The Importance of Website Designing to Ensure Better Interface in Online Gaming Industry - Coursework Example

Executive Summary The online gaming industry is witnessing a growth and it has been primarily due to the fact that the different players have looked towards designing the website in such a manner that it helps to improve the interface with the customer. The report present the manner in which the gaming industry has grown and the importance of website designing to ensure better interface. The report highlights the fact that the website should be designed in such a manner that it helps to provide simplicity and devise a mechanism which will ensure that customer satisfaction grows. The report also presents the different aspect that should be looked into while devising a website along with the color palette and other information that holds prime importance in the online gaming industry. Table of Contents Introduction 3 Purpose of the report 3 Online Gaming Industry 4 Target Market 5 Marketing Strategy 6 Website Marketing 7 Objective of Website 8 Home Page Layout 10 Information Assessed from Website 12 Branding 12 Color Palette 13 Conclusion 15 References 16 Introduction The growth witnessed in the online gaming industry has made many organizations look towards investing in the business model. The world gaming industry has undergone rapid changes and with the development witnessed in technology the adaptability towards online games has increased. People of different ages are looking to play games online due to the enjoyment and feel that people get while playing. The online gaming industry has transformed and makes people playing the game feel as if they are present themselves by making visuals in such a way that it gives real feel. This has made people of all ages shift towards online gaming industry and the changes being witnessed by the world in this direction has many takers. The development seen in the gaming industry has resulted in many organizations to look towards it and develop their business model which helps to multiply the experience the customer is looking for. This has made the defence forces to look towards using different games while hiring people so that they visualize the actual feel they will have when they join the forces thereby helping the defence force to hire the correct manpower. Purpose of the Report To draw a marketing plan for an online gaming industry To identify the target customer base and market for the online gaming business To identify the marketing strategy and the manner online gaming industry uses their website to market their products To provide a basic description of the contents of a website along with design, color and others which will arouse interest of people towards this industry Online Gaming Industry The online gaming industry has seen widespread growth as more and people are preferring the mode. The importance of online gaming has further grown due to the growth witnessed in Facebook which has made more people using this site have some association with online games (Online Games, 2011). More people are looking towards online games as it requires less time compared to consoles where people have to follow a process but websites allow people to jump to games and enjoy the one they like. It has also been witnessed that the interactive market i.e. internet gaming industry is bound to multiply three times from the present $18 billion to $64 billion (Online Games, 2011). The growing importance of the online gaming industry has made the different websites look towards developing their websites and providing access to different games which helps the players to enjoy the games as if they are playing originally. The manner in which the online industry has ensured that the different organization based on it can design their business model thereby benefitting the company. The defence forces can also ensure that they use it and develop their strategy which helps them to recruit people in such a way that they feel part of the forces. Having a portal which ensures that the customer is able to visualize the actual effects will result in creating an actual feel of the scenario around and will help the different players to ensure that they are able to identify the correct talent. Target Market This will help to understand the different target customer base that the online gaming industry is looking to eye and will also help to understand the behaviour of the buyer and their response towards the product. Buyer Behaviour The buyer behaviour of customer in the online gaming industry is influenced by various factors which defines their role and make them arrive at a decision. Role: The buyer role in the gaming market is determined by the different types of games like action, cards and others. It is seen as a common fact that children determine the type of games they are willing to play. The defining role here is played by children who force their parents to purchase a particular game and the growth witnessed in the internet gaming industry has increased the requirements of the online gaming industry. Decision stage: The decision to purchase is made at the time when the children come in contact with the games where they play the game as a trial version and then look forward towards purchasing it. The decision here is at the end of the purchase cycle but when a especially when the purchaser has accounted for the game and played it once. Decision type: The decision to purchase is after planning where the purchaser looks towards purchasing the game only after they have played the game once. The decision here thereby gets altered after the purchaser comes in contact with the game once. Segmentation The internet gaming industry aims at people in the age group 5-60 years. The gaming industry has developed its target market based on two strategies. One the company looks at age demographics and the other is geographic segmentation. Targeted Segment Age Group Class of Customer Customer Needs Rural 5 - 60 years Premium Middle Class Lower Middle Class Providing games which are highly interactive and provide the experience as it they are playing in reality Semi-Urban 5 - 60 years Middle Class Lower Middle Class Providing games which are highly interactive and provide the experience as it they are playing in reality Based