It all starts with understanding the nee(r)ds
In todays media it is very important to be on time and this is where N3RDFUSION's positioned. As content producers on Amazon's Twitch.tv, they are ahead of digitial media and communicate with their fanbase on a daily and more importantly, a live basis. What is missing, is a platform for fans to centralize and share the best moments of their favorite N3F broadcasters. Creating an interactive experience for fans, customers and potential partners will furthermore solidify N3RDFUSION’s spot in the Twitch community. In Addition, it will increase traffic and potential ad revenues from partners and sponsors.
Making use of the N3RDFUSION brand assets
N3RDFUSION already has a bunch of brand assets, such as Neffy, their mascot, and a signal color for each broadcaster on the team. As the team is young, dynamic and on the edge of time and with the audience varying from young to old, the site uses a lot of these colors to lighten up the experience. I also used a font very similiar to the N3RDFUSION brand name.
Navigation, Account Information and Country Selection
Starting out with a plan is always a good choice, and it is no different this time around. I made a rough sketch, refined it over and over until it fit the needs. The stream and chat feature from Twitch is especially relevant, as this will keep fans and users on the site to support the team. In addition we need a way to filter the broadcaster we want to see, as they are quite different in the way they interact with the audience. I will get a lot more into detail once i am talking about the specific parts of the homepage.
Twitch is an interactive livestreaming platform, with broadcasters all around the globe. This means viewers from everywhere will watch the stream at a different time, so we need Video-On-Demands (VODs). Another section on the frontpage is about social media. With social media being very important these days, it is of course necessary to highlight the content producer’s social medias. All the pages will finish off with a very open and colorful footer.
N3RDFUSION Frontpage
As shortly briefed in No. 3 right above, i made a clear and well-thoughout mark-up and the only thing missing is the design. For a young community, design is more important than functionality, but what really needs to happen, is having both. Functionality is key. UI Design only ever works when the User-Experience (UX) aspect of the site works just as great.
Special Events — Horror Month
A big phenomenon on Twitch is Dansgaming’s yearly Horror Month in October. Him playing 31 days full of horror games leaves every new viewer with a dropped jaw. Dan is switching out his emotes for this specific time of the year, and i am sure the N3RDFUSION community would want something like that on the official homepage as well!
N3RDFUSION Personality Pages
A very crucial part for Twitch broadcasters is to communicate with their audience. As someone fans look up to, you want to give them as much information as possible, without breaching your own comfort zone. Personality pages will help viewers to get more of their favorite streamer in one central place. All VODs, current livestream and more are available with just one click away from the homepage.
N3RDFUSION Office Tour
The Office Tour page is a mixture of mini-game and functionality. As Linus from LinusTechTips stated in this video, N3RDFUSION has cameras around the office to give the audience a look behind the scenes. With that being the case, this page would is a perfect fit, as the design makes it feel like a little mini-game, which, of course fits the whole gaming aspect of the company.
Schedule
Due to regular livestreams of some content producers, a schedule is a must-have. Tiles are showcasing events by the team, mostly with one or more streamers of N3RDFUSION. To give the users of the page a much better experience, i broke the original width design. A percentage based design is the best to ensure this page works on every device, be it mobile, tablet or desktops with different resolutions.
Twitch Emotes
The Twitch culture is a phenomenon in itself. Emotes are a huge part of a streamers personality and make viewers sometimes decide to subscribe for money or not. As a result, having them at one place with an option to subscribe, is a good potential catch.
Additional Content
Clean Dropdown Navigation
A clean dropdown navigation is necessary to keep the overall slick design in tact. The dropdown is also able to hold icons and avatars of the N3RDFUSION broadcasting team.
Integrated Sponsored Pages
As N3RDFUSION is running “Launch Partys” for upcoming games and products, integrated pages inside the N3RDFUSION site will generated more traffic and affiliation towards the sponsors. With these sort of pages, everything is possible and easy to create.
Personal Thoughts
My personal thoughts are very positive. I had a lot of fun working on the N3RDFUSION site, and while working on it, i had some time to look into their streams! If you wish to know how i approached certain design aspects, don’t hesitate and contact me. Feel free to do so via my email, on twitter, or somewhere else you might’ve seen me. Thank you for reading or scrolling through my very first case study!