics
📈 Post-launch Analysis:
Tracked how often players engaged with the Feature Reel and how frequently they triggered the four main features.
Monitored player interaction with the Calm Bride Bonus, particularly how players navigated the guest selection process.
Analyzed purchase behavior for extra invites using A/B testing to optimize frequency and pricing.
🚀 Outcomes:
15% increase in player retention due to simplified bonus mechanics and clearer interaction flows.
25% longer session times due to engagement with bonus features like Wild Hair and Manicure from Hell.
Significant rise in in-app purchases of extra invites, with players extending gameplay for additional rewards.
🚀 Final Design & Launch
🎨 Visual Design Implementation:
Collaborated with visual artists to refine the bride’s Rage Meter and emotional progression (calm to angry).
Finalized designs for Feature Icons and the Feature Reel.
Added humorous pop-up messages, reinforcing the game's fun and chaotic theme.
🔄 Post-launch Updates:
Introduced additional bonus features and refined the frequency of Feature Reel spins based on player feedback and data.
Continued to adjust the user experience through A/B testing of wild symbols and multipliers for maximum engagement.
🎥 Final Design & Prototype Recordings
📱 Mobile Recording:
The Mobile Version of the Bridezilla Keno Game was designed with a focus on touch interactions and simplified navigation to enhance the user experience on smaller screens. Key features include:
Larger buttons and clear call-to-actions to ensure easy access and playability.
Optimized layout for mobile users, providing a smooth and responsive experience for interacting with the Rage Meter, Feature Reel, and bonus features.
Designed to maintain player engagement with seamless transitions between rounds and feature activations..
💻 Desktop/Tablet Recording
The Desktop and Tablet Version of the Bridezilla Keno Game offers a more expansive layout, utilizing the larger screen space for an enhanced visual experience. Key highlights include:
Full-screen visuals that make the Feature Reel and Rage Meter more prominent, allowing for better player focus on the game elements.
Increased clarity for bonus features and interactions, leveraging the additional space to make features more intuitive without sacrificing functionality.
A seamless gameplay experience with all the core mechanics, ensuring consistency across both mobile and desktop.
💭 Closing Thoughts
The Bridezilla Keno Game was an exciting and unique challenge that pushed me to balance engaging gameplay mechanics with a lighthearted, humorous theme. From conceptualizing core features like the Rage Meter and Feature Reel, to crafting seamless player journeys and ensuring responsive design across devices, this project allowed me to apply a wide range of UX skills. The focus on player engagement—through progressive bonuses and emotional triggers—was key to creating a memorable and enjoyable experience for players.
This project not only strengthened my abilities in wireframing, prototyping, and user testing, but also demonstrated the importance of aligning design with theme to create an immersive gaming environment. The game’s dynamic elements, such as the bride’s transformation and bonus features, kept players engaged, while the fluid, responsive interface ensured a consistent experience on both mobile and desktop.
As a result, the Bridezilla Keno Game stands as an excellent example of how humor, tension, and strategic gameplay can come together to deliver a user-centric and fun experience. I’m proud to have contributed to a project that balances entertainment with design efficiency, and I look forward to applying these insights to future UX challenges.