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Designing a seamless path from the lobby to the poker table.
TL;DR
I identified critical friction in the lobby-to-table journey and proactively pitched a research-led optimization strategy to my PM. This initiative secured stakeholder buy-in for a new workstream that streamlined game discovery and directly boosted game-launch OKRs.
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Role: Product Designer
Working alongside a team of product designers, product managers, analyists and content designers, my role on this project was:
Discovery
Strategy
UX
UI
20% expected increase in game launch rate
My initial brain-dump of the 10+ friction points and feature opportunities identified during the audit.
Navigation & Logic Gaps: Instead of using empty states to guide or cross-sell, the app presented a dead end with no path back to the action creating a significant "bounce" risk.
Missed Incentives: We weren't making it easy for players to use their rewards. There was no ticket indicator in the lobby to show players exactly which games they already had free entry for.
Discovery Friction: Players had to hunt for games. I identified a lack of “recently played” or “recommended / featured games” sections, forcing users to start their search from scratch every session.
Visual Clarity & Trust: The main lobby tiles and specific game tiles were cluttered and confusing making it hard to select a game.
The Catalyst: From Observation to Initiative
While working on the navigation for the partypoker app, I began to notice a recurring pattern of friction within the poker lobby. I took it upon myself to conduct an audit that revealed that players weren't dropping off because they didn't want to play; they were dropping off because the path to play was obstructed. I identified 10+ key areas, ranging from confusing game tiles to a lack of personalized shortcuts, that, if fixed, would create a frictionless funnel from the “shop window” to the poker table.
Plugging the Leaks: A UX Audit
Instead of ignoring these out-of-scope issues, I documented & categorized the specific friction points that were obstructing the player journey.
The friction map: Identifying issues in the existing lobby
Feature matrix comparing BetMGM to their 3 main competitors
The Pitch
I collated these observations into a high-level UX audit and took them to my Product Manager. Rather than just pointing out "bad design," I framed the conversation around Business Value:
“
If we reduce the friction in the lobby, we can directly impact our game-launch OKRs and increase player retention without needing to build entirely new features.”
The Result: A New Workstream
My PM agreed that these improvements were vital but needed data to move them up the roadmap. He created a dedicated Research & Discovery ticket for me to lead during my project downtime. This allowed me to gather the evidence needed to secure full stakeholder buy-in and officially prioritize the "Path to the Table" redesign.
Key Objectives
Working alongside a team of product designers, product managers, analyists and content designers, my role on this project was: