To shape the concept and hypotheses, we conducted research with amateur chess players and performed a competitor analysis. Based on the research results, we created user personas and user journeys, and through several workshops we developed and prioritized the concept of our application.

Key insights from user surveys and interviews:

• 76% want more features - players get bored without a more diverse, interactive, and collaborative experience.

• 94% don’t earn money from chess - the vast majority do not monetize their skills at all and often don’t even know it’s possible.

• 91% lack networking opportunities - players want to connect, meet others, share knowledge, help each other, and build friendships.

I created a set of user personas built around a primary archetype. For us, this represents the ideal user. They already have a genuine interest in and love for chess. They are advanced players and are also familiar with crypto. Our goal was to accurately understand and represent their pain points, preferences, and motivations so our designs could address them effectively.

Next, I created a User Journey to visualize how our ideal user moves from the initial desire to play chess all the way to completing the experience, helping us identify the emotional highs and lows along the way. We used insights from this flow to optimize the overall user journey.