As a UX designer at the Stars Group, I was presented with the challenge to redesign the classic Blackjack game played by more than 100k players, and make it a more enjoyable experience for players.
The Casino Lobby is experienced by many players in portrait mode. However, they were forced to switch to landscape to play the game.
Created support for portrait mode and improved usability
Blackjack is intended to be dynamic and fast. Waiting on other player's decisions was affecting the game experience negatively.
Limited blackjack table seats from five to three.
The previous Blackjack was created almost 10 years ago using outdated interface elements and needed a proper redesign to stay up to date.
New look and feel and the entire UI was redesigned.
In order to redesign Blackjack, the first step I took empathise with the players, and understand the targeted audience and the type of public I was designing for.
Connor is 32 years old, likes to play Blackjack games occasionally for a chance to win
Jane is 40 years old, is a busy person, and plays Blackjack to relax after work
Brian is 28 years old, is an avid Poker player, and plays Blackjack when he wants a break from Poker
My second step involved a competitor analysis and defining the main pain points to work in the new Blackjack Version.
After having enough information and a clear focus I started to build the wireframes that after many iterations and prototypes became the final idea for the design.
With the final wireframes defined, I have started to solidify the idea and create the final user interface with the game icons, table felt and colours.
By defining and creating different game scenarios, I have used animations and image sequences to portray user interactions in Blackjack. These creations helped the development team with the direction they need to implement a seamless user experience.
Through the development of the game, I have maintained support and open communication to ensure final quality and provide needed assets, animations a guidance for edge cases and overall design implementation.
The average time players spend waiting on other players has reduced by approximately 4 seconds.
The main words our players used to define the new Blackjack design was "clean", "easy" and "simple" and one of the main reasons they choose to play with us.
User were very satisfied to have portrait mode, and now more than half of the players are using it as their main play mode.
