Case Study
Unlocking 4x in sales after optimizing the Avatar Store
Context
Building on steady growth in retention, Spatial is increasing its investment in gaming spaces developed in Unity. However, two significant challenges have surfaced: overall sales for Unity creators remain quite low, additionally the product team lacks a comprehensive understanding of their workflows. As a result, creators are not only facing challenges but also lack a supportive and empathetic community to help them thrive. As a result, I set forward an internal initiative to address both — a project to deepen the design team’s empathy for Unity creators and while also pinpointing challenges hindering sales.
Los Angeles, CA
COPYRIGHT JAYSon.STUDIO 2024
Case Study
Unlocking 4x in sales after optimizing the Avatar Store
ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
Q3 23' - Q4 24'
COMPANY
Spatial.io
Description
During Q3 2023, we identified a key challenge: the need for more game-centric spaces. In response, we prioritized improving tools for creators to build games, developing in-house games as examples, and updating the homepage to better showcase these offerings for creators and enterprise clients.
Problem
Most Spaces on Spatial are designed for passive viewing, with limited interactivity. Only a few creators have attempted 'mini-games,' a challenging task requiring game engine skills and extensive knowledge of the Spatial Unity toolkit.
Enterprise clients are hesitant to commit to major deals, doubting Spatial's ability to deliver high-quality graphics and immersive experiences.
Solution
Upgrade Spatial's Unity Creator Toolkit to help creators build games faster and easier.
Create games in-house to drive platform traffic and showcase Spatial's capabilities.
Redesign the homepage to emphasize gaming use cases and highlight Spatial as a premium solution.
Impact
3X MAU (6mo)
//Selected Works
Collection
Spatial Web & Mobile
6 Features To Increase User Retention & Creator Economy
10x MAU Over 2 Years
Case Study
Avatar Store
Unlocking 4x in Sales after redesigning the Avatar Store
3.94x Increase in Sales
Collection
Spatial VR
5 VR Features to Drive Retention & Boost Space Join %
8%^ Space Joins
Case Study
SQAWD Design System
Using 2 Design Systems to 3x The Impact.
3 Design System Upgrades
Collection
Motion Design Reel
3D Design & Art Direction
14 Projects
Case Study
Unlocking 4x in sales after optimizing the Avatar Store
ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
Q3 23' - Q4 24'
COMPANY
Spatial.io
Description
During Q3 2023, we identified a key challenge: the need for more game-centric spaces. In response, we prioritized improving tools for creators to build games, developing in-house games as examples, and updating the homepage to better showcase these offerings for creators and enterprise clients.
Problem
Most Spaces on Spatial are designed for passive viewing, with limited interactivity. Only a few creators have attempted 'mini-games,' a challenging task requiring game engine skills and extensive knowledge of the Spatial Unity toolkit.
Enterprise clients are hesitant to commit to major deals, doubting Spatial's ability to deliver high-quality graphics and immersive experiences.
Solution
Upgrade Spatial's Unity Creator Toolkit to help creators build games faster and easier.
Create games in-house to drive platform traffic and showcase Spatial's capabilities.
Redesign the homepage to emphasize gaming use cases and highlight Spatial as a premium solution.
Impact
3X MAU (6mo)
//Selected Works
Collection
Spatial Web & Mobile
6 Features To Increase User Retention & Creator Economy
10x MAU Over 2 Years
Case Study
Avatar Store
Unlocking 4x in Sales after redesigning the Avatar Store
3.94x Increase in Sales
Collection
Spatial VR
5 VR Features to Drive Retention & Boost Space Join %
8%^ Space Joins
Case Study
SQAWD Design System
Using 2 Design Systems to 3x The Impact.
3 Design System Upgrades
Collection
Motion Design Reel
3D Design & Art Direction
14 Projects
Case Study
Unlocking 4x in sales after optimizing the Avatar Store
ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
Q3 23' - Q4 24'
COMPANY
Spatial.io
Description
During Q3 2023, we identified a key challenge: the need for more game-centric spaces. In response, we prioritized improving tools for creators to build games, developing in-house games as examples, and updating the homepage to better showcase these offerings for creators and enterprise clients.
Problem
Most Spaces on Spatial are designed for passive viewing, with limited interactivity. Only a few creators have attempted 'mini-games,' a challenging task requiring game engine skills and extensive knowledge of the Spatial Unity toolkit.
Enterprise clients are hesitant to commit to major deals, doubting Spatial's ability to deliver high-quality graphics and immersive experiences.
Solution
Upgrade Spatial's Unity Creator Toolkit to help creators build games faster and easier.
Create games in-house to drive platform traffic and showcase Spatial's capabilities.
Redesign the homepage to emphasize gaming use cases and highlight Spatial as a premium solution.
Impact
3X MAU (6mo)
//Selected Works
Collection
Spatial Web & Mobile
6 Features To Increase User Retention & Creator Economy
10x MAU Over 2 Years
Case Study
Avatar Store
Unlocking 4x in Sales after redesigning the Avatar Store
3.94x Increase in Sales
Collection
Spatial VR
5 VR Features to Drive Retention & Boost Space Join %
8%^ Space Joins
Case Study
SQAWD Design System
Using 2 Design Systems to 3x The Impact.
