Fantasy Arcade · Player one

What if we designedwith no limits?

It's a program that allows our team members to immerse themselves into a creative world with few limitations. We'd like for this program to spark new ideas for our product and enhance our team members' craft, without being limited by constraints.

Role: Led the initiative
Team: 9 designers
Created: 2022
Build time: Two months
Rhythm: 1 hr/week with a buddy
Showcase: Every two months

Insert coin

As designers it's easy to get “stuck” in our day-to-day activities and jumping from one project to the next. We usually have many constraints, such as product & design system limitations, not enough time to fully explore design solutions, and limitations to what engineers can truly build. This means that our ideas usually have to be simplified and less creative than we originally had hoped for. In the long-term this approach could potentially decrease a designer's creativity and motivation.

Back in 2022 we were exploring ways to incorporate more creativity into our work environment, where we have no (or very little) limitations, without interfering with our day-to-day projects. That's how the Fantasy Arcade idea was born. What could our product look like if we designed it the way we wanted, with no limitations?

Exercise creativity

We want the team members to focus on the craft and explore new ways of designing. This is a good time to experiment so try new styles, patterns etc.

Push our limits

Think big. Think outside the box. Let's look at our competitors and companies outside our industry, such as the gaming world.

Few product/design constraints

Don't worry about the constraints we have in our day-to-day operations. Design like you have no limits.

Have fun

Most importantly, have fun. We want this program to inspire our team members and make them hungry to learn new things and try new ways of doing things.

Pick a theme

Every designer picked a feature and was handed a theme at random. Choose one and see the inspiration board it produced, and the screen it turned into.

Vikings inspiration board — Vikings — inspiration board

Player page redesigned in the Vikings theme — Player page — Vikings

Features on the table

league cards
player page
team info page
league page
scoreboard
standings
player page (header)

Themes in the hat

cyberpunk
70s pop culture
vikings
star wars
art deco
ancient greek art
Disney 50th

The clock

I've hosted half-day design hackathons for our team as part of the Fantasy Arcade program. Below I've outlined what these hackathons look like.

Get ready for takeoff

235 min total

20m
Introduction
- choose a feature to redesign (mobile only)
- be assigned a unique theme to incorporate into their designs
60m
Research
- conduct research based on their feature and theme
- use AI tools to generate images/copy that match your theme
- create an inspiration board with your research findings
30m
Design buddy review
- be paired up with their design buddy
- review each other's research findings and share feedback
10m
Break
- Grab water/coffee, get fresh air
60m
Speed design
- work independently to redesign their chosen feature
- go crazy with their designs (no limitations)
- incorporate their theme into the designs
- work fast — this is a speed design exercise
10m
Break
- Grab water/coffee, get fresh air
45m
Showcase
- share inspiration board and designs from the speed exercise
- share constructive feedback

High scores

A couple of examples of what this app could look like, from a Fantasy Arcade perspective

Homepage

Current ← drag → Fantasy Arcade

Homepage — comparison

Team info page

Current ← drag → Fantasy Arcade

Team info page — comparison

Examples of AI generated UX flows and content (ChatGPT)

Examples of AI generated images (DALL·E, Midjourney)

Credits

Anya
Derek
Gabbie
Kyle
Rosie
Sarah
Stevie
Vince
Yiqi

For privacy reasons I'm using fake headshots.

Collaboration and networking

By working closely with our buddies, we'll get to know each other even more.

Increase product knowledge

This project gives us an opportunity to dive into our product and come up with forward thinking ideas.

Fan empathy and creativity

Even if these ideas won't be developed, it'll give us creative solutions to current pain points and we'll have the opportunity to better understand what our Users want.

01
Gives our team an opportunity to enhance their craft and creativity
02
Have dedicated time to play around with different AI tools
03
Our team members seem to really enjoy this format
04
It's valuable to step away from day-to-day routines and do something different
05
This is a collaborative program that allows our team members to network, share constructive feedback both 1-on-1 and as a team
06
Allow ourselves to increase the User empathy

← All work The original 2024 write-up ↗

Long read Playbook Arcade