Ubisoft Connect Beta
Situation: As a Product Designer at Ubisoft, I worked on redesigning the games library for the upcoming Ubisoft Connect desktop app. The goal was to improve the user experience by addressing key pain points in the current design and integrating a new design system consistent across PC and console platforms. While much of the project is under NDA, I can share details about the released game tile redesign in the open beta.
Task: The game tile redesign focused on improving usability and addressing pain points identified through user research. Key objectives included:
- Creating a design optimized for desktop use.
- Allowing players to quickly launch and manage their games directly from the library.
- Respecting users' game collections while adhering to WCAG accessibility standards.
As the designer, I was responsible for research, ideation, and delivering a polished solution through iterative testing and collaboration.
Action: I began by conducting extensive benchmarking of game libraries across nine desktop and four mobile competitor apps. Our research revealed several main pain points:
Libraries felt empty for users with smaller collections.
Game titles often broke into multiple lines, making them hard to read.
Important game details like Ubisoft+ tags and download states covered logos.
Users lacked a quick way to launch games directly from tiles.
Using the How Might We framework, I reframed these issues positively to spark ideation. For example:
How might we optimize space so the library feels full regardless of game count?
How might we ensure all critical information is clear without obscuring the logo?
These questions guided my design principles, which emphasized speed, respect, customization, and accessibility.
One of the biggest challenges emerged during testing. Research showed that the existing vertical box art assets, originally designed for physical game cases, were poorly suited for digital displays. They left limited space for game details and created visual inconsistencies. I solved this by introducing a 16:9 aspect ratio for game tiles, better optimized for desktop screens.
This new design optimized screen space, providing larger, clearer game logos, better readability, and additional space for quick-launch buttons, download info, and social components.
I iterated on the designs through internal reviews and three rounds of user testing, refining elements such as:
The download progress states
The inactive states
The friend activity indicators
To ensure consistency, I created a master Figma component that streamlined updates across all design documentation. The final design included both tile and list views, giving users control over how they browse their library.
The basic layout of the game library showing the Installed, Not installed and Inactive sections.
The basic layout of the game library showing the Installed, Not installed and Inactive sections.
Result: The redesigned game tiles successfully launched in the open beta, receiving positive feedback for their clarity and functionality. Key improvements included faster navigation, clearer display of game states, and an enhanced ability to manage games directly from the library. The iterative process reinforced the importance of addressing both functional and aesthetic needs, balancing user priorities with technical constraints.
