Hazel: Gamifying Carbon Removal

A case study on building a user community and a feedback loop for a mobile climate change game.

My Role

Community Development Manager, UX/UI Designer

My Contributions

  • User Research & Feedback Management
  • Community Building (Twitter & Discord)
  • Low-Fi Mockups & Prototyping
  • Graphic & Social Media Design

Team

CEO, Technical Lead, Unity Developer, 3D Artists, Marketing Advisor

The Problem

As an early-stage mobile game in the niche space of Web3 and climate change, Hazel needed a dedicated user base to provide critical feedback for improving the game and application experience. The challenge was to create a reliable and ongoing feedback loop from a small community of passionate users, which was crucial for prioritizing features and validating the product roadmap.

The Solution

My work focused on building a strong community and using user feedback to shape the product. I applied UX principles to this task, ensuring that the feedback we received was actionable and directly influenced the development process.

Building a Community Feedback Loop

I established a dedicated community on Twitter and eventually Discord. Through polls, direct messaging, and hosted AMAs, I actively engaged with users to gather insights. This process allowed us to move from a small base of 37 followers to a dedicated community of over 2,000 users.

Translating Feedback into Design

I created mockups and designed experiences based on user feedback and usability heuristics. I worked directly with the artists and developers to prioritize and implement these changes, such as exploring notification prompts and redesigning the island stats page.

Graphic Design for Community Engagement

I produced a variety of social media graphics and visual assets to help grow the community and promote the app's brand. This work was crucial for gaining attention and interest in a competitive market.

The Outcome & Impact

My efforts directly resulted in a significant growth in the application's user base and social media presence. Most importantly, the user feedback I gathered and communicated helped shape the app experience, ensuring we were building a product that was both engaging and valuable to its users. The lessons learned in this startup environment were invaluable and provided a strong foundation for my UX career.