Case Study 3 of 5 | Back to Case Studies
Hasbro’s Lazer Tag Operative Website
Marketing with All the Right Stuff:
Helping Hasbro Launch the Follow Up to Nerf.
Find the efficient path. → Get others to come with you. → Move as a team.
Background
The next generation of Nerf blasters will be Lazer Tag blasters. Forget about losing foam darts, instead battle your friends with RFID sensors built into the blaster. Insert your iPhone into 1.5″ hard shell case for a heads-up display. Your phone’s accelerometer notes your orientation in relations to alien positions all around you.
As a contract UX/UI designer at Digital Influence Group (Waltham, MA), we sat with the client and pitched big ideas about an operative who would lead the target audience through a world of alien attacks and tactical training.
We wanted to create a vision with context and video.
Research
We staged a Lazer Tag battle with the target audience and observe real people using the product.
Along with Hasbro Product Managers, we rented a one-floor warehouse in Boston. The place was staged with low-profile hiding places. We invited 20 kids (aged 13–15) to a Lazer Tag tournament. Four sessions were held over a 1.5 hour trial. We showed them how to use the blasters and later asked them how it performed.
Teams were broken up into two squads of six. When players scored a hit they saw a fire ball in the HUD. When hit themselves, players noticed simulated cracks in their head-up displays. The kids loved it.
Two winners were given a Hasbro Lazer Tag Blaster 4-pack. Semi-finalists were given the 2-pack. The rest received black t-shirts with the cool logo on it.
The day was a fun success. We tracked important user data during the event and brought it to our site experience.
Challenge
We quickly realized we needed to create a broader vision.
We were debriefed on game characters, aliens, and equipment. We felt the need to deepen the backstory. For example, where did the aliens come from? What do we know about them? We didn’t need to provide all the answers but provide enough intrigue to inspire kids to play on their own terms.
We created mood boards for the online experience. We also created a character we called The Operative. This Jason Bourne-like character would lead the narrative and tutorials on how to use the blaster.
Additional Challenge
From the tournament experiment we knew we needed to stage an online library of tutorials.
Players had hidden resources available to them. Called “Hacks” the game upgrades when players succeed in carrying out a series of of maneuvers in succession. From our observations, the hacks were difficult to earn. We created an online “leak” to help kids discover the hidden goodies.
This is a list of scripts and scenarios we planned for video production:
- Introduction (Setting the mood)
- Game overview
- Hardware/iPhone set-up
- Experience Points
- Secondary Fire
- Hacks
- Unlock Additional Weapons
Scripts: Deb Siegel
Illustrations: Frankie Washington
UI Challenge
The site was initially conceived as a parallax experience: however, we discovered more than a handful of limitations with the mobile web experience.
We weighed the options and benefits and decided the budget was better spent shooting video. Here’s a sketch of the first concept.
Directing the Video Shoot
New Fangled in Boston, MA were great!
Macalea Vandermost, owner and principal director for New Fangled Studios, sourced the location, actor, and equipment. We shot video in a Chelsea, MA warehouse. We provided the wardrobe, moodboards, scenarios and scripts. Production started at noon and ending around 1AM. The New Fangled team did an exceptional job editing the video. Have a look.
The Meter
As previously mentioned, we asked our website visitors to tap the meter. This was our way of engaging new recruits. We had a full armory of in-game blasters, 10 total. We created four meter prototypes and tested them for the most favorable.
