WIP - ZOOBA UX study
This design case is from my experience at
Personal Project
Role
Lead UX / UI Designer
Industry
Gaming
Active team
Date
2019
Outcome
From small screens to big expectations
Zooba immediately stood out to me for its vibrant energy and the way it blends Battle Royale and MOBA mechanics into a highly engaging mobile experience. As someone deeply interested in cross-platform design, I was excited to explore how that same sense of fun and clarity could translate to desktop and console, where screen real estate, input methods, and player expectations are fundamentally different. This personal UX study challenged me to preserve the essence of the game while reimagining its interface for larger screens. I focused on addressing mobile-first patterns that don’t naturally scale, such as navigation density, visual hierarchy, and feature discoverability, so the experience would feel intuitive and purpose-built for desktop players rather than adapted as an afterthought. My goals were clear: create a seamless, user-friendly desktop and console experience, improve usability across the Main Menu, Character Selection, and Store, and use the introduction of Squad Mode as a strategic anchor to drive engagement on new platforms. The scope centered on these three core screens, balancing Zooba’s playful branding with layouts and interaction patterns designed to scale and evolve with the game.
My role
As the Lead UX/UI Designer, I owned the project end to end, defining the UX strategy for adapting Zooba to desktop and console, identifying usability issues in the mobile experience, and redesigning the Main Menu, Character Selection, and Store. I created personas, user flows, and mid-fidelity prototypes to guide decisions, using the launch of Squad Mode as a strategic anchor for both navigation and engagement.
Collaboration
While this was not a client project, I grounded decisions in real player voices by: - Synthesizing community feedback and reviews - Analyzing how comparable games handled cross-platform transitions - Designing as if collaborating with Product, Game Design, and Marketing stakeholders—balancing usability, engagement, and launch strategy
Tools & methods
- Figma & Adobe Illustrator (wireframes, layouts, interaction states) - Personas & user flows - Competitive analysis - Heuristic evaluation - Informal usability testing & A/B scenario comparisons - Accessibility contrast checks
The challenge
The process
Research & ideation
Exploration & conceptualization
Iteration & refinement
Delivery & implementation
Reflection & Impact
This project reinforced a principle that strongly guides my work: platform matters just as much as the product. Designing Zooba for desktop and console pushed me to rethink mobile-first patterns and focus on clarity, hierarchy, and interaction models that feel natural on larger screens. I approached the work through strong synthesis and UX heuristics, grounding decisions in player feedback, community insights, and competitive analysis. Elevating Squad Mode as the primary navigation anchor became a strategic choice that improved usability, supported engagement goals, and created a structure that could scale as the game evolved. Through this project, I deepened my understanding of cross-platform design, particularly how input methods shape behavior, how accessibility considerations shift across devices, and when simplifying visual expression strengthens usability. The result was a desktop-ready UX foundation that addressed key pain points while enabling future growth. These learnings continue to inform how I design adaptable systems across platforms today.
