a self-designed, inclusive game discovery platform for a missing market: players who want to feel seen, safe, and supported.
impact: built and tested four prototypes, developed an inclusive design system, positioned platform to fill a critical gap in the gaming ecosystem
my role
UX/UI Designer, UX Researcher
timeline
april - june 2025
tools
Figma, FigJam, Google Suite
↦ introduction
Video games have always been more than entertainment for me - they’re spaces of connection, identity, and even emotional restoration. But the reality is that not all games, or their communities, feel that way. As the global gaming population becomes increasingly diverse, discovery tools remain stuck in the past. They prioritize stats, scores, and popularity while ignoring identity, safety, and accessibility. That leaves players - especially LGBTQIA+, disabled, neurodivergent, and BIPOC players - doing the exhausting legwork of figuring out whether a game will support or harm them.
the opportunity
Players want to know how a game will feel - its emotional tone, community safety, and representation - before investing time or money. I saw an opportunity to create a space that centers care and transparency in game discovery.
the solution
Joystick reframes how we search for games. By layering identity-driven and emotional criteria (trigger warnings, representation, community toxicity, accessibility) onto standard game metadata, the platform empowers players to make informed choices and enjoy gaming on their own terms.
↦ research and insights
primary research
Personas, empathy maps, and usability testing across four prototypes.
Insights drawn from real players like Jordan, who often rely on Reddit, YouTube, or Discord to assess safety and identity alignment.
Task-based usability testing validated the design direction and emotional goals of the experience.
key insights
76% of online multiplayer users have experienced harassment (ADL, 2024)
Players want tools that are personal, not generic.
Accessibility and safety are not optional. They’re essential.
competitive analysis
Common Sense Media → thoughtful UX, but child-focused and limited.
Metacritic → review aggregation without context or moderation.
MobyGames → detailed metadata, poor UX, no human-centered insights.
IGDB → developer-friendly API, not player-friendly.
Click below for a full video!
what's missing everywhere?
✅ Representation tags (LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, disability)
✅ Trigger warnings & emotional tone
✅ Community toxicity indicators
✅ Accessibility filters
✅ A way to filter for safety and joy
Joystick aims to unify the best aspects of these platforms, while filling in their critical gaps with lived experiences and human-centered design.
↦ defining the user
persona
Persona: Jordan B. (they/them)
23 | Art Instructor | Seattle
Jordan uses games to decompress after emotionally exhausting workdays. Having faced harassment in online spaces, they now carefully vet games for emotional safety, access needs, and inclusive narratives.
“I want to support developers who share my values—and avoid the ones who don’t.”
why this matters
Designing for Jordan meant designing for those most at risk. By centering emotional safety, identity reflection, and accessibility, Joystick creates better experiences for all players.
↦ ideation and iteration
lo-fi prototypes
Each prototype represented a distinct stage of the user journey.
I approached this phase with a mix of UX theory and personal instinct, layering concepts like cognitive load, Hick’s Law, and emotional design with user feedback and lived experiences.
goals
Make users feel safe and seen from the very first screen.
Introduce Joystick’s values and features using a calm, supportive language.
Let users filter and browse games using emotional identity-driven filters.
Encourage users to contribute data and stay engaged through values-based rewards.
usability testing
Feedback really shaped my next steps.
I was lucky to get not just constructive critiques, but also specific praise from interface design experts, which gave me a clearer sense of what was working and where to grow from here.
what worked
Visual identity & mascot: the logo felt polished, and the fox mascot was described as cute, welcoming, and emotionally supportive.
Tone & emotional design: the app’s encouraging, conversational tone stood out, especially in confirmations and badge rewards.
Onboarding & tutorial: the flow felt intuitive and well-structured, starting light before moving into deeper values; icons and instructions were clear.
Search, filters & navigation: browsing by platform and accessibility needs felt natural; bottom navigation was intuitive.
Badge system & contribution flow: badges were motivating and celebratory, helping users feel recognized and inspired.
what didn't
Accessibility & clarity: increase font size, improve color contrast, avoid red highlights that look like errors, and add clearer “tap to continue” cues.
Labels & icons: reduce confusion by replacing icon-only buttons with clearer labels or CTAs
Onboarding improvements: offer more nuanced genre options (like cozy games), more specific trigger warnings, and the ability to skip onboarding.
Tutorial tweaks: simplify badge layouts, allow skips for returning users, and add clearer prompts when the mascot appears.
Filtering & search: clarify filter layouts, add a “filters applied” section, and rename headers
Contribution flow: help users see which game they’re contributing feedback for, add celebratory elements (like confetti), and keep the encouraging tone consistent.
↦ branding +
design system
joystick's design priorities
Joystick’s design system was developed with emotional clarity and inclusive accessibility in mind!
