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Unified Mobile Hub for Discovering and Managing Video Games.

Creating a centralized mobile app that streamlines game discovery and management across multiple consoles and clients—eliminating the hassle of fragmented searches and disconnected platforms.
Designed for gamers across all platforms, this app offers advanced search capabilities, remote downloads, and a seamless browsing experience across libraries and clients.
View Prototype
Project duration
3 Months
ROLE
Lead UI/UX Designer
TOOLS
Figma, Photoshop
Skills
User Research, Task Flows, Prototyping, Usability Testing, Interaction Design
Objective
The goal of this project was to create Tavern, a mobile application designed to streamline the process of discovering and managing video games across multiple consoles and clients. By leveraging an advanced search system and account integrations, Tavern eliminates the need to manually browse through separate platforms and websites, allowing users to efficiently find the perfect game to play with friends or solo.
PROBLEM AND SOLUTION
With hundreds of games released yearly across multiple platforms, finding new titles is time-consuming and inefficient. Tavern streamlines discovery, purchase, and downloads while keeping users updated through a social feed—making game browsing and discovery effortless.
Conducting the Research.
Even with my own gaming background, I conducted additional research to better understand user challenges and the current landscape. Through competitor analysis and user interviews, I gained insight into design and flow decisions, Tavern’s target audience, strengths and weaknesses of existing platforms, best practices for search and filtering, and the overall user experience when browsing for games—including their goals, needs, and frustrations.
Competitor Study.
A competitor analysis of Steam, Stash, and general web searches revealed key gaps in the game discovery experience. Steam offers a large library and advanced filters but is limited to PC games and suffers from a cluttered interface. Stash features a clean design and cross-platform listings but is held back by ads, paywalls, and a lack of purchasing or social features. Web searches provide broad results but lack game-specific filters and often surface only popular titles. No single platform delivers a complete, user-friendly solution—highlighting clear opportunities for Tavern to stand out.
Personas.
To better understand Tavern’s users, I created provisional personas based on competitor research. These personas helped shape interview participant selection and clarified user needs, goals, and pain points. Three main groups emerged: Kids and Teens, who want to keep up with popular games but struggle with affordability and age restrictions; Young Adults, who seek interesting and affordable games but often find titles disappointing or hard to play with others; and Working Adults, who want to stay current but lack time to research and often feel disconnected from the excitement games once brought them.
Journey Maps.
Based on interview insights, I created journey maps for two personas—Joey, who searches by category and console, and Megan, who wants to save time with remote downloads. These maps highlighted key obstacles and user frustrations within the app experience.
User Interviews.
To gain a deeper understanding of real furniture shopping experiences, I interviewed 10 participants aligned with the provisional personas. Through open-ended questions, I uncovered valuable insights that validated user needs and helped refine the customer journey maps.
“The problem is that the market for games is way too saturated now. Everyone is trying replicate what’s popular and as a result, finding something truly unique and new is extremely rare.”- Nick (23,M)
Identifying the Problems
With a clear understanding of Tavern’s users, I began identifying the key problems we needed to solve. Using research insights, I defined the main issues and applied them to my initial design concepts.
Limited Options
Many developers only show their products on their clients. This limits users to only seeing games that are licensed under the search engine they are using
Dissatisfying Process
A lot of the available search platforms have poor search/filtering systems, making is difficult and unenjoyable for users to efficiently find games that suit them.
Decision Uncertainty
After finding an interesting product, users will have reservations committing to the game. This uncertainty gets amplified especially when considering price.
Wireframe Sketches.
With a clear approach in mind, I sketched paper wireframes for five pages with different layouts, marking standout features with stars. I focused on incorporating elements that worked well on other platforms, recognizing that there's no need to reinvent the wheel when successful designs already exist.
Lo-Fi Wireframes.
I moved from paper sketches to Figma to create digital wireframes, refining them into a cohesive lo-fi prototype. My focus was on three core functions aimed at solving user needs: searching, selecting, and managing games.
LOFI TO HIFI
With my ideas sketched out, I moved straight into high-fidelity design to test the app’s structure and flow in a more realistic context. This allowed me to evaluate functionality, gather feedback early, and make informed revisions before finalizing interactions and visual details.
Dedicated dashboard.
The Dashboard is your personalized game discovery hub, featuring Top Picks tailored to you, curated genres based on your interests, popular games everyone’s playing, and easy browsing by console—making it simple to find your next favorite game.
Personalized searches.
The Advanced Search feature lets you find exactly what you're looking for with powerful filters like price, release date, tags, console, rating, number of players, and more—so you can zero in on the perfect game in seconds.
Buy at your convenience.
You can purchase games directly through the app and have them automatically linked to your existing accounts, making the process seamless from browsing to playing. No need to switch platforms—just buy, download, and jump right in.
Library.
The Library keeps all your games in one place—view everything you own, have wishlisted, or are keeping an eye on, all neatly organized. It pulls in games from every account you've linked, so your full collection is always just a tap away.

Let’s Work Together.

Ready to bring your vision to life? Let's team up on your next project and create something unforgettable together.
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The Tavern App Case Study Explored Gaming User Needs and Market Potential Through First-Time UX Research.
Although I come from a strong gaming background, this case study was a real eye-opener—it showed me just how much thought, strategy, and effort go into the research side of creating a successful app. I initially assumed that my experience as a gamer would give me a head start, but I quickly realized that understanding users and the market requires much more than personal intuition. Through a combination of firsthand insights and carefully gathered data, I was able to analyze competitors more critically and
gain a clearer picture of what players actually want  and need from a platform like Tavern. The process challenged me to think beyond my own preferences and really empathize with different types of users. Overall, the project was both demanding and rewarding, and it gave me a deeper appreciation for UX research. I see a lot of potential in Tavern and would genuinely love to help bring it to life—not only because I believe in the idea, but because it’s an app I would personally be excited to use.
RESULTS
A Valuable Introduction to UX Research and Design Through the Tavern Gaming App Case Study
View Prototype
What I Learned.
Working on Tavern as my first case study was both a learning experience and a milestone. I’m glad this project served as my introduction to UX research and product thinking—it challenged me to move beyond assumptions and dive into real user needs and market analysis. By the end, I walked away with not only a clearer understanding of the design process, but also more confidence in my ability to turn ideas into something meaningful. This experience laid a strong foundation for future projects, and confirmed that this is the kind of work I’m excited to keep doing.
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This mobile-first web app simplifies the process of collecting and sharing large batches of event photos. With a streamlined upload flow, clean gallery layout, and easy access links.
Tutor Discovery Platform Designed to Connect Students with the Right Educators.
This intuitive platform streamlines the process of finding qualified tutors through personalized filters, profile highlights, and clear scheduling options.
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Copyright @ 2025 Justin Eng
justinzfeng@gmail.com