Play Bullseye at Home
App Design
With a bluetooth dartboard on sale at Home Leisure Direct, where your darts score register on your phone in real-time, the company decided to bring the TV show Bullseye to the masses. We worked with a developer to build a true-to-TV game of Bullseye, with question rounds and tricky Bullseye boards to beat.
dESIGN cHALLENGES
As a company and as a designer, we had not made an app before. Working with a dev team was an incredible experience, as they brought a great deal of knowledge to the table. In terms of an app, it is a relatively simple workflow process. However, the number of screen combinations, interactive iconography and user experience considerations were considerable. It was a great experience, and we have created an app that can still be played several years later.
kEY eLEMENTS
- Workflow for the game: In order to keep the app true-to-TV, I designed a workflow, following the format of the game. This allowed us to figure out which screens needed to be shown at which point in the game for the devs to code in.
- Screen creation: We needed a clear visual of where on the board users needed to aim for in each round. With just a phone screen as the display size (though many would connect their phone to a TV screen for this), there is not a lot of real estate to play with. Visuals needed to be clear, uncluttered and easy-to-read.
- Theming: The TV show features several different dartboards on a rotating panel, which we needed to reflect in each round's visuals. Utilising colour and dartboard patterns we were able to recreate these on-screen.
- Graphics: Utilising the provided vector files from the copyright holders, it was necessary to edit or recreate certain elements in order to have the mascot Bully posing in the right way. For instance, for a 'steal' round, we wanted to have Bully appear as a thief, which required drawing him from scratch on Illustrator.
- Bluetooth Connectivity: As the app is meant to be sold alongside a Bluetooth dartboard, it was necessary to work with the developer to create a visual indicator as to whether the dartboard was currently connected. Using the Bullseye font as a baseline theming, I created icons to display on screen to highlight connectivity.
- Prizes: Bullseye famously has a huge array of prizes - from a teasmaid to a caravan to a speedboat. We needed these to be consistent images, and so it required hunting down photos of the items in hi-definition and editing them into the same prop background image.
- 3D animation: For the final round, you have until the board panel turns around in order to make a decision on whether to gamble or not. In order to recreate this, I created a short animation of two dartboards on either side of a pillar, rotating in place.
rESULTS
The Bullseye app was launched to great excitement from the Bullseye community. There were some pitfalls in the follow-up marketing, as some users were unclear on this being a companion app to playing on a real-life dart board. Home Leisure Direct rectified this going forward in their marketing to make sure it's clear that you have to use a dartboard - Bluetooth or regular - in order to play.
Programmes used
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe After Effects