๐ฅ THE HEAT MAP OF DEATH: WHERE DO YOU LOSE YOUR PLAYERS?
Hey there, folks!
Familiar situation? Your game seems awesome, mechanics polished to perfection, features in place, but players somehow vanish after 2-3 days... All because they LITERALLY CAN'T FIND THE "CONTINUE" BUTTON ๐คฆ๐ปโโ๏ธ
UI pain points you probably haven't even considered:
โช๏ธ "Blind spots" โ 83% of players have their thumb covering the bottom right corner of the screen. Guess where you put your main action button? ๐ฏ
โช๏ธ Phantom gestures โ your testers know they need to swipe down to open the menu. But newbies DON'T DO THAT. And they'll never discover 80% of your game's features.
โช๏ธ Text walls โ it's 2025, dude. If your tutorial is longer than three sentences, nobody reads it. Like, nobody. At all.
50 shades of gray โ when all your buttons are the same color and size, players can't tell what's important and what's not. When everything screams, nothing is heard.
What the interface heat map reveals
I recently analyzed data for a hyper-casual game with 2M DAU. Shocking content: 68% of players were tapping on inactive screen areas trying to find the store. It was hidden three clicks away from the main screen!
Second scenario: it looks tappable, but nothing happens when players tap. They delete your game and give you a 1-star review in the store ๐
Three quick fixes you can implement right now:
โ Different colors = different actions. Red for purchases, green for progress, blue for information. Basic, but effective.
โ The thumb rule. Place critical elements within thumb reach (center-bottom for right-handed users).
โ Visual hierarchy. Most important action = biggest and most noticeable button on screen. Like in Candy Crush โ their "PLAY" button takes up half the screen, and it works!
Advanced bonus hack:
Force your PO/CEO to play the game WITHOUT A SINGLE WORD OF INSTRUCTION. Just hand them the phone and say: "Play." Then record and analyze where they get stuck and what they tap. Best UX test in the world that almost nobody does.
Ready to level up your mobile game design skills? Join the waiting list for my comprehensive Game Product Management course (link below).
#gamedev #uxdesign #mobileGames #gamedesign #failurelessons
Hey there, folks!
Familiar situation? Your game seems awesome, mechanics polished to perfection, features in place, but players somehow vanish after 2-3 days... All because they LITERALLY CAN'T FIND THE "CONTINUE" BUTTON ๐คฆ๐ปโโ๏ธ
UI pain points you probably haven't even considered:
โช๏ธ "Blind spots" โ 83% of players have their thumb covering the bottom right corner of the screen. Guess where you put your main action button? ๐ฏ
โช๏ธ Phantom gestures โ your testers know they need to swipe down to open the menu. But newbies DON'T DO THAT. And they'll never discover 80% of your game's features.
โช๏ธ Text walls โ it's 2025, dude. If your tutorial is longer than three sentences, nobody reads it. Like, nobody. At all.
50 shades of gray โ when all your buttons are the same color and size, players can't tell what's important and what's not. When everything screams, nothing is heard.
What the interface heat map reveals
I recently analyzed data for a hyper-casual game with 2M DAU. Shocking content: 68% of players were tapping on inactive screen areas trying to find the store. It was hidden three clicks away from the main screen!
Second scenario: it looks tappable, but nothing happens when players tap. They delete your game and give you a 1-star review in the store ๐
Three quick fixes you can implement right now:
โ Different colors = different actions. Red for purchases, green for progress, blue for information. Basic, but effective.
โ The thumb rule. Place critical elements within thumb reach (center-bottom for right-handed users).
โ Visual hierarchy. Most important action = biggest and most noticeable button on screen. Like in Candy Crush โ their "PLAY" button takes up half the screen, and it works!
Advanced bonus hack:
Force your PO/CEO to play the game WITHOUT A SINGLE WORD OF INSTRUCTION. Just hand them the phone and say: "Play." Then record and analyze where they get stuck and what they tap. Best UX test in the world that almost nobody does.
Ready to level up your mobile game design skills? Join the waiting list for my comprehensive Game Product Management course (link below).
#gamedev #uxdesign #mobileGames #gamedesign #failurelessons
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