on the above segmentation the internet gaming industry has defined the target market which hekps the different players to be able to ensure that they are able to tap the customers and ensure quality games for them. Marketing Strategy To market the online gaming industry different players are looking forward to create brand awareness. Online gaming industry is looking towards advertising their games through websites (Bristow and Frankwick, 1994). The online gaming industry is also looking towards television commercial in the beginning as the viewership is high for it (Helm, 2005). The online gaming industry is also looking towards advertising by providing different “advertisement in news paper, hoardings and distribution of pamphlets” (Bristow and Frankwick, 1994). The main aim here is to make people know about the new generation games launched by the online gaming industry. In stores promos and special road shows will help to attract customer. Online gaming industry should use this strategy as there is stiff competition and the huge cost involved by different games available in consoles. This strategy will give us a path and help to move ahead. This makes it important that the online gaming industry develops websites which helps to increase customer interface and provides an experience which makes people look towards this mode of game. The online gaming industry needs to ensure that they develop the portal in such a way that it makes the different customer feel as if they are playing in reality. This will help the online game industry as it will bring the required changes in the way the industry performs and will help the different players to ensure that they are able to perform better and get the desired result from having the correct target base. Website Marketing Website holds an important aspect for the online gaming industry as it is the first step which makes the customer come in contact with the company. This makes it important that the website is designed in such a manner that it helps to enhance the customer experience and makes them feel as if they are playing the games in reality. This makes it important that the different aspect of website marketing is looked into by developing the website in a manner which helps to improve the interface of the customer. Website marketing holds an important aspect for the online gaming industry and steps need to be seen so that the manner in which the games are advertised is legal and ethical. The online game industry needs to ensure that they highlight the key features by presenting the manner in which the different players will be able to look into the different factors which helps to enhance customer experience. The online gaming industry needs to portray themselves in a manner which makes customer play the game as it helps to provide creativity at the same time ensure that they player is able to easily adjust with the functions of the game by ensuring simplicity. The gaming industry needs to present before the players that they have looked into different features and by playing the games the customers will be able to grow in various direction thereby helping them at the same time providing different experiences. Objective of Website The online gaming industry needs to ensure that the website for the gaming is designed in such a manner that the customers who play the game feel the comfortable and visualize as if they are playing the game in reality. The online gaming industry needs to ensure that the customer satisfaction is enhanced when they play the games and need to design the games accordingly. It should be ensured that the following are incorporated while designing the website for the online gaming industry. A URL address which is simple to remember and has some association with the game Postal address where the customers who want to purchase the online version can look into and also contact for other queries (Russell, 2007) Provide phone nos. so that the customer can contact in case of emergency and the phone should be answered and the problems solved at the earliest (Russell, 2007) Provide an email address so that people can send their queries and solve them so that people are able to have a link which will help them solve their queries (Russell, 2007) Ensure that the website is simple and density of information is less so that the customer find it easy to play the games and gather the information at the earliest Have buttons which allow quick passage to games thereby enabling the customers to have quick access to different pages and consuming less time (Russell, 2007) Providing images, blogs, wikis and other ways to provide information so that the customer who are new are able to visualize the information and able to see different videos and photos of people who had played the game previously (Russell, 2007). Since, this aspect has an emotional touch associated with it the effect will be larger and make the people more comfortable. The online gaming industry needs to ensure that they look into every aspect of the website so that it provides the user multiple accesses to different signs and helps to multiply the value addition that the customer will get. The online gaming industry needs to ensure that they are able to look into different factors which will help to ensure that there is simplicity and will multiply the experience for the customer. The developers of the website should ensure that they provide all information that will help the customers an option to decide on the outlook of the game and provide the simplicity in the games that the customers look forward to. Home Page Layout The website for the internet gaming industry should be such that the customer is able garner maximum satisfaction and improves the connectivity. The website can be something like the following (Website, 2011) Having a website similar to the one above will ensure simplicity. This is a model which can be followed by organizations which provide one game as it is simple. The website looks to ensure simplicity by ensuring that the customer can play a trial version at the same time purchase it. The website also enhances the customer to ensure that they are able to come in direct contact with the company and having different options at the top ensure that the customer is able to browse through different options