PlayVS
My Role
As the lead designer for the Matches Team, I was responsible for improving the match day experience for coaches and students by redesigning the Match Lobby and implementing Match Assistant. This involved creating a streamlined, game-agnostic workflow that combined check-in, player management, match coordination, and score reporting into a single experience. I worked closely with UX researchers, ran usability tests, facilitated workshops, and leveraged data analytics to refine the design. Additionally, I contributed to design system components, collaborated with game publishers to align with brand guidelines, and prioritized a mobile-first approach to support quick, on-the-fly match management.
Redesigning the Match Day Experience
Match Day Friction
Coaches struggled with a disjointed match day experience, relying on external tools like Discord and email for coordination. This led to high forfeiture rates, user frustration, and increased support tickets.
Understanding the Users
Our primary users were coaches and students from middle and high schools, many managing multiple teams. They needed a simplified, in-platform way to handle check-ins, team management, and match coordination.
Breaking Down the Pain Points
Coaches needed a single, centralized flow to manage matches, eliminating the need to juggle multiple tools. Without this, forfeits, confusion, and support requests skyrocketed, hurting overall retention.
Focusing on What Mattered Most
We prioritized reducing forfeits, improving in-platform communication, and streamlining match management since these had the biggest impact on retention. The check-in flow was tackled first due to its direct link to forfeitures.
The Solution: Match Assistant
We designed Match Assistant, a game-agnostic, step-by-step flow combining check-in, player management, match coordination, and score reporting into one experience. Integrated match chat kept coaches within the platform.
Balancing Flexibility and Structure
We streamlined workflows while ensuring coaches still had control over key decisions on match day. Publisher branding requirements also influenced UI constraints, requiring scalable solutions.
The Results & Next Steps
The new Match Assistant reduced forfeits by 74%, cut support tickets by 36%, and increased check-ins from 62% to 97%. Future iterations will refine team role management and automation to further improve the experience.