Live Stream Drops
Earn rewards by sharing your gameplay
The goal of Drops is to rewards for streaming games they're already playing and open up partnership opportunites with gaming publishes as well as create a new revenue stream for Discord.
My Impact
I have led my team in rolling out new drops with renowned partners such as Halo, Fortnite, and Capcom, owning design from 0 to launch and making it a highly successful addition to Discord's streaming feature set. This has paved the way for future collaborations with game publishers and deeper integration of Discord into the games our users are playing.
I have led my team in rolling out new drops with renowned partners such as Halo, Fortnite, and Capcom, owning design from 0 to launch and making it a highly successful addition to Discord's streaming feature set. This has paved the way for future collaborations with game publishers and deeper integration of Discord into the games our users are playing.
Define & Discover
From the beginning of the project, our team had a clear understanding of the main drivers needed to make this a successful feature. Collaborating closely with game studio partners and exploring competitors in the streaming space, we identified a promising opportunity to attract more users to Discord for streaming and gaming by offering rewards in the games they played most frequently. We had 3 major objectives: • Get people streaming the games they're already playing • Reward viewership and stream longevity • Open a potential revenue opportunity for the company
From the beginning of the project, our team had a clear understanding of the main drivers needed to make this a successful feature. Collaborating closely with game studio partners and exploring competitors in the streaming space, we identified a promising opportunity to attract more users to Discord for streaming and gaming by offering rewards in the games they played most frequently. We had 3 major objectives: • Get people streaming the games they're already playing • Reward viewership and stream longevity • Open a potential revenue opportunity for the company
Who & How
While Discord has been targeting non-gamers for the past 2 years, the Drops initiative aimed to engage a dedicated gaming audience. Partnering with Capcom's Monster Hunter, we focused on rewarding existing players who had played within the last 30 days. Eligible users received an alert, and newcomers discovering Drops via social media could also enroll after installing the game. I used a coachmark to encourage enrollment in the Drops Inventory, allowing our data science team to gather more precise engagement metrics around enrollment behavior.
While Discord has been targeting non-gamers for the past 2 years, the Drops initiative aimed to engage a dedicated gaming audience. Partnering with Capcom's Monster Hunter, we focused on rewarding existing players who had played within the last 30 days. Eligible users received an alert, and newcomers discovering Drops via social media could also enroll after installing the game. I used a coachmark to encourage enrollment in the Drops Inventory, allowing our data science team to gather more precise engagement metrics around enrollment behavior.
Experimenting
The two big questions I had going in were how long should people have to stream in order to unlock the reward and how can we prevent abuse of the system. Because of Discords size, we're often targeted by bad actors hoping to take advantage of free Nitro trials, partner promotions and potentially in-game rewards for streaming. Addressing the ideal engagement window, I proposed running an A/B test for 15 & 30 minutes of streaming time to see where stream time would fall off. Unsuprizingly for each bucket, users frequently stopped streaming within minutes of hitting their mininum stream time. In this initial test we also saw a signifigant amount of people streaming to nobody, this wasen't good for us or our publisher partners. In the public launch of our first Drop we added another requirement: There must be at least one stream viewer for the player to be eligible for the award. I updated the Drop Inventory with a tracker for time spent viewing but chose to only display a completed or not status for the viewer. This kept it vague that viewers were only required to view for 5 of the 30 minutes, encouraging increased engagement as well as making the stream a hopefully more enjoyable experience because they had a friend to chat with.
The two big questions I had going in were how long should people have to stream in order to unlock the reward and how can we prevent abuse of the system. Because of Discords size, we're often targeted by bad actors hoping to take advantage of free Nitro trials, partner promotions and potentially in-game rewards for streaming. Addressing the ideal engagement window, I proposed running an A/B test for 15 & 30 minutes of streaming time to see where stream time would fall off. Unsuprizingly for each bucket, users frequently stopped streaming within minutes of hitting their mininum stream time. In this initial test we also saw a signifigant amount of people streaming to nobody, this wasen't good for us or our publisher partners. In the public launch of our first Drop we added another requirement: There must be at least one stream viewer for the player to be eligible for the award. I updated the Drop Inventory with a tracker for time spent viewing but chose to only display a completed or not status for the viewer. This kept it vague that viewers were only required to view for 5 of the 30 minutes, encouraging increased engagement as well as making the stream a hopefully more enjoyable experience because they had a friend to chat with.
Overcoming Coachmark Overload
After the first Drop, the partnership team was thrilled with the promising data and livestream numbers. However, a feedback survey led by UX Research revealed that many users were unaware of their eligibility for the drop. This came down to our excessive use of coachmarks, the alert bubble used across the platform to highlight new features. Users are so accustomed to seeing coachmarks pop up that many people dismiss them on site. Identifying this issue, I proposed auto-enrolling players who launched the game within a 60-day window and a persistent Drops icon next to the streaming controls. I made a case for maximizing the visibility of rewards in the highly contested voice call UI space and got my changes live before the next Drop test. By implementing these changes and retaining coachmark alerts for new Drop releases, we observed a significant increase in engagement. My approach has been successfully employed in all subsequent Drops.
After the first Drop, the partnership team was thrilled with the promising data and livestream numbers. However, a feedback survey led by UX Research revealed that many users were unaware of their eligibility for the drop. This came down to our excessive use of coachmarks, the alert bubble used across the platform to highlight new features. Users are so accustomed to seeing coachmarks pop up that many people dismiss them on site. Identifying this issue, I proposed auto-enrolling players who launched the game within a 60-day window and a persistent Drops icon next to the streaming controls. I made a case for maximizing the visibility of rewards in the highly contested voice call UI space and got my changes live before the next Drop test. By implementing these changes and retaining coachmark alerts for new Drop releases, we observed a significant increase in engagement. My approach has been successfully employed in all subsequent Drops.
Post Launch
I have led my team in rolling out new drops with renowned partners such as Halo, Fortnite, and Capcom, making it a highly successful addition to Discord's streaming feature set. This has paved the way for future collaborations with game publishers and deeper integration of Discord into the games our users are playing. My key takeaway from this project is the importance of simplifying the reward process for players, not only in Drops but throughout Discord. Unexpected rewards create memorable experiences for users, driving them to return and engage further.
I have led my team in rolling out new drops with renowned partners such as Halo, Fortnite, and Capcom, making it a highly successful addition to Discord's streaming feature set. This has paved the way for future collaborations with game publishers and deeper integration of Discord into the games our users are playing. My key takeaway from this project is the importance of simplifying the reward process for players, not only in Drops but throughout Discord. Unexpected rewards create memorable experiences for users, driving them to return and engage further.
Based in Seattle, Washington with my partner and an eternally angry cat.
Copyright © 2023 Sean Fitzmartin
Based in Seattle, Washington with my partner and an eternally angry cat.
Copyright © 2023 Sean Fitzmartin
Based in Seattle, Washington with my partner and an eternally angry cat.
Copyright © 2023 Sean Fitzmartin