Toxicity in gaming has been a persistent issue since many of us first started our gaming journeys. My friend and I decided to tackle this challenge by working to enhance the player experience in our favorite game, Valorant.

UX Designer and Research; Duration - 8 Months.

This is a speculative project.

We developed and sent out a survey that would help us pinpoint some of the issues that Valorant players were experiencing regularly, in an effort to create a more enjoyable environment for gamers. The findings from the survey showed us that the overall experience of Valorant can be defined in a coin flip. The experience you have is all dependent on the teammates you come across in games. Teammates can either be pleasant and helpful, or the opposite end of the spectrum and turn out to be toxic and detrimental to the user experience. In this study, we would like to explore and provide some recommendations that could alleviate the toxicity issue. that is rampant in Valorant and create a more enjoyable experience for all gamers. Toxicity in gaming has been around since many of us have begun our journeys in games. It is an accurate assumption to say that almost all players have been exposed to some sort of toxicity in their game of choice. Throughout our playtime and experience with Valorant and other FPS titles, sexual harassment/gender and race/ethnicity based language are among the most common insults being said in matches. In a study conducted by the Anti-Defamation League, findings showed

These statistics aren’t only for males, but for women as well, who are significantly more likely targets of toxicity and verbal abuse. In addition to the psychological harm, studies suggest that such toxicity decreases women’s motivation to play video games in the future as well as to pursue technical career fields (ADL). In addition to these findings, the results from our own survey showed that toxicity was a huge pain point of the player experience in Valorant. We ideated a few solutions that we believe would help the issue, as well as some other additions to the product that we believe would create a better Valorant experience.

In order to determine what areas of Valorant we wanted to address, we devised a survey that would define the reasons of frustration in the user base. In addition to the survey, one on one interviews with volunteer participants brought to light the emotions of the typical frustrated user.

Based on the results of our survey, toxic teammates are the most significant pain point in the player experience in Valorant. Punishing toxic teammates more than a ban or suspension was one of the most common comments we received in our survey. It's not possible to completely eliminate toxicity from any game, but we can develop a solution that encourages players to be respectful. Taking from Blizzard’s title Overwatch, they have a feedback system that is displayed with a badge that is visible to all players. After each match, the teammates have the ability to commend you for three different qualities; shot caller, good teammate, and sportsmanship. As you commend more and more players, your feedback level is increased and you are then matched up with players with similar badge levels and behavior history as you, based on teammate feedback.

One of the other pain points that stood out to us from the survey, was that Valorant users generally have negative experiences when it comes to smurfs. Smurfs are defined as users who create new accounts to play in lower ranks, for whatever reason they may have. This creates a fault in the competitive integrity of the game because you are matched against someone who is significantly above your current skill level. This is a large problem with many free-to-play titles because it is so easy to just create a new account without having to pay.

One solution that has worked well for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was creating prime accounts Before CS:GO moved to a free-to-play model, the game was $15, and when the transition happened, the accounts that had paid previously were defined as “prime accounts”. You could also make your account prime by linking a phone number to verify it so that only one number was associated with each account. Prime accounts got a special matchmaking option to only play against other prime accounts.

Another pain point that our participants detailed was that they felt there was The current agent selection process in Valorant has significant drawbacks that adversely impact player experience and team dynamics. The current model of selecting agents has raised concerns among players, leading to a negative experience, particularly related to "instalockers" and unequal opportunities to choose preferred agents. Players that have more advanced hardware and in turn are loading in faster and immediately locking an agent creates a toxic environment for the other players on the team as it can lead to an unfavorable composition. This also causes some toxic individuals to engage in behavior that is detrimental to the team and the game.

When developing the visual solutions to these pain points, keeping the user at the center of these design decisions is imperative. Our visual solutions are intended to alleviate the issues of toxicity and increase the overall user experience of Valorant. Our solution for addressing the toxic teammates issue is to take inspiration from Overwatch and implement a system that allows the user to rate teammates after each match would help alleviate the “coin flip” of teammates in each ranked game. These commendations could be categorized as; communicative, sportsmanship, and cooperative.

As it currently stands, the likelihood of getting a teammate with similar behavior as you is not very high. This system would increase that likelihood and also punish toxic teammates by placing them in lobbies and matches with players who have a similar behavior history as them.

For our visual solution, we created two variants that indicate a verified account. The first option is a traditional verified checkmark, which is synonymous with other platforms and easily identifiable. The second option is taking the blank space on the player card and changing the color to a glowing green to symbolize verification.

Our solution for deterring "instalockers" is to create a waiting room for each team. Once all five players of each side has loaded, agent select will begin. This solution creates an equal and inclusive opportunity for all users of the product, regardless of hardware or network advantages. This solution is detailed below.

In conclusion, this case study has provided us with invaluable insights and information that will hopefully significantly impact Valorant's user experience. Through user research and iterative design, we have gained a deep understanding of our users' needs, pain points, and preferences. Here are the key takeaways:

Target User Refinement: We have refined our target audience based on real user data, allowing us to tailor our product to better meet the unique requirements and expectations of our target audience.

Accessibility Enhancements: Through user feedback and accessibility evaluations, we have uncovered opportunities to make our product more inclusive and accessible to all users, regardless of their capabilities.

Given this was a passion project, there are few next steps that would have a practical effect on the product. For personal next steps, using the information and experience from this study, we can take these learning experiences to improve our next case studies in our UX and product design journey's.