Projects

Projects

First-Time User Behaviour

First-Time User Behaviour

Jan–Jul 2024

From first play to repeat play:

From first play to repeat play:

improving early user retention in a
real-money gaming platform

improving early user retention in a
real-money gaming platform

First time cash play Retention

First time cash play Retention

0

0

0

0

%

%

Gameplay Conversion increased

Gameplay Conversion increased

0

0

0

0

%

%

Turn time out Dropped by

Turn time out Dropped by

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

%

%

While a large number of users were successfully entering the product and reaching gameplay, a significant portion of them were not continuing beyond their first experience. This project focused on improving the first-time cash play journey, ensuring users not only start playing, but also understand the system well enough to continue engaging with confidence.

Overview

At a surface level, the funnel looked healthy — users were signing up, joining games, and interacting with the system. But deeper observation revealed a more fragile reality: users were moving forward with hesitation, often unsure of actions, system responses, and outcomes.
The real opportunity wasn’t just bringing users into the product — it was helping them feel oriented, confident, and in control once they were inside it.

The Problem

Despite strong initial engagement, the early user experience showed clear friction across multiple touchpoints. Users were able to enter gameplay, but struggled to complete it with clarity and confidence.

This was reflected in key metrics:

First-time cash play retention was low at

24%

indicating weak first-time experience

Turn timeout was high at

8%

suggesting missed or misunderstood actions

Drop-offs

occurred during

gameplay and post-game stages

These issues directly impacted user trust, repeat engagement, and monetization potential. The core problem was not functionality — it was lack of clarity across critical moments in the journey.

The goal was clear:

Improve first-time

Improve first-time

user understanding

gameplay confidence

cash-play retention

user understanding

gameplay confidence

cash-play retention

user understanding

gameplay confidence

cash-play retention

user understanding

gameplay confidence

cash-play confidence

Problem Framing

Field Work: Understanding the real problem

To move beyond assumptions and understand real user behaviour, we conducted on-ground research over 3–4 intensive days across high-density areas such as auto stands, residential clusters, and corporate surroundings.

4 Days

In-depth user Interviews

100+

Users

We interacted with a diverse set of users — drivers, security guards, office helpers, and first-time 

RMG players, & capturing their natural behaviour while they downloaded, signed up, and played the game for the first time.

These conversations revealed hundreds of micro-moments of confusion, hesitation, and misinterpretation. This helped shift our perspective from analysing metrics to understanding how users actually experience the product in real-world conditions.

Key highlights

From the research, a few strong and recurring patterns emerged across different user groups:

Users were

Acting without understanding

System states (joined, turn, win) were

Not clearly visible

Timeout was often

Unintentional

Rewards and money flow created

Doubt instead of excitement

Small confusions across steps led to

Early drop-offs

These insights highlighted that the journey was not broken — but it was

“not self-explanatory enough for first-time users.”

What users experienced

Shiv misinterpreted early steps—entered OTP in the referral field and was unsure if signup was complete.

During gameplay, he misinterpreted “Joined” as “Jeetna” and was unable to understand the timer or turn-based actions.

“Game start ho gaya ya nahi, kuch samajh nahi aaya”

Shiv Pandey

(33)

(Cab Driver)

Shiv misinterpreted early steps—entered OTP in the referral field and was unsure if signup was complete.

During gameplay, he misinterpreted “Joined” as “Jeetna” and was unable to understand the timer or turn-based actions.

“Game start ho gaya ya nahi, kuch samajh nahi aaya”

Shiv Pandey

(33)

(Cab Driver)

Bhavna hesitated early—questioned app safety, chose English with limited understanding, and struggled with gameplay and scoring.

She remained unsure and questioned if opponents were real.

“Ye asli player hai ya system?”

Bhavna

(29)

(Home cook)

Bhavna hesitated early—questioned app safety, chose English with limited understanding, and struggled with gameplay and scoring.

She remained unsure and questioned if opponents were real.

“Ye asli player hai ya system?”

Bhavna

(29)

(Home cook)

Ashok relied on audio cues, often missed visual signals, overlooked rewards, and didn’t connect scoring with outcomes.

Even after winning, he was unsure whether he had actually earned money.

“Paisa kaise mile, maine toh daale hi nahi.”

Ashok Shukla

(22)

(valet)

Ashok relied on audio cues, often missed visual signals, overlooked rewards, and didn’t connect scoring with outcomes.

Even after winning, he was unsure whether he had actually earned money.

“Paisa kaise mile, maine toh daale hi nahi.”

Ashok Shukla

(22)

(valet)

Reimagining the “JOURNEY”

Based on these insights, the problem was reframed from improving individual screens to improving the overall journey experience.

The focus shifted towards designing an experience where users always understand:

  1. What just happened

  1. What just happened

  1. What to do next

  1. What to do next

  1. Why their action matters

  1. Why their action matters

Goal

From:

❌ “User should figure it out”

To:

✅ “System should guide when needed”

Solution

Solution

Introducing contextual guidance across the journey

Introducing contextual guidance across the journey

The solution focused on bringing clarity throughout the entire experience, not just improving individual screens.

The solution focused on bringing clarity throughout the entire experience, not just improving individual screens.

This meant making states more visible, guiding users during gameplay, and reinforcing understanding at key moments—so users get the right support exactly when they need it, without feeling overwhelmed.

This meant making states more visible, guiding users during gameplay, and reinforcing understanding at key moments—so users get the right support exactly when they need it, without feeling overwhelmed.

Prize Pool

₹32

i

YOU

Score

0

First Mover

Score

0

Second Mover

10:00

WEAK

Tap on tokens to move

Tap on the dice

My Contribution as a Lead Designer

My vision was to make the product intuitively understandable during use, rather than relying on pre-existing familiarity or external learning.

The goal was not just to improve usability, but to create a system where users could naturally build confidence as they progressed through the journey.

Clarity builds confidence

Clarity builds confidence

When users clearly understand what’s happening, they feel in control.


And that sense of control is what builds trust—and keeps them moving forward.

When users clearly understand what’s happening, they feel in control.


And that sense of control is what builds trust—and keeps them moving forward.

Guide at the right moments

Guide at the right moments

Instead of overwhelming users upfront, support shows up when it’s needed.
This keeps the experience light, while still making progress feel effortless.

Instead of overwhelming users upfront, support shows up when it’s needed.
This keeps the experience light, while still making progress feel effortless.

Make the next step obvious

Make the next step obvious

At any point, users shouldn’t have to pause and think about what to do next.
Removing that guesswork helps them move faster—and with confidence.

At any point, users shouldn’t have to pause and think about what to do next.
Removing that guesswork helps them move faster—and with confidence.

THE REDESIGN

Here’s how we transformed the experience:

  1. Entry & FTCP Start Clarity

Users were unsure if signup was complete, rewards were credited, or if they had successfully joined their first game. We made success states, reward visibility, and game-start cues clearer — helping users move from entry to first play with confidence.

Users were unsure if signup was complete, rewards were credited, or if they had successfully joined their first game. We made success states, reward visibility, and game-start cues clearer — helping users move from entry to first play with confidence.

Signup success & reward confirmation

First Time Cash Play (FTCP) Start

  1. Gameplay Guidance & Turn Recovery

Gameplay asked users to understand *dice, token movement, scoring,* and turn timing all at once. We introduced contextual nudges, visual cues, and VO prompts — helping users *learn while playing* and recover before timing out.

Gameplay asked users to understand *dice, token movement, scoring,* and turn timing all at once. We introduced contextual nudges, visual cues, and VO prompts — helping users *learn while playing* and recover before timing out.

  1. Post Game Clarity

Post-game, users struggled to interpret results and understand rewards. We simplified the winner state, clarified rewards, and strengthened next steps — helping users move forward with confidence.

Post-game, users struggled to interpret results and understand rewards. We simplified the winner state, clarified rewards, and strengthened next steps — helping users move forward with confidence.

IMPACT & RESULTS

  1. User Testing

Post-redesign testing showed a significant improvement in user comprehension. Users were able to complete gameplay with fewer errors and demonstrated higher confidence in their actions.

  1. User Testing

Post-redesign testing showed a significant improvement in user comprehension. Users were able to complete gameplay with fewer errors and demonstrated higher confidence in their actions.

  1. Key Outcomes

Post-redesign testing showed a significant improvement in user comprehension. Users were able to complete gameplay with fewer errors and demonstrated higher confidence in their actions.

  1. Key Outcomes

Post-redesign testing showed a significant improvement in user comprehension. Users were able to complete gameplay with fewer errors and demonstrated higher confidence in their actions.

  1. Phased Rollout

Post-redesign testing showed a significant improvement in user comprehension. Users were able to complete gameplay with fewer errors and demonstrated higher confidence in their actions.

  1. Phased Rollout

Post-redesign testing showed a significant improvement in user comprehension. Users were able to complete gameplay with fewer errors and demonstrated higher confidence in their actions.

METRICS

Daily & Montly

Metrics

Cadence

Before

After

Impact

FTCP Retention

Turn Timeout

Gameplay Conversion

ARPU

Monthly

Daily

Daily

Monthly

24%

8%

80%

₹40

52%

3.5%

90%

₹60

+28 pp

↓56%

+10 pp

+50%

Closing Thought

What started as an effort to reduce early drop-offs evolved into a deeper shift in how we approached the first-time user journey. By focusing on clarity at every step, we didn’t just improve usability — we helped users feel more confident, ultimately driving stronger retention and business impact.

“Sometimes, the biggest impact comes not from adding 

more — but from making things clear enough to trust.”

Back to top