Introduction
Skich is a mobile app that enhances social discovery in mobile gaming by helping users find games that match their interests more quickly. Designed as both a game launcher and a discovery tool, it provides personalized recommendations based on your preferences. Users can explore curated and public game collections, track their gaming activity, and follow friends to see what they're playing.
I joined the team when the MVP of the app was already launched and live on the store. My main task was to implement a full redesign, upgrading the app from MVP 1.0 to a comprehensive 2.0 version while introducing a unique visual language. Alongside this, I tackled several product challenges.
Since Skich was an early-stage startup seeking to secure its next investment round, we focused on improving user engagement rate and increasing session duration, particularly when browsing and exploring games.
Role
Product Designer
Industry
Mobile Gaming, Social Networking
Contributions
App Visual Redesign; Product Design; Implementation of New Features; Motion & Graphic Assets.
Timeline
June, 2022 – February, 2023
Business challenge and project goal
Increase user engagement with game browsing in the short term to drive conversions into downloads in the long term (planned for version 3.0). Engagement metrics and session duration are critical for attracting both investors and game developers. In the future, these developers could list their games on Skich, transforming it into a full-fledged game store—an alternative to the App Store and Google Play.
Game Cards
This is a key section of the app where users should spend time exploring information and forming opinions about games. In the future, when Skich evolves into a full-fledged app store, this section will need to convert users into downloading games directly, without redirecting them to external platforms.
As a team, we conducted a small discovery phase, analyzing a range of apps both within similar domains and in entirely different ones that featured comparable mechanics. Since our long-term goal was to become a viable alternative to the App Store and Google Play, we decided to use their structure as a reference while adding our own unique twists and features.
The First Screen Rule
To grab the user's attention and encourage them to scroll further, we focused on showcasing the most important and engaging elements on the first screen. This includes a striking custom background unique to each game, a short description, and key CTA buttons positioned centrally within thumb reach.
To spark curiosity, we added partially visible store screenshots at the bottom of the screen, subtly prompting users to scroll down.
Pre-registrations as a Retention Tool
We added the option to pre-register for upcoming game releases. For users, it’s a way to remember and get excited about new game launches over time. For us, it’s an additional opportunity to send push notifications, stay on users radar, and bring them back to the app after a short or long break.
Game Trailers, Letsplays and Streams
We introduced an optional section featuring gameplay videos and streams from bloggers and influencers as additional social proof for gamers and a clever tool to keep users engaged on the screen. This can be optionally used for certain games, such as for promoting ad games or collaborations with influencers.
Additional Features and UI Enhancements
In addition to the main task, we, along with the team, carried out a complete app redesign, implemented our unique visual language, and refined various UI details.
Improved Social Activity
We conducted a discovery phase by analyzing a lot of notification feeds and activity screens and concluded that, by default, all feeds are quite similar and repetitive. While consistency is key to success, we wondered: why not try to improve this experience?
To make the news feed more dynamic, we created a unique format for each type of activity:
Large cards for "Played" (this is our key action: seeing what your friends have played, similar to seeing which photo your friend liked on Instagram);
"Want to play" – a small list format (to avoid clutter and flooding);
Custom formats for "Rating and reviews" and mutual follows'
Based on user testing of the MVP, we improved our Tinder-like game discovery mechanic:
The tests revealed that many users were swiping unconsciously and by accident, which led to their profiles becoming cluttered. Some users also mentioned the lack of an option to undo these accidental and unconscious actions. For example, a user might accidentally swipe the wrong way, causing a game to appear in their "Want to Play" category instead of "Played"
What did we do to fixed that?
First, we added an introductory tutorial to guide users through the actions on the game cards as they swipe;
We also implemented tooltips on the cards to explain actions during swiping;
We added an "Undo" button to the game card, allowing users to revert to the previous card.
It wasn’t placed in the most ideal spot, but we were limited by time and development constraints. A complete redesign of the section wasn’t feasible at that moment. Interestingly, the button is still in the same spot and continues to work well. It's surprising how users don’t always behave as you expect — and that's actually pretty cool.
UI Enhancements and Details
Since the app is focused on social mechanics and interaction, the profile plays a crucial role. Almost everything in the app is built around social engagement.
So, what's the problem?
Not all users want to upload their real photos, and that’s understandable. To avoid creating a million different profiles with default placeholders, we generated gamer avatars using MidJourney, which users can choose from on the profile creation screen. It turned out cute and helped bring some life to the app.
Video Assets for the Home Screen
Sometimes we get really into it and create something from scratch just for the sake of it. And why not, if there’s time to spare?
Design Review and Microanimations
I’m a big advocate for microanimations in UI. I created a dozen guides on microanimations for the development team, covering every tap, swipe, scroll, and more. These subtle details, often unnoticed by the average user, give the app its unique vibe and contribute to the emotional UX.
Before the release, we conducted a design review in TestFlight, gave our approval, and set the project free to sail.
Project results
As a result, we completely revamped and refreshed the app's visual language, redesigned the social mechanics, and improved the game discovery experience.
These changes allowed us to achieve our goal: we increased user engagement and extended session times on game cards. This not only helped the team secure the next round of investment but also created a strong foundation for transitioning to version 3.0 — a full-fledged game store and launcher.
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