steam
discovery
I use Steam frequently—it's my primary gaming platform. However, despite being the largest online gaming store, it has its flaws. I decided to redesign the platform to make it more accessible for all gamers and to eliminate the excessive, redundant systems that make the app feel cluttered. My first step was research: I visited forums, surveyed many users, and used surveys to identify the top 100 most disliked and the top 100 most liked features of Steam. These findings guided the entire project, ensuring that each feature was either removed, streamlined, or combined to create the most user-friendly experience possible.
ideation
The top list provided an excellent starting point, highlighting issues I had personally experienced while using the platform. Many of these issues involved outdated or redundant features that appeared repeatedly across different pages. For example, the store page had a whopping four buttons leading to categories! The first step was deletion: identifying redundant features and deciding which to keep and which to remove. The second step was iteration: finding ways to incorporate new or combined features to streamline the experience.
design
I created a simple site map that highlights all the main pages needing individual design. While there are many more pages, most use variations of elements from other pages, so they don't require unique designs. Next came the design system, where we made decisions regarding buttons, colors, styles, etc. I chose to retain Steam's existing colors but modernized them. Since Steam is a well-known platform, completely overhauling the design for millions of existing users would be unwise. Instead, I opted for a modern take on the existing style, ensuring both new and existing users instantly feel at home.
development
Usually, this is the point where I hand everything off to a developer to let them work their magic. However, since this is a case study, I created a working prototype in Figma instead. This prototype was primarily used to ensure everything felt intuitive and to allow users to experience the product firsthand. I designed everything from buttons to animations, enabling users to feel as if they were actually using the product.
feedback
I invited a diverse group of users, including both seasoned Steam users and newcomers, to interact with the prototype. This provided valuable feedback on the intuitive feel and overall user experience, ensuring the redesign met the needs of all users. Based on this testing, I made final adjustments to ensure everything was up to standard. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and I received many great suggestions as well.
launch
I was pleased with the results, and so were most of the testers. The new prototype was intuitive, with many users noting how much less daunting Steam felt. The clutter of hundreds of buttons was gone, replaced by a calmer, more streamlined interface. The clarity of the new design was evident, as even new users navigated it effortlessly without needing any guidance. This feedback confirmed that the redesign successfully improved the user experience for everyone.