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The Problem
Retro gaming enthusiasts struggle to find a centralized platform that offers easy access to classic games, customizable emulator settings, and a community to share high scores and experiences, because existing solutions are either fragmented, lack user-friendly interfaces, or don’t provide a nostalgic yet modern experience .
How to solve it?
The goal is to develop a retro gaming app that drives high daily user activity and builds a strong sense of community. The app will promote competitive engagement through structured tournaments and seasonal events, creating regular opportunities for players to connect and compete. It will also support customizable emulator settings, allowing users to tailor their gameplay for a personalized and nostalgic experience.
My role:
As the UX/UI Designer for the Astra Arena app, I led the end-to-end design process with the goal of delivering an engaging and user-friendly retro gaming experience. This involved conducting user research to understand our audience, defining user personas and journeys, ideating through techniques like Crazy 8s, and prototyping low- to high-fidelity wireframes. I established a cohesive visual identity for the brand and built a mini design system to ensure consistency across screens. Throughout the process, I prioritized accessibility, usability, and user enjoyment, ensuring the final product met both user needs and project goals.
Responsibilities:
my responsibilities included conducting user and market research to identify key opportunities, developing wireframes and low to high-fidelity prototypes to visualize the app's design, executing usability studies to gather user feedback, and refining the design based on insights to ensure an optimal and engaging user experience.
User research: summary
In this research, I focused on how to build a strong community and enhance competitive engagement in a retro gaming app. I analyzed competitors, created user personas, and used ideation techniques to identify the most impactful features.
Persona
Mike is a retro gaming enthusiast who needs a way to connect with a community and participate in competitive tournaments because existing retro gaming apps lack strong social engagement and structured competitive play, making it difficult to stay motivated and engaged.
Designing a persona around Mike’s motivations and frustrations gives us a clear view of our target user, helping to uncover pain points and guide solutions that directly align with the problem statement, making the app more engaging and user-focused.
User journey map
By structuring the user journey map around Mike’s motivations and frustrations, we can clearly identify pain points in his experience, helping us design targeted solutions that directly address the core issues outlined in the problem statement such as lack of community and competitive engagement.
Paint Points
Lack of Community & Social Features : Many retro gaming apps focus only on gameplay and lack strong community-building tools (chat, forums, player profiles). Players often feel disconnected and struggle to find like-minded competitors or teammates.
Limited Competitive Engagement & Motivation : Existing apps don’t provide structured tournaments or seasonal events, leaving players without clear goals or incentives to compete and return regularly.
Poor Reward & Progression System : Without meaningful rewards (badges, rankings, exclusive content), players feel unmotivated to improve or participate in competitive play. A lack of visible progress leads to disengagement.
Difficulty in Finding Fair Matchups : Many retro gaming platforms don’t have an intelligent matchmaking system, resulting in unfair pairings that frustrate both casual and competitive players.
Starting the design
Paper Wireframe
Using the Crazy 8s technique alongside paper wireframing allowed me to rapidly generate a variety of layout ideas and creative directions in a short amount of time. This fast-paced brainstorming approach helped break creative blocks and pushed me to think beyond my initial ideas. When I moved into sketching the app's homepage wireframe on paper, I could start refining the user flow and testing early concepts. Together, these techniques gave me a clear and flexible starting point, reduced the need for major revisions later, and offered a tangible first vision of how I might address the problem statement through design.
Digital Wireframe
I transferred my sketches into a digital format, which allowed me to easily tweak and share the design, ensuring it met user needs and was easy to collaborate on with my team. This process helped me visualize the app's structure early on and make necessary adjustments efficiently. Once the basic structure and user flow were outlined, I began developing a low-fidelity prototype that would effectively communicate the design vision.
Link to Figma:
Usability study
I conducted the app usability study in two parts. First, I tested the wireframe, which provided us with new ideas for the "challenge" mode. Then, using the high-definition prototype, I refined the community features.
“I can see how direct notifications and 2-click direct matching can keep me more engaged in the competition.”
- Ralph Jones from Nashville
Round 1 findings
The tournament flow worked, but users expected a confirmation screen after sign-up.
Fast challenge concept was liked, but users were unclear on how it would function or notify them.
Despite minimal visuals, users could navigate the app easily, showing strong structural design.
Round 2 findings
Community tools weren’t immediately visible, leading users to assume they didn’t exist.
Users wanted a more intuitive and faster filter to organize game categories.
Users wanted game settings to be accessible at all times.
Mockups
During the process of creating the mockup and high-fidelity prototype, I integrated key insights gathered from the usability study to refine the user flow and introduce meaningful features that addressed real user needs. One of the most significant changes was the addition of a confirmation step during the challenge phase between players. Usability testing revealed that many users wanted the ability to view an opponent’s stats before accepting a match—this was one of the most frequently requested improvements. By implementing this feature, I enhanced transparency and gave users more control, ultimately increasing their confidence and satisfaction with the gameplay experience. These iterative changes ensured that the final design was not only visually polished but also grounded in user feedback and behavior.
Shaping the Interface: Where Brand Meets Usability
At the mockup stage I began translating functional ideas into a visual language that reflects the brand’s identity. This was the moment where the app started to feel real as I introduced the color palette, typography, iconography, and visual style that aligned with the nostalgic yet modern tone of the brand. By doing this I built a mini design system that ensured consistency across screens, making the user experience feel cohesive and intentional.
In addition to defining the visual identity this stage helped refine spacing, hierarchy, and component behaviors, giving structure to the UI. I also revisited earlier UX decisions, adjusting layout and interactions where needed based on the flow and usability. Prototyping and testing became essential here, allowing me to validate design choices and spot potential friction points before development. This stage bridged creativity and usability, transforming wireframes into a fully formed user interface that communicates both function and emotion.
Accessibility Considerations
To ensure the app is inclusive and accessible for all users, key accessibility practices were integrated throughout the design. Clear and descriptive labels were added to all form fields to support users who navigate with screen readers, improving clarity and usability. Touch targets were designed with sufficient size and spacing, making them easier to tap for users with motor impairments or those using smaller devices. Additionally, ARIA landmarks and roles were incorporated to provide meaningful structure and context to assistive technologies, enhancing navigation and interaction for visually impaired users. These considerations help create a more usable and welcoming experience for everyone.
High-fidelity prototype
During this phase, I also paid close attention to micro-interactions and transitions to enhance usability. This prototype served as a crucial tool for simulating the user experience, validating design decisions, and preparing for further usability testing before development.
Link to Figma:
Takeaways
Impact:
The app had a strong positive impact on testers, who appreciated its unique approach to retro gaming. The quick tournament system and integrated rewards were especially well-received, as they encouraged users to engage more often and explore games outside their usual preferences. This not only increased user interaction but also fostered a sense of friendly competition and discovery. The design decisions and features inspired users to return frequently, reinforcing the app’s goal of making retro gaming both accessible and exciting.
What I learned:
From conducting research to creating prototypes and refining the design based on user feedback, this project has not only sharpened my skills but also reinforced my passion for creating inclusive and engaging digital experiences. It's been a great reminder of how important iterative design and user-focused decisions are in making a product truly successful.
Next steps:
I should focus on better visibility in the tournaments section because if more users and more tournaments start, it could be chaotic for the user to find the ones that interest him.
A streaming function should also be focused on, although this application tries to be as simple as possible, it is certain that users will start asking for this functionality.
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