THE LAST OF US GAME / COMMUNITY SITE CONCEPT
THE BRIEF
NaughtyDog Studios is your typically savvy client. Their sought the answer to what was next for video game websites. They wanted to go beyond "experiences" that although engaging would soon feel old and not keep up with the potential of their IP. In other words they cohesive digital system that leveraged both their and social content. Bonus if it was built on 3rd party technologies.
THE IDEA
Make it a publishing platform, a digital magazine on all things survival and end of the world. Indeed move the game website beyond product site (regardless of how social that product site is) and towards a daily destination where signal is filtered from all the noise. Do that, while treating the brand like a luxury brand.
THE APPROACH
Central to our concept was the idea of leveraging context or signal. Gamers like every other online audience are bombarded with more and more information on a daily basis. We attacked this issue with several layers of solutions.
Our first layer involved tagging all incoming content, whether a tweet, FB post, youtube video or post with certain metadata. Rather than hide that metadata, we would calculate the most popular ones and surface those to the user. Through the experience, the users had the option of deep-diving more into a particular thematic by exploring our topic pages (topic pages gathered the various content and assets tagged with a particular topic).
Our second layer involved leveraging infographics and various data visualization technique to help group information together and provide a visual brief.
Lastly, our third layer involved treating the brand like a luxury brand. This creatively translated to making hard decisions about what needed to be displayed and how much.
All the while keeping them engaged by gamifying participation and completion of missions.
Central to our concept was the idea of leveraging context or signal. Gamers like every other online audience are bombarded with more and more information on a daily basis. We attacked this issue with several layers of solutions.
Our first layer involved tagging all incoming content, whether a tweet, FB post, youtube video or post with certain metadata. Rather than hide that metadata, we would calculate the most popular ones and surface those to the user. Through the experience, the users had the option of deep-diving more into a particular thematic by exploring our topic pages (topic pages gathered the various content and assets tagged with a particular topic).
Our second layer involved leveraging infographics and various data visualization technique to help group information together and provide a visual brief.
Lastly, our third layer involved treating the brand like a luxury brand. This creatively translated to making hard decisions about what needed to be displayed and how much.
All the while keeping them engaged by gamifying participation and completion of missions.
CONCEPT 1
A publishing site at its heart, it featured a central post vein where more featured and brand content could be posted while a feed of featured and popular content could be viewed right next to it.
A publishing site at its heart, it featured a central post vein where more featured and brand content could be posted while a feed of featured and popular content could be viewed right next to it.
THE INTERACTION MODEL
A central brand/feature vein act as a thematic and visual delimiter
Both the brand/feature vein and the social feed are designed to not overwhelm
Experience slides as users interact with the brand/feature vein
Large integrated posts make up the bulk of the brand content. They are designed to be both informative and engaging
A social feed rich in metadata that allows fans and visitors to deep dive into an aspect of game lore or popular culture related to the IP
THE CREATIVE