Colors: Lavender purples + teal for calmness; sharp blues + oranges for nostalgia. Accessible high-contrast variants created after testing.
Typography: Friendly sans-serif body + soft headline font, meeting AA/AAA contrast standards.
Mascot: Sage, a gentle fox who guides and encourages users through the platform.
Icons & Tags: Consistent markers for representation, accessibility, and trigger warnings.
Tone of Voice: Affirming, calm, and human—never clinical or condescending.
↦ improved prototypes
bringing it all together
The final design of Joystick brings together insights and iterations from all four prototypes, forming a cohesive, emotionally supportive user journey, from first-time onboarding to long-term contribution.
onboarding flow
The onboarding experience was redesigned to feel like a warm, personal invitation.
It allows users to set personalized filters based on what they care about - trigger warnings, accessibility needs, community tone, and representation.
Instead of asking for personal identifiers, users are empowered to select what they want to see reflected. This reframing increased emotional safety and autonomy.
The primary updates based on feedback included:
Beginning with questions around favorite games and genre, to ease the user into the onboarding experience and increase engagement
Increasing buttons, contrast and font sizes for accessibility
Providing “skip” options to honor user control
tutorial and introduction
After onboarding, users are welcomed by Sage, a gentle fox mascot who introduced JoyStick’s core features and values.
This tutorial was refined to avoid cognitive overload and was grounded in empathy, acknowledging that many users arrive here after negative gaming experiences.
Each core feature (game tags, badges) is explained with short, supportive guidance and positive reinforcement.
The primary updates based on feedback included:
Clarifying badge definitions in their own separate screens and placement
Giving the users the ability to skip or revisit the tutorial
Adding explicit “tap to continue” prompts
Enhancing Sage’s emotional presence to ease first-time use
interacting with data
The browsing and filtering interface allows users to search for games via a specific search section as well as filter games using specific filters that go beyond traditional tags.
Players can refine by things like platform, accessibility features (remappable controls, subtitles), genre, and representation (BIPOC lead, queer romance).
The layout was streamlined to reduce visual clutter while maintaining detailed depth.
The primary updates based on feedback included:
Changing “All PS5 Titles” to “Filtered Results” for clarity
Adding filter state indicators and dynamic sorting options
Increasing size and spacing of checkboxes and CTAs
Reorganizing tag categories for more intuitive browsing
desirability & persuasion
To encourage ongoing engagement, JoyStick includes a contribution flow where users can submit insights, reviews, or representation flags.
Instead of typical gamification, users earn value-based badges like “Access Ally” or “Safe Space Scout” that affirm the positive impact of their contributions.
The feedback system was redesigned to feel like a conversation, not a transaction.
The primary updates based on feedback included:
Linking feedback to specific games for better clarity
Clarifying the emotional purpose of each badge
Make the tone of validation more consistent throughout the app
View the full Figma prototype here.
in conclusion
Together, these flows form a platform that is intuitive, inclusive, and rooted in care.
Every design choice - from color contrast to mascot dialogue - was shaped by real user input and grounded in the emotional needs of marginalized players.
Joystick isn’t just usable. It’s designed to feel like a place where you belong.
↦ from here
why it's unique:
Unlike existing tools that prioritize popularity or performance metrics, Joystick centers on lived experience. It combines emotional design, inclusive filtering (trigger warnings, community toxicity, representation), and values-based gamification to foster trust and belonging.
With mascots like Sage, personalized badges, and affirming language, it creates a space that feels more like a home than a hub.
what's next:
The next version of Joystick will include microinteractions (like badge confetti or animations), expanded user profiles, and more robust community contribution features.
Future testing with diverse players - disabled gamers, parents, neurodivergent users - will further strengthen Joystick's mission: to make game discovery safer, kinder, and more human.
lessons learned.
Designing for emotion is hard, but necessary. It requires more than aesthetic polish. It demands empathy, restraint and intentionality. Every interaction - whether it’s a tooltip or badge - has the potential to affirm or alienate.
Safety, joy, and transparency must be embedded from the first click. Emotional design isn’t just a finishing touch. It’s foundational to trust. The more I grounded each flow in user needs (especially the ones often overlooked), the more intuitive and inclusive it became.
Real inclusion happens in the small decisions. I learned just how impactful it is to allow users to opt out, use plain language, design with accessibility in mind, and offer affirmation in unexpected places. Every “you matter” moment - whether spoke by Sage or embedded in an interface choice - adds up.
Gamification can be healing, if done ethically. Badges and rewards can motivate, but only if they align with values. I focused on reflective motivation (“You helped someone feel seen”) over extractive models (“Get points!”). This balance was tricky, but worth it.
Listening made it better. User feedback was transformative. Small shifts, like swapping a search icon for a plus sign or softening the tone of a tooltip, made the app clearer, kinder, and more aligned with its purpose. Designing in isolation could never have revealed those insights.
