EXPANDING CHESS LOBBY

World Chess \ March 2024 - June 2024 \ Product Designer

As part of the Chess Arena 2.0 launch, I redesigned the Lobby to give players more ways to create and join games. It was one of several updates aimed at expanding the platform and giving players more of what they came for. The old Lobby was just a fast-moving list of game requests, and we wanted to turn it into something that made more sense for how people actually play.

* This case study reflects my contributions to the product’s design during my time on the project. All product names, visuals and trademarks belong to their respective owners. The final implementation, current appearance, and future updates are controlled by the company. My responsibility extends only to the design work presented here.

Process

I worked on the interface end to end together with our PM and lead designer — making it look sharper than ever and intuitive to navigate across all screen sizes. Smaller devices needed more than just tweaks, so we reshaped the layout from scratch. We also rebuilt the “create a game” section to give players more freedom: making it easier to set things up, find a partner faster, and play the kind of game they actually wanted. And since smarter AI bots were about to launch, we gave them their own dedicated space with difficulty presets and a fresh identity to match the rest of the brand.

THE NEW LOBBY BECAME A PROPER CONTROL ROOM FOR PLAY: A PLACE TO BUILD THE KIND OF MATCH THAT FITS YOUR TEMPO, RATING, AND CHESS PREFERENCES. SMART PICKS, QUICK INVITES, SMARTER AND CUSTOMISABLE BOTS — EVERYTHING HAD ITS SPACE. OVER 80% OF PLAYERS SAID THE UPDATE MADE THINGS BETTER. AND WITH THAT FOUNDATION IN PLACE, IT’S READY FOR MORE: NEW FEATURES, HIGHER EXPECTATIONS, AND A MORE SOLID START FOR WHATEVER COMES NEXT.