and gauge the relevance and fun involved by playing the games by gathering information from blogs, videos and photos of others. The website for organization that provide different games can be something like the one shown below The above website provides customers with a variety of options to choose from and increases the likelihood of a customer purchasing it. The customer who browses in these sites will come across various games and will look towards purchasing the game which one likes. This will help the online game provider to tap different type of customer and will ensure a variety of information is provided through one place. The online gaming industry needs to ensure that the home page helps to provide maximum information that the customer is looking for and at the same time provide an experience which is soothing. The home page should be simple and not bulky but at the same time ensure that the customer is able to browse through a variety of information without having to search for a lot of options. Information Assessed from Website Customer looks towards gathering different information from the website so the website should be planned in such a way that it provides the following on the home page of the website In Context Analysis: This aspect will help the customer provide trend analysis and other information that helps the customer to gauge the effectiveness of games and the manner I which the pleasure of the customer gets enhanced Blogs: should be a place where customer should be provided information regarding past experiences derived from experiences (Ektron, 2011). This will help the customer to multiply the experience and will help them garner valuable information regarding the games and experiences Wikis: hold an important aspect as it will provide the customer will all information regarding the games and company and will highlight the manner the company has grown and helped the customer to derive preasure and satisfaction Social Networking Sites: will help the online gaming industry to ensure that they are able to improve their coverage as they will be able to communicate and provide access to games through it. This sites like face book, orkut will help to improve the popularity of the games and will act as a step towards success. Branding The online gaming industry needs to create their brand so that customers are on a look out for the particular game. This can be achieved by designing the game in such a manner that it helps the customer feel as it they are playing the game in reality. Designing the game should be aspect that should be looked into. While designing a campaign the online gaming industry should ensure that they don’t copy the work of our competitors as it could lead towards legal problems. On the ethical front we ensure that the advertising campaign doesn’t contain pictures, images or things that could be harmful to the society. The gaming industry should also ensure that the campaign doesn’t goes against any section of the society. We also ensure that sexual pictures which could have an impact on children are avoided. The entire campaign is designed based on the fact that it is ethical. Based on this we have designed the following advertising campaign and also presented the budget alongside it. This will help to improve the brand and make customer get associated with the company and use ir for longer period of time. Color Palette The online gaming industry should look towards color palette which helps to improve the customer interface and provide comfort to the eyes. The website should use color and design in such a way that it matches with the games and helps the customer derive satisfaction. This is seen from the following few color palette Above are some of the color palettes that website planners look to use as it helps to provide a soothing experience to the eyes and ensure that the customer derives pleasure from using them. The developers need to ensure that they choose the colour which matches with the requirements of the game and creates an effect with customers are looking for. The developers have to ensure that the colour palette is chosen in such a way that it matches with the game and multiplies the experience for the customers. Colour has a large role to play in the success of any games so the developers need to be very attentive and decide the colour which will help to improve the popularity of the game and ensure that the different players are able to gain a soothing experience. Conclusion Online gaming industry thereby is an area which can be developed and having a website which has all the ingredients will ensure that the industry grows. They need to ensure that they look into every minute aspect while designing the website and ensure simplicity and information so that customer is able to get all information and is able to use it in such a manner that it increases the business of the gaming industry. The online gaming industry needs to ensure that every little aspect which will help to multiply the experience of the customer is looked into and the game is designed in a manner which will ensure that the customer derives maximum pleasure at the same ensure that the customer is able to learn and visualize as if he is encountering a real life situation. References Bristow, D. and Frankwick, G. Product manager influences tactics in marketing strategy development and implementation. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 2 (3), 1994 Chau, PYK, Cole, M, Massey, AP, Montoya-Weiss, M, & OKeefe, RM, Cultural differences in the online behaviour of consumers Communications of the ACM, Vol. 45(10), pp.138-143, 2002 Hemp, P, 2006, Avatar-based marketing, Harvard Business Review, pp. 1-9, 2006 Hsu, CL, & Lu, HP, Consumer behavior in online game communities: A motivational factor perspective, Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 23(3), pp. 1642-1659, 2007 Online games. Online Games in Guerrilla Marketing. Retrieved on September 7, 2011 from http://www.guerrillaonline.com/cs/Online-games-in-Guerrilla-marketing-42.htm Russell, B. Deck the web with your best home page. 2007. Retrieved on September 7, 2011 from http://greenmediatoolshed.blogs.com/ Website. Hostgator Black Friday Fire Sales. Retrieved on September 7, 2011 from http://www.brandbuildsell.com/author/arsha/ Read More