Embark Guess the Breed Game
A new breed guessing game for customers to play with friends and family while they wait for their DNA test kit results.
Overview
Embark is a Dog DNA testing company with a mission to improve the life and longevity of dogs through genetic research. In order to collect as much data as possible to support this mission, Embark needs to increase web presence and lead generation to sell more kits.
Project Description
This project was created to help introduce a broader dog-interested audience to Embark in a new way – via a fun breed guessing game. This is something we see customers actively engage in, using their own collages and images to do breed reveals on Instagram and other social media. We wanted to take this concept and up-level it for our customers as well as play up that visual identification is often wrong in the hopes that people can start to view genetics as a way to uncover the real DNA story that’s more than fur-deep.
We know from social media that many of our customers are already having friends and family guess their dog’s breed mix while they wait for results.
Additionally, #guessthebreed has over 10k posts on Instagram.
Audience
Existing Embark customers waiting to receive DNA test results and potential future customers (most likely friends and family of existing customers, or anyone else in their social media circles). This game will be available on desktop and mobile web. Consumer audience only (not meant for breeders or vets in MVP).
Goals
Give our customers something fun and delightful to engage with while waiting for their results by providing a strong alternative to the social media guess the breed experience
Provide customers something new to share in addition to sharing their results
Capture email addresses for new customer leads coming in to play the game, and provide a direct sales funnel for new customers to purchase via the breed game
KPIs
Pet Owners (Existing Customers)
Average number of “things” shared/user (# of distinct assets shared / # of users who share, current baseline is 1.07)
% of users who make a return visit to myEV (Embarks’s breed results portal) while waiting for results
Friends & Family (Non-Customers)
Email acquisition rate (email addresses submitted / users who visit breed game)
Net sales attributable to sharing (from new breed game)
Prototype for Testing
Test run on usertesting.com with 10 participants
Test Goals
Questions we wanted to answer during testing:
Will users prefer playing our game to posting a pic on Instagram for guesses?
How likely would participants be to play this game while waiting for DNA results?
How should the scoring work to determine a winner? Will users understand the scoring?
How many breeds would each person guess on average?
What if people want to play the game, but don’t feel like they know enough about dog breeds to play?
How likely would participants be to share a link to this game on social media with friends and family?
What level of detail do participants want to see on the results screen for this game?
User Testing
Usertesting.com script:
Imagine you have recently adopted a dog named Willow. You think Willow is a mixed breed dog but you aren’t sure exactly what breeds she is, so you decide to get her DNA tested. You submit her sample to the lab, and are told it will be 2-4 weeks before you receive the results. While you are waiting, you receive an email inviting you to play a Guess the Breed game while you wait for Willow’s results. You click “yes” and are taken to the game’s webpage. Once you see the page, move on to the next step.
Please take a moment to review the page and voice your thoughts aloud. Don’t submit any guesses yet. [Verbal response]
Without submitting any guesses yet, how many breed guesses do you think you would submit for Willow? What breeds do you think you would guess? [Verbal response]
Please explain how your guesses will be scored. [Verbal response]
Since this is a prototype, you are only able to submit certain guesses. Please submit guesses for Pembroke Welsh Corgi and American English Coonhound. Please voice your thoughts aloud as you make your guesses. [Verbal response]
If you haven't already, make a selection for the top breed (since this is a prototype only one of the options may work) and submit. Please voice your thoughts aloud as you do this. [Verbal response]
On a scale of 1-5, how likely would you be to share a link to this game on your social media or with other friends and family for them to play the game for Willow? [5-point Rating scale: Not at all likely to Very likely]
Now imagine two weeks have passed and you get an email notifying you that Willow’s DNA results are in. You click a button to see her results and are taken to a new page. (You will need to click "Done" on the prior screen if you haven't already). Please take a minute to review the page and voice your thoughts aloud. [Verbal response]
Is there anything missing from the experience of this Guess the Breed game that you wish had been included? [Verbal response]
Imagine you had shared this game with friends and family and some of them had submitted guesses as well. Would you expect to be able to see their scores in addition to your own? What about their specific guesses? Would you have any concerns if they could see your score and/or guesses? [Verbal response]
On a scale of 1-5, how likely would you be to play this game while waiting for your own dog’s DNA results? [5-point Rating scale: Not at all likely to Very likely]
Some people might choose to post a photo of their dog on social media, and ask for people to comment on the post with their breed guesses. Now that you’ve seen this Guess the Breed Game, which would you be more likely to do? Please explain your answer. [Multiple choice: I would post a picture on social media and have people guess in the comments, I would play this Guess the Breed game and share it with others to play, I would do both, I would do neither]
Testing Findings Summary
Questions we wanted to answer during testing:
Will users prefer playing our game to posting a pic on Instagram for guesses?
9/10 users preferred playing our game over posting on Instagram.
How likely would participants be to play this game while waiting for DNA results?
8/10 participants rated very likely (5) while 1/10 rated slightly likely (4) and 1/10 rated neutral (3).
How should the scoring work to determine a winner? Will users understand the scoring?
9/10 users were able to find the “How scoring works” link and understood scoring.
How many breeds would each person guess on average?
2-4 breeds
What if people want to play the game, but don’t feel like they know enough about dog breeds to play?
Allowing participants to click on a breed to learn more and including the breed image helped ease this for a couple participants. Is there more we could do here to enable education during the game past MVP?
How likely would participants be to share a link to this game on social media with friends and family?
8/10 participants rated very likely (5) while 2/10 rated slightly unlikely (2).
What level of detail do participants want to see on the results screen for this game?
Testing found that participants wanted to see rankings and scores of other people that also guessed in the game.
