Leading Design Transformation for Complex Real-Time Gaming Technology Platform
A series of narratives detailing the redesign of the platform, establishing the design operations, and launching new features.
Led comprehensive organisational design transformation for a high-growth gaming technology platform, scaling from external agency dependency to a 10-person internal design team in 6 months. Established design operations supporting 4 product lines with complex real-time data requirements, multi-state user flows, and immediate financial impact. Created scalable design systems and research capabilities while delivering sophisticated UX solutions for 6,000+ users across multiple platforms, supporting ~$XXM+ monthly turnover and enterprise-scale business operations.
Lead Product Designer
2024 - Ongoing
Gaming
Challenge
The platform required sophisticated design solutions to address complex technical challenges, including multi-state user flows with over 15 possible states, real-time data integration, intricate dependency calculations across related selections, and regulatory compliance for immediate financial transactions. Simultaneously, the organisation needed a fundamental transformation from external agency dependency to internal design capability, requiring rapid team scaling, establishing a design culture, and creating an operational framework while maintaining product delivery velocity during aggressive expansion.
Role
Led design operations transformation encompassing team scaling (5 to 10 designers in 6 months), design system establishment (<4 weeks for global implementation), and research capability development. Established design-to-development workflows, mentoring, and stakeholder alignment processes while delivering complex UX solutions for multi-state flows, real-time data integration, and regulatory compliance requirements. Influenced organisational design culture through direct collaboration with the CEO, CPO, and Head of Design, and systematic design thinking implementation.
Impact
Team Building: Scaled the design team from 5 to 10 in 6 months. Established mentoring programs, design critique frameworks, and collaborative workflows to maintain quality standards during rapid expansion.
Design System: Implemented a systematic approach to design system creation, establishing a global component library and token variables (colours, spacing, radius, font sizes) in under 4 weeks.
Organisational Transformation: Transformed external agency dependency to internal design capability, establishing design culture in a previously design-naive organisation.
Complex UX in Regulated Environment: Developed systematic methodology for complex multi-state user flows, implementing hierarchical information architecture, robust error handling, and real-time data integration patterns.
$XXM+
Monthly turnover
100%
Team growth
4
Products support with design system
Multi-State Selection & Calculation Platform
Led design for sophisticated selection and calculation platform managing complex user choices with real-time data integration and immediate financial impact. Developed systematic approach to multi-state flows (15+ possible states), real-time data updates, and robