Microsoft Solitaire Collection

I was initially hired for Microsoft Solitaire, where I worked closely with Kevin Lambert, a seasoned designer with over 25 years of experience in game design and UI. His mentorship greatly enhanced my professional skills

Role

UX/UI - Game Designer

Industry

Game Design

Duration

3 years

Summary

In this section of my portfolio, I will share insights into the projects I have been involved in, discuss the challenges we faced, the solutions we implemented, and the valuable lessons learned throughout the process. This overview aims to provide a glimpse into my contributions and the impact of my work on the game.

Summary

Limitless

With AI, iteration and exploration become seamless, fun, and highly creative.

Accessible

My solutions always consider accessibility and main heuristic principles to ensure the best user experience at all times.

While maintaining Solitaire and its various modes, we also aimed to promote other games to enhance our engagement and provide diversity for our players.

A significant task was balancing the 'digital real estate' on the game screen
- how much space should be allotted to new games without overshadowing Solitaire or detracting from its playtime?

Let's Start

Throughout my years at Solitaire, we navigated substantial changes that required diligent data analysis and comprehensive user research. Altering a game with 35 million active monthly players was no simple task. Each design decision was deeply rooted in understanding the nuances of our user base and their gaming habits.

Identifying Unique Challenges

Our ongoing challenge was articulated through a critical questions:

How can we create additional retention loops without significantly altering existing player behaviors?
How can we enhance accessibility standards, offering extensive customization while maintaining ease of navigation and quick gameplay?

Let's Start

Identifying Unique Challenges

Our ongoing challenge was articulated through a critical questions:

How can we create additional retention loops without significantly altering existing player behaviors?
How can we enhance accessibility standards, offering extensive customization while maintaining ease of navigation and quick gameplay?

Powerful Effects

I leverage AI, effects, and dynamic movements to transform any concept into a compelling logo, brand identity, or gamified object.

Resolving Complex Problems

My role also included extensive design exploration for the Mobile Solitaire Collection. This project involved adapting our classic Solitaire game to a mobile interface, ensuring that the design was both user-friendly and visually appealing on smaller screens. My contributions spanned from initial concept development to final implementation, focusing on enhancing user interaction and ensuring seamless gameplay across various mobile devices. This work underscores my ability to innovate within the constraints of mobile UX/UI design.

Resolving Complex Problems

Design & Layout

After Effects and key-frame animations
- its important to have the fundamentals :)

While maintaining Solitaire and its various modes, we also aimed to promote other games to enhance our engagement and provide diversity for our players.

Icons

Crafting distinctive logos, icons, and UI elements.

While maintaining Solitaire and its various modes, we also aimed to promote other games to enhance our engagement and provide diversity for our players.

Micro Animations

Breath life into your ideas with motion

However, this was merely one aspect of Solitaire

One of my initial responsibilities early on was to develop a multiplayer Solitaire game flow integrated with Microsoft Teams.
This allowed players to compete against colleagues in a structured game loop, crafted as a proof of concept with prototypes. This phase involved presenting to senior management, gathering feedback, and iterating based on these insights.
A specific challenge I encountered was adapting to the screen size and breakpoint constraints imposed by the "Teams" gaming environment, which was more complex than our consumer-facing versions.

However, this was merely one aspect of Solitaire

One of my initial responsibilities early on was to develop a multiplayer Solitaire game flow integrated with Microsoft Teams.
This allowed players to compete against colleagues in a structured game loop, crafted as a proof of concept with prototypes. This phase involved presenting to senior management, gathering feedback, and iterating based on these insights.
A specific challenge I encountered was adapting to the screen size and breakpoint constraints imposed by the "Teams" gaming environment, which was more complex than our consumer-facing versions.

Additional considerations and projects included:

Advertising strategy: determining the optimal number of ads to display without overwhelming users
Assessing pop-up fatigue, particularly how it affects new users.

I focused on optimizing the user experience to ensure quick game starts and sustained engagement without risking user disinterest.

Additional considerations and projects included:

Advertising strategy: determining the optimal number of ads to display without overwhelming users
Assessing pop-up fatigue, particularly how it affects new users.

I focused on optimizing the user experience to ensure quick game starts and sustained engagement without risking user disinterest.

Reflections

This case-study highlights the complexities of game design within a highly competitive industry and underscores my role in innovatively solving these challenges. I prioritized user satisfaction and engagement, ensuring that each solution not only addressed immediate concerns but also enhanced the overall user experience.

Reflections

OTHER PROJECTS

Jammy: App & Digital Audio Workstation Design

Let me show you an example of how my research process works and how I derive my design conclusions based on market analysis and user research

Badge

Redefining the Job Search Experience - Badge is your all-in-one, AI-powered job search companion on iOS, streamlining the process of building profiles, crafting cover letters, and applying with ease.

SARV

Agile workflows and rapid iteration to create a user-centered solution.ing multidisciplinary techniques

UX Research

Let me explain how I identify problems, conduct research, find and apply solutions, and then reflect on the process to understand what went well and what could be improved. This introspective approach fosters continuous learning, enabling me to refine my methods and strategies over time.