3 Design System Upgrades
Collection
Motion Design Reel
3D Design & Art Direction
14 Projects
If you're interested - here is the link to visit the store.
Create // Empathize // Design
Create // Empathize // Design
If you're interested - here is the link to visit the store.
Create // Empathize // Design
Create // Empathize // Design
If you're interested - here is the link to visit the store.
Create // Empathize // Design
Create // Empathize // Design
If you're interested - here is the link to visit the store.
Create // Empathize // Design
Create // Empathize // Design
Deep DIve
Pain Point
While retention has grown since the
'Spatial Economy' initiative, sales remain very low for most creators.
Pain Point
As Spatial focuses more on Unity game developers, empathy between these creators and the product team widens.
This could be an great opportunity to demonstrate my leadership skills through an internal initiative
Insight
Goals
Kickstart a project to deepen the design team’s empathy for Unity creators and pinpoint challenges hindering sales.
Open Questions:
What are parts of the Unity toolkit process are the most painful? How would we fix them?
What additional skills can the design team cultivate to better support the needs of a video game-focused company?
How are creators currently selling items, and what factors are contributing to low conversion rates?
What’s the best way to secure team-wide support to move this project into production?
Research
What challenges do our creators face when building spaces, and why are they not converting well to sales?
Audit of current shopping experiences on Spatial against other successful alternative models.
Reference of Fortnite Store Layout
Reference of Roblox Marketplace Layout
Recording of Spatial's current highest-performing shopping experience.
Reference of Fortnite Store Layout
Reference of Roblox Marketplace Layout
Recording of Spatial's current highest-performing shopping experience.
Reference of Fortnite Store Layout
Reference of Roblox Marketplace Layout
Recording of Spatial's current highest-performing shopping experience.
Reference of Fortnite Store Layout
Reference of Roblox Marketplace Layout
Recording of Spatial's current highest-performing shopping experience.
Insights
Spatial
Shopping experiences often require users to run from item to item in 3D space. While this provides a unique shopping experience - it is inefficient for rapid item discovery and quick sales conversion.
Roblox
The marketplace primarily focuses on individual items, with secondary emphasis on their relationship to the avatar. Additionally, the minimal background and lack of free navigation for the avatar further concentrate the user on shopping rather than space discovery.
Marketplace only sells "global" items (items that can be used across all experiences — not just one.
Fortnite
It is very similar to Roblox in structure and biasing toward highlighting items.
Unlike Roblox, Fortnite is heavily biased towards item "bundles" rather than individual items.
Similar to Roblox, Fortnite's store only sells "global" items
Development
Increase sales by limiting space navigation and increasing focus on (global) item discovery.
Optimizing the current Spatial shopping experience to better reflect Roblox and Fortnite.
Development (Low to High Fidelity)
Texturing, lighting, and game development all occurred within Unity game engine.
Initial Specs developed in Figma
Animation created by Yoonwoo Lee to inform Art Direction and Interactive design principles.
Initial greyboxing of the 3D space to better understand architecture in relation to avatar.
Revised space after initial feedback from grey boxing.
Texturing, lighting, and game development all occurred within Unity game engine.
Initial Specs developed in Figma
Animation created by Yoonwoo Lee to inform Art Direction and Interactive design principles.
Initial greyboxing of the 3D space to better understand architecture in relation to avatar.
Revised space after initial feedback from grey boxing.
Texturing, lighting, and game development all occurred within Unity game engine.
Initial Specs developed in Figma
Animation created by Yoonwoo Lee to inform Art Direction and Interactive design principles.
Initial greyboxing of the 3D space to better understand architecture in relation to avatar.
Revised space after initial feedback from grey boxing.
Texturing, lighting, and game development all occurred within Unity game engine.
Initial Specs developed in Figma
Animation created by Yoonwoo Lee to inform Art Direction and Interactive design principles.
Initial greyboxing of the 3D space to better understand architecture in relation to avatar.
Revised space after initial feedback from grey boxing.
Early Feedback
Solutions
90%
"It is not clear what I should do when entering the space."
70%
" These items are not worth the money"
50%
" It would be nice if there were categories"
Focus on the user's attention by auto-prompting the store when entering the space.
Introduce tiered pricing to help users compare assets within the store vs comparing to external assets.
Introduced categories and bundles following POC deployment to production.
Proof of Concept
If you're interested - here is the link to visit the store.
Create // Empathize // Design
Create // Empathize // Design
Impact
How did this project lead to real impact?
Prod
Initiative gets implemented into production
390%
Sales revenue exceeds the average revenue per space.
200%
Sales revenue exceeds other Spatial monetization initiatives.
Takeaways
Stakeholder buy-in increases as you emphasize the value the project brings to them, specifically.
Ensure the brief (problem & goals) is prominently surfaced near assigned tasks to increase visibility and reference.
Even in a lead role, seeking support is essential. Regular consultations with game developers and other PMs would have provided valuable insight into project timelines.
There seems to be a strong correlation between an items value and it's ability to be "shown off" to others.