The Challenge

Buildbox empowers creators to build video games without code. But during a two-week UX audit, I uncovered major friction for new users:

• Onboarding was passive and disconnected from hands-on creation.
• Users lacked visibility into how the platform worked without digging into documentation.
• The creation process lacked logical flow and guidance, especially for beginners.
• Returning users had limited pathways to re-engage quickly or discover new tools.

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My Role

As senior product designer, I led the audit and user research phase, driving both qualitative and quantitative methods to uncover user pain points and product opportunities.

Working alongside a product strategist and another product designer, I helped shape the product direction and executed key design contributions across the entire experience:

• Led all foundational research, including user interviews, testing, heuristic evaluations, and data synthesis
• Conceptualized the onboarding experience, bridging guidance with creativity
• Designed the BB Hub and floating window system, enabling flexible, power-user workflows
• Collaborated on the creation and rollout of the Graphite Design System, improving consistency and scalability
• Provided art direction for illustrations and 3D modelling, ensuring a cohesive visual tone across onboarding and product surfaces

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The Research

To ensure our solutions addressed real user pain points, we conducted a multi-method research sprint

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Methods Used

• Heuristic Evaluation: Identified critical usability issues across the dashboard and editor flows.
• User Interviews: Gathered insights from both new and legacy users to understand behaviour patterns and unmet needs.
• Observational Testing: Watched first-time users attempt to create a game, noting points of hesitation and confusion. Similarly, we observed how legacy users found workarounds to power actions.
• User Testing: Validated proposed changes to the Home screen, game creation tools and flows, and BB Hub interaction model with early-stage prototypes.

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User Persona

Meet our core persona: a new, ambitious creator who wants to focus on building, not troubleshooting.

Key Audit Insights

Visualized in a system map (see image), the audit revealed:

• A fragmented user journey from installation to project creation
• Onboarding that didn’t onboard — it didn’t support hands-on learning or create momentum
• A lack of contextual guidance, forcing users to exit the platform and read documentation
• Redundant paths and unclear progression, especially for users starting from scratch

This foundational research allowed us to align teams around the same problem space and build toward focused, measurable improvements.

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A Unified Launchpad for All Users

We redesigned the Buildbox Home screen and interaction model to support both first-time creators and advanced users—with guidance, speed, and clarity.

For First-Time Users

• Interactive “Create Your First Game” tutorial fosters learning by doing
• Progress indicators help users re-enter with confidence
• In-product guidance replaces documentation dependency

For Returning and Power Users

• Quick project access via “Open Latest” and recent history
• Familiar layout, now optimized for speed and clarity
• Surface-level achievements and published games to promote engagement and motivation

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BB Hub and Floating Window System.

I introduced the BB Hub and a flexible floating window architecture, enabling:

• A centralized place to access tools, settings, and assets
• Customizable layouts for advanced workflows
• A scalable system that evolved into the foundation for future feature releases

These interaction models gave users creative control without adding complexity—especially for power users managing large game scenes.

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Graphite Design System

To unify the platform visually and structurally, we created the Graphite Design System. It brought:

• Visual consistency and component reuse across the product
• Faster handoff between design and development
• A design-driven mindset within the Buildbox team, influencing how features were scoped and evaluated

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The Outcome

These explorations transformed Buildbox from a fragmented product into a cohesive, creator-first platform.

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After running the revamped platform prototype user testing:

• New users get started faster, with less frustration
• Returning users started build with more speed and flexibility
• The development team is now equipped with scalable UI systems and a clear design language

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| The result: a launch experience that reflects what Buildbox stands for: enabling creators to build, explore, and ship ideas without barriers.

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In collaboration with: 

• M. Tako
• O. Durán
• A. Martínez