PRODUCT INCLUSION ACTION

Design for Customer Safety & Trust

Product Inclusion Actions - Design for Customer Safety & Trust

Look for ways to ensure player interactions and communications are safe, especially as it relates to identity, and limit avenues for harm between players. Regardless of identity, set clear expectations in customer experiences to avoid unintentionally off ramping them.

Customer Challenge

Safety and trust need to be at the core of the experiences we create. Players who have negative interactions will disengage and some players fail to ever engage due to anticipation of negative interactions. 

Business Impact

  • 1/3 of all gamers in the US and UK have experienced not feeling welcome in a game community. 

​​​​​​​References: ​​​​​​​Newzoo 2020 D&I Report, Newzoo 2023 Global Gamer Study

Graphic showing that 91% of Game Pass users have tried a new game in Game Pass that they otherwise wouldn’t have tried without the subscription.

Source: 2021 Microsoft Internal Survey

Questions to Consider

  • What exits are built into the product experience that will allow a customer to opt-out of an experience without negative consequences?
    • Are these exits easily discovered by customers?
       
  • Do you set clear player expectations to help all players meet expected behavior?
    • Do you have a set of intentional and consistent expectations for your customers/partners?
    • Are your expectations applicable for a global audience?
    • Where do you communicate expectations and how do people find the information?
    • Do you communicate expectations in a way your global customers/partners can understand?
    • How are you checking with your partners/customers to ensure that they understand?
  • How do you help players understand what a scenario will be like before they engage? 
     
  • Have you reviewed your experience to determine where player interactions will occur and looked at designs that can minimize harm that players can do to each other or systems that will encourage positive social interaction? 
    • Have you considered how different players (such as members of a certain gender / racial group / age / non-English speakers, etc) might be impacted or targeted differently during player interactions? 

Steps to Achieve It

1. Set Goals for what you want to achieve & share them with your project stakeholders

  • Do planning at the start of projects to identify opportunities & obstacles. 
  • Go through to the 10 Product Inclusion Actions to bring intentionality into your designs. 

2. Identify & Utilize resources to help drive success

  • Review research and find resources to help you achieve your goals. 
  • Leverage inclusive Listening Systems to ensure that you are including players who might experience more toxicity and harassment in your feedback channels, helping to ensure that your designs help safeguard our most vulnerable players.

3. Create & release experiences that engage players to keep them safe and promote positive community interactions.

  • Review all player interactions and design ways to minimize player risk and support pro-social design.
  • Create and post clear community behavior expectations and ensure that your community is adhering to the rules.
  • Look at data with a safety lens to determine if certain communities might be experiencing challenges. ​​​​​​​