Making market research less mundane
Sketchbook was keen to explore how Spork might approach finding playful ways for users to respond to online market research. Competitors were all creating multi choice questionnaires, which were predictable and unengaging.
We immediately recognised this project as a perfect candidate for a Spork Workshop, and booked out a week with Sketchbook to scope, design and build a real time multiplayer card game.
Think Cards Against Humanity, but brand associations… and less smut.
The real-time element to this online game was an interesting exercise in user experience for us. What happened when there was nobody else was available to play a game? What happened if a user dropped connectivity? How were we going to handle concurrent games? How were we going to assign a player to a game?
We used Firebase as the data store and React.js for the web front end. Sat between the two, is a Node application that used Socket.io to keep each player updated what the others’ progress.
When a player stops playing, disconnects, or simply wasn’t there at the start, they are replaced by an intelligent bot that operates on the server, allowing remaining users to complete the game.
Working with Spork was great! Their Workshop approach meant we were able to closely collaborate throughout, so I felt confident that the team really understood my requirements. I felt involved in every stage of development, but just as importantly, I felt welcome and part of the team. The project's standard was high, and, I found the whole process fun!
— Niall Smith, Founder