ABOUT
League of legends: Wild Rift is a mobile MOBA game co-developed by Tencent Lightspeed Studios and Riot Games for Android and iOS. It is a free-to-play mobile version of the PC game League of Legends.
my role
Gameplay Product Management Intern
Gameplay Product Management Intern
time span
June 2023-present
June 2023-present
tool
TAPD(product management tool developed by Tencent), Shotgrid, Google Form/Doc/Sheet/Drive, Tencent Form/Doc/Sheet/Drive, Excel, Tencent Meeting
my responsibility
As a gameplay product management intern, my main responsibilities is to maintain a healthy delivery of in-game features and live balance including main game modes（Summoner’s Rift & Aram) and featured game modes (Arena, unannounced game mode…) and explore perspectives to make our game and production process better!
personal work orientation
PM PMO
1. Cross-collaborate and bridge among design, programming, art, UIUX, QA team to develop features
2. Facilitate scheduling, asset tracking communication and assist in a variety of tasks to maintain the infrastructure for various disciplines using product management tool like TAPD
3. Take notes and write meeting minutes in various stand-ups and meetings, and follow up with closed-loop action item tracking
4. Create milestone briefs and progress reports with to lead team members on the expected product development track
1. Design automate tool such as bug reminding bot and assign needs to technical team in order to optimize product management efficiency
2. Standardized and document processes for streamlined management and task tracking
3. Conduct a retrospective analysis of the current dev patch to identify issues and develop detailed optimized process improvement proposals
4. Explore ways and pitching proposals to inspire product’s gameplay design and monetization strategies
what i learned
1. Never blindly follow existing processes for management and anything, be curious to learn from others, books and the internet, be open to discuss and exchange ideas with colleagues, be courageous to propose optimization suggestions, and be concise when present and deliver improvement proposals.
2. Granular processing of complex and large-scale tasks, breaking them down and sorting them from high to low priority.
3. Oversee risks in large project by quantifying and visualizing numbers with burn-up chart and trend report, and be able to to work with different disciplines to decide the best solutions for the product with objective reasoning in a timely manner
4. The most effective approach to delegate a task is by ensuring that the handler comprehends the rationale and significance behind it, rather than merely assigning tasks without explanation. It's important to acknowledge that I may not possess expertise in every facet of the task. Thus, listening to experts, understanding their insights, and delivering in a manner that aligns with the handler's perspective are essential keys to success throughout the process.
5. Leave record whenever I can. Decisions and action item during face to face conversation fades like markings in sand. Providing record by deliver summary messages and meeting minutes to improves overall efficiency and delivery capability of the production.
rESOLVE CONFLICTs BY standardizING processes
problem
Multiple unavoidable delays and extended intervals between each change in the X requirement have resulted in shifts in art handlers' roles and a lack of clarity in their understanding of the initial requirement specification. Consequently, designers consistently expend time seeking private communication with the art team to align specific requirements, leading to conflicts over information loss and impeding the smooth progression of the X requirement.
Pain Points of the Project Team
Due to the current overflow in the art pipeline within the project team, a significant portion of the art production process has shifted from internal production to outsourcing to external vendors. In comparison to internal production, outsourcing has several distinct characteristics:
1. Higher Communication Costs: Information dissemination requires communication among various stakeholders, including designers, development PMs, art POs, art quality control personnel, art PMs, vendor-side PMs, vendor-side POs, and specific requirement artists.
2. Complex Processes: To ensure the quality of outsourcing, multiple submissions and revisions are often required, leading to more complex overall processes.
3. Extended Production Periods: Outsourcing typically takes about twice as long to complete as internal production.
4. Higher Clarity Descriptions Required: There's an increased demand for clear and detailed descriptions for the specific requirements for outsourcing because they are unfamiliar with the product.
Core Problem
1. Planners didn't specify the specific requirements and art references clearly on the task ticket in Tapd, making it difficult for art POs and the art quality control responsible person to understand the details of the task. This resulted in a significant waste of time before packaging.
2. Each informal communication didn't systematically document action items, key elements, and important details. Moreover, there was an absence of project manager (PM) involvement in tracking action items, leading to inadequate execution of action items during coordination.
Demands
Solutions
1. To resolve conflicts and align the requirements of all departments, turn conflicts into common goals: time savings and overall efficiency improvement.
2. Process Optimization
a. Request that when Planners make demands, they clearly specify the requirements on the task ticket, standardizing the process:
- For art tasks, clearly state the requirements.
- For mobile game projects, mark if it's an original or replicated version of a PC game and provide relevant reference images and videos for replicated games.
- Clearly state the submission path.
b. For subsequent communication with artists, any changes or additional details regarding the requirements should be added in the task's comment section or communicated in the relevant communication group. This ensures information transparency and keeps records of communication outcomes."
results
1. Communication costs have been reduced by 40%, eliminating the need for redundant communication of the same content. In the current dev patch, this has been achieved, and issues are aligned and documented in a single instance.
2. Refined management and transparent process communication. In the current version, internal information about requirements is transparent, and risks are communicated promptly.
Follow-up goals
Promote broader standardization of requirement communication, ensuring that communication between design, programming, refactoring, and other departments follows this standard, thereby reducing communication costs.
before after
unclear function and requirement description clear description and list of requirements needed
along with path and reference video
Enhance Team Productivity
Problem
Every development patch encounters substantial pipeline pressure due to overflowing requirements. Even after feature lock, new requirements are continually introduced, compressing the available time for testing and bug fixing. Additionally, there is a persistent issue with unresolved bugs post-ZBD (over 300 bugs remaining on the day before ZBD), perpetuating a detrimental cycle where the development timeline from the previous patch is carried over to the next, consequently affecting subsequent patches.
This extended work hours practice after the feature lock has led to an overall decline in efficiency for development teams.
overwhelming bugs after zbd
Solutions
There are three specific approaches for handling this:
Increasing staffing
Create a report with man-days data and align with department leaders regarding the current manpower shortage in demand, specifying the exact man-days of support needed, and addressing the issue through Tencent's internal resources, outsourcing, and other means.
Trim down the requirements
After exceeding the allocated person-days, assess lower-priority requirements based on their priority. Leaders evaluate whether to consider carrying them over to the next version or trimming down the requirements. It's important to pay attention to the specific bottlenecks in tracking and documenting requirements, and conduct a retrospective analysis of optimization solutions for future reference.
Minimize resource waste
A. Shorten the requirement production timeline, as a prolonged scheduling gap between requirement departments can result in information loss.
B. Avoid any pipeline idleness.
C. Consider scheduling from multiple dimensions: prioritize and schedule based on demand volume supervision.
D. Form a closed-loop for requirement communication and avoid information loss.
B. Avoid any pipeline idleness.
C. Consider scheduling from multiple dimensions: prioritize and schedule based on demand volume supervision.
D. Form a closed-loop for requirement communication and avoid information loss.
Resolve Emergency Situations
Problems
During the development process of Requirement X, it was discovered that the new shop interaction component is causing a bug with shoe equipment. Additional support from the equipment-related program is required to complete the development.
Solutions
results
No additional risks to the current dev patch, delivery can be made according to the newly assessed delivery time
Enthusiastic about WILD RIFT
I Love my core job, and passionate about the game as a whole! I dare to provide suggestions, and consider optimizing any aspect of the product as my responsibility.
Make suggestions for games in the company’s internal group.
The suggestion has been approved and scheduled for optimization in the current patch.
The suggestion has been approved and scheduled for optimization in the current patch.
I made the most suggestions in the product opinion collection form and ranked first on the list of outstanding students.
