GR1 - Analysis

User analysis

User 1: Player

• Seeks out games to play in. A player is someone looking for other people to play with at the locations and times feasible for him/her. Players search through currently active games to find the ones that are most promising. They may need to filter results to find the ones that are most relevant.
• Desires relevant games. Players tend to prefer to play with others of nearly equal skill level. Thus, they will select games where the average skill is close to his/her own skill. Players may also prefer to play with buddies that they are already familiar with.
• Identifies with the online profiles of other players. Players create profiles to identify themselves to the community. They may keep tabs on one another to find others that share location, time preferences, and skill level.

Players are the most essential users in a pick-up game community. They are the ones playing the games so they stake the most on the quality of play. Players will consider time/location constraints as well as the average skill of the participants and familiarity with participants in a game. Players need an efficient way of searching through games and filtering the ones that are most relevant to them.

Persona: Kevin Durant is twenty year old kid in college looking to play basketball when he has time to kill. He loves to play, but hates when he comes to the court and there are no good games to join. Durant does not play at regular times because he's trying to fit basketball in around his other priorities, such as school work and extracurricular activities. He'll play three to four times a week at the gym at his school. Ideally, Durant would rather play with people he knows, or at least people with similar skill levels.

User 2: Organizer

• Brings together players to form a game. An organizer will create games that specify time, location, and desired skill levels. The organizer proposes games so that players will join together to ensure a rewarding level of play.
• May edit the parameters of the game to cater to the players. An organizer may need to adjust things to enable more players to join the game.

Organizers propose games that others can choose to participate in. They have editing privileges over the game parameters, so they can control changes that need to be made to time, location, or players. Organizers are the initiators and often are found recruiting others to play in their games.

Persona: George Karl is a fifty year old anaesthesiologist working in Boston. Karl does not have a lot of time to play, but needs the exercise to stay fit. He usually finds it difficult to just walk in to a gym and run with the kids he finds. He would much rather play with adults his own age, who play at his pace. He has a few friends in his private practice that he likes to ball with. Karl is typically the one to get things started. He will take care of the details to bring his friends together.

User 3: Observer

• Wants to watch a competitive game. An observer does not play in the game, but wants to watch a compelling match. While the observer's own skill should not affect the game, the observer may want to witness a certain level of play.
• Wants to watch friends play. Observers may have personal connections with players who are in the games. They may prefer to watch people they know to cheer them on, or perhaps deride them.

Observers watch games from the sidelines. They may be interested in just watching some games live. More likely, they are interested in following people they know. Observers may stop in on a game to cheer on their friends.

Persona: Spike Lee is a film director who loves the game of basketball, but isn't physically capable of playing himself. The next best thing for him is to watch games played out by others. Spike prefers to watch games played at a high level because he has a sophisticated taste for basketball. He has made friends with a few players at his local gym. When his schedule permits, Spike likes to watch the friends that he has made so he can cheer for them and jeer at the other guys.

User 4: Casual Interloper

• May not plan to play ahead of time. The interloper may not officially join a game, but could decide to come to the court anyway.
• Looks for games to scope out on the court. He/she may not know ahead of time whether he/she wants to play, so comes to the court to check things out. Will probably look for games that aren't filled, and meet time/location/skill criteria.

Casual interlopers like to drop in on games whenever it suits them. They do not necessarily schedule themselves to play in a game ahead of time. Interlopers may just be fickle or they prefer to scope out the competition before they commit to playing.

Persona: Cheryl Miller is 40 year old news analyst who played some professional basketball in her earlier years. Cheryl goes to the gym quite frequently. However, if there aren't any quality games going on, she is content to just shoot jumpers on her own. She wants to check if good competition will be around before she heads to the gym, but will not step on the court unless that games are being played hard.

User 5: Referee

• Joins a game to officiate. A referee will try to look for proposed games that are completed so that he/she can officially referee.
• Could be requested for a game, but is not necessary. An organizer may think that players will want a referee monitoring the game and require that the game needs one. Games, however, can easily be officiated by the players themselves without an external presence.

Referees also exist within this ecosystem if the games require strict adherence to the rules. Referees tend not to partake in recreational pick-up games, but they may be honing their officiating skills or just have a passion for rules and regulations.

Persona: Dick Bavetta is an 80 year old retired bond trader. He can no longer play basketball, but is still an avid supporter of the game. He has played in college so he has a strong understanding of the rules. He thinks it's important for young people to appreciate the fundamental regulations of the game. Bavetta voluntarily gives his time at his local gym to referee the recreational games that are played there. He likes to take part in games where the average skill level is low so he can do a little teaching as well.

Task analysis

Task 1: Registration

Goal: Register on the website

• Subtask: Navigate to Registration page
• Subtask: Fill in basic personal information
  • Precondition: Registration page has loaded
  • Precondition: Have a valid email address
• Subtask: Fill in information for public profile
• Subtask: Submit registration
  • Precondition: Filled out required fields for personal information and public profile

Task 2: Create Game

Goal: Suggest a game for others to join and play

• Subtask: Navigate to “Create Game” page
  • Precondition: Logged in
• Subtask: Enter game information
  • Precondition: Have in mind the information needed to create a game (location, time, etc)
• Subtask: Submit game
  • Precondition: Filled out necessary details needed to create the game

Task 3: Join Game

Goal: Join a game of interest

• Subtask: Browse and decide on a game to join
  • Precondition: Logged in
• Subtask: Click Join button for the game
• Precondition: Logged in

Task 4: Leave Game

Goal: Leave a game because of other commitments or because the game is no longer of interest

• Subtask: Decide on a game to leave
• Subtask: Click on leave game button
  • Precondition: Logged in
  • Precondition: Previously joined the game

Task 5: Edit Game

Goal: Change the details for a game

• Subtask: Navigate to game page
• Subtask: Navigate to edit game page
  • Precondition: Logged in and is organizer for the game
• Subtask: Change game details
  • Precondition: Have new game details in mind
• Subtask: Submit changes

Task 6: Edit Public Profile

Goal: Change information on public profile

• Subtask: Navigate to edit profile page
  • Precondition: Logged in
• Subtask: Fill in updated information
• Subtask: Submit changes

Task 7: Add Buddies

Goal: Add buddies to buddy list

• Subtask: Navigate to buddy’s profile
  • Precondition: Logged in
• Subtask: Click Add Buddy button

Task 8: Remove Buddies

Goal: Remove buddies to buddy list

• Subtask: Navigate to own buddy list
  • Precondition: Logged in
• Subtask: Click Remove Buddy button
  • Precondition: Know which buddy to remove

Task 9: Search/Filter for Game

Goal: Find a specific game easily

• Subtask: Search for game (optional)
  • Precondition: Know some information about the game, eg. name, location, etc
• Subtask: Filer results
  • Precondition: Desire a specific type of results, eg. games happening during a specific time

Domain analysis