Client
Sinclair Broadcasting: Redesigning a Game Center for local news sites.
Sinclair's News Department was interested in gameifying their platform and sites which consists of 193 news stations across the country. An initial team was tasked with creating a game center, however, after launch, there were some notable UX/UI issues throughout the site. As a Senior Product Designer, I was brought on to redesign the layout and make it aligned with what our competitors, The New York Times and Washington Post were implementing in their game centers.
Redesigning the Game Center
How could Sinclair improve their Game Center?
When I started this project I evaluated what was working and wasn't working within the game center from a UX perspective, and a few discoveries were made.
The first image shows what the old designs and platform looked like before being redesigned. The images below are examples from the New York Times and Washington Post.
Discoveries:
- The layout of the game tiles were too far apart.
- The branding of the game center didn’t align with the news site.
- The headers were too small and didn’t feel like it defined each game section.
- Some of the graphics didn't match the audience playing the games.
- The navigation of the game center and news site sandwiched each other.
Creating A New Look
Updating the Branding
I wanted the new game center to have a similar layout to the New York Times and change the colors to match the local news branding. This would allow the user to see that the game center was part of the news station site. I had to resize and build out different gaming assets, make small feature adjustments, and add a featured games section to define upcoming games and future promos. Moving the games closer together, with uniform branding and key featured sections allowed the games to compete and still feel cohesive against the advertising.
Building out the Wireframes and Prototypes
My team met with our stakeholders who viewed all the different versions and phases of the design process. Once the final design was approved, the designs went into development. I worked with the development team to make sure that the specs were engineered correctly and collaborated on any technical challenges that arose. The new game center was launched and the design was a success.
Result
Improving the gaming experience
I was asked to continue working on the game center improving the gaming experience by creating ideation for a loyalty program, prizing promos, and gaming for charity. I worked on this project within a new gamification collaboration, working alongside project managers, fulfillment, directors, vice president stakeholders, and an engineering team. overall the game center was a success with its new layout that the business was pleased with and I was asked to continue working on the game center with its future projects and initiatives.
