UI/UX Modernization

Game: Genies & Gems

Role: Lead Game Designer

Completely overhauled the UI and UX of the game. Focused new approach on player engagement and live operability.

Original Home Screen - cluttered and confusing

The Problem

As the lead game designer for Genies & Gems, I tackled issues with popups and a cluttered UI that confused players and reduced engagement.

My key improvements included:

Modernizing the UI for clearer actions and direction.
Streamlining progression UX for a smoother experience.
Minimizing friction from app launch to gameplay.
Using engaging animations to convey progress instead of text and popups.
Showing information based on player context to enhance relevance.

These changes aimed to boost player understanding and engagement.

Leading the Team

I collaborated with artists, product managers, UX designers, engineers, and producers and drove a complete UI/UX overhaul of the game, from concept to launch.

My responsibilities included:

Giving direction to UI/UX designer to create new UI concepts.
Pitching redesign ideas to stakeholders for approval.
Redesigning the entire UI/UX, updating existing systems and features.
Auditing and refining pre-existing systems with the product management team.
Mentoring the game design team throughout the project.
Overseeing and writing game design documentation
Assisting with prioritizing deliverables and creating a rollout plan.

Concepts created by UX designer and art, guided by rough mockups I created

The Solution

The redesigned UI centered the player’s experience on what mattered most: playing levels. I introduced a consistent and reliable way for players to engage by replacing multiple level nodes with a prominent button on the home screen.

The cluttered scrolling map was eliminated in favor of a single, live operable, splash image that evolves as players progress, allowing us to highlight new events and seasons dynamically. This streamlined approach significantly improved clarity and focus.

Updated Home Screen and tabbed navigation

Getting to the Action

In the redesign, I focused on enabling players to do what they want, when they want, minimizing interruptions. I designed a contextual system that only showed information when relevant, ensuring players could access levels quickly without overwhelming popups.

Key changes included:

Event popups only appearing for new, unseen events.
Consolidating all existing events into a single "What's New" popup.
Moving event progress notifications to a level summary screen post-completion.
Displaying popups only for significant rewards, while other progress is shown through badge animations.
Using eye-catching animations for progress and rewards, reducing the need for intrusive overlays.

Above: Original post game sequence with each event that had progress showing multiple popups

Below: Modernized post level sequence with event progress is consolidated into a single screen and conveyed via badge animations

Playtesting and Onboarding

VIP players were invited to join a livestream where I presented the new UI and features in order to get their feedback

Recognizing that Genies & Gems had an established player base, I collaborated closely with our consumer insights team to test the new UX with both new and existing players throughout the redesign process. This iterative feedback allowed me to refine the design based on what players valued.

I created a dynamic onboarding experience that introduced the game differently depending on if a player was new to the game or an existing player. Additionally, I hosted a community livestream with VIP players to showcase the changes in an in-progress build, generating excitement and preparing them for the updates.

Results

The new UI was launched successfully along with new meta systems and the game saw sustained impacts to player engagement metrics:

Rounds played increased by 14%
DAU increase by 15%
Returning player D1 retention increase by 25%
New player D1 retention increase by 7%
Live Ops Event participation increase by 50%

The large update also allowed the game to be featured by Google and Apple in their respective stores for the first time in over 3 years. This featuring resulted in a 2000% increase in daily average browsing app units during that period.

UI/UX Modernization

The Problem

Leading the Team

The Solution

The redesigned UI centered the player’s experience on what mattered most: playing levels. I introduced a consistent and reliable way for players to engage by replacing multiple level nodes with a prominent button on the home screen.

Getting to the Action

In the redesign, I focused on enabling players to do what they want, when they want, minimizing interruptions. I designed a contextual system that only showed information when relevant, ensuring players could access levels quickly without overwhelming popups.

Playtesting and Onboarding

Recognizing that Genies & Gems had an established player base, I collaborated closely with our consumer insights team to test the new UX with both new and existing players throughout the redesign process. This iterative feedback allowed me to refine the design based on what players valued.

Results

The new UI was launched successfully along with new meta systems and the game saw sustained impacts to player engagement metrics:

Rounds played increased by 14%

DAU increase by 15%

Returning player D1 retention increase by 25%

New player D1 retention increase by 7%

Live Ops Event participation increase by 50%

The large update also allowed the game to be featured by Google and Apple in their respective stores for the first time in over 3 years. This featuring resulted in a 2000% increase in daily average browsing app units during that period.

<Previous: FTUE Update

Next: Meta Systems >

Portfolio Home

UI/UX Modernization

The Problem

Leading the Team

The Solution

The redesigned UI centered the player’s experience on what mattered most: playing levels. I introduced a consistent and reliable way for players to engage by replacing multiple level nodes with a prominent button on the home screen.

​

Getting to the Action

​In the redesign, I focused on enabling players to do what they want, when they want, minimizing interruptions. I designed a contextual system that only showed information when relevant, ensuring players could access levels quickly without overwhelming popups.

​

Playtesting and Onboarding

Recognizing that Genies & Gems had an established player base, I collaborated closely with our consumer insights team to test the new UX with both new and existing players throughout the redesign process. This iterative feedback allowed me to refine the design based on what players valued.

​

Results

The new UI was launched successfully along with new meta systems and the game saw sustained impacts to player engagement metrics:

Rounds played increased by 14%

DAU increase by 15%

Returning player D1 retention increase by 25%

New player D1 retention increase by 7%

​Live Ops Event participation increase by 50%

​The large update also allowed the game to be featured by Google and Apple in their respective stores for the first time in over 3 years. This featuring resulted in a 2000% increase in daily average browsing app units during that period.

<Previous: FTUE Update

Next: Meta Systems >

Portfolio Home

In the redesign, I focused on enabling players to do what they want, when they want, minimizing interruptions. I designed a contextual system that only showed information when relevant, ensuring players could access levels quickly without overwhelming popups.

Live Ops Event participation increase by 50%

The large update also allowed the game to be featured by Google and Apple in their respective stores for the first time in over 3 years. This featuring resulted in a 2000% increase in daily average browsing app units during that period.