Question of the Day

Question of the Day (QotD) is one of the most played voice skills globally, captivating users with its simple premise: a daily themed question that users can answer to earn points. Despite its popularity, QotD lacked a defined visual identity until 2020 due to its nature as a voice interface. Google enlisted our help to address this, leading to a closer partnership with Matchbox, the creator of QotD, and continued collaboration up until the product was sold to Volley.

Before our involvement, QotD operated solely as a voice-based game without any visual branding or identity. The key challenges included defining and implementing visual elements for a product traditionally experienced through audio, ensuring the new visual identity was consistent across different devices and interfaces and developing strategies to enhance user interaction and retention. This project eventually evolved into the creation of new solutions and complementary pages for the users.

Due to its nature as a voice action, incorporating visual design elements posed the risk of making the interface appear too cluttered. Additionally, we faced a limited timeframe and budget, and there was little to no existing branding identity to draw inspiration from, making this project particularly challenging.

To tackle these challenges, we conducted extensive research that involved user experience analyses, branding studies and stakeholder interviews. We studied how users interacted with QotD on both Google Assistant and Alexa to identify opportunities for visual integration, analyzed successful visual identities of similar voice skills and digital games to derive best practices and engaged with Matchbox and Google teams to understand their vision and expectations for QotD’s visual identity.

We initiated the project with a setup phase and a brief technical discovery to mitigate risks. By mapping the existing product structure from the user's perspective through conversational flows, we offered insights that the client had not yet considered. With this understanding, we created a detailed list of necessary screens and moved forward with the design process. Our approach prioritized simplicity and clarity, ensuring the visuals remained attractive and engaging. Each theme was assigned a distinct color, and we experimented extensively to achieve a cohesive and vibrant design without overwhelming the user interface.

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Based on our research, we followed a structured process to develop and implement QotD’s visual identity. We began by developing a concept that resonated with the essence of QotD. From that concept, we developed a cohesive visual identity, including logos, colour schemes, typography, and iconography for all the different themes within the game. During this phase we made sure that the design was adaptable for various screen sizes and devices used for Google Assistant and Alexa.

During the implementation, I worked closely with our developer in order to integrate the visual elements into the existing QotD framework on both platforms. After some time in which the product was available for the users to test, we began a new project focused on a more strategic engagement plan. This project consisted of new interaction flows to introduce a social aspect to QotD, such as leaderboards and sharing options, along with additional challenges and themed events to keep the game engaging and dynamic.

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The project yielded significant positive outcomes:

• Enhanced Visual Identity: QotD now boasts a distinctive and recognizable visual identity across Google Assistant and Alexa, improving brand consistency.
• Increased Engagement: The introduction of visual elements and new social features led to a marked increase in user interaction and retention.
• User Feedback: Positive feedback from users highlighted the improved aesthetic appeal and enhanced gameplay experience.
• Continued Growth: The success of the visual identity project and engagement strategies contributed to QotD's sustained popularity and culminated in a multi-million-dollar acquisition in 2021 to Volley, demonstrating the value of our contributions.