BrainWars for iPhone first time user experience
The good bits:
- Similar to QuizUp, BrainWars lets you challenge friends—or a random opponent—to a game. But where QuizUp forces a new user to log in before she can try it, BrainWars gives her the option to skip registration and get right to the game. Users who skip registration are given the option of challenging a random opponent selected from a worldwide audience. This does a great job of selling the new user on the types of games and challenges that can be played, so she may be more likely to sign in with Facebook in order to invite her friends.
- The app makes use of occasional hints to teach users not only about the interface, but also about each of the individual games that can be played.
To be improved:
- When the new user selects “Challenge” and enters her first game, it is not initially clear what needs to be done while the timer at the top of the screen counts down. I would suggest that the app focus this moment on just the task at hand—the need to select the type of game—by removing extraneous components like the emoticon selector at the bottom. These could be gradually re-introduced after the first game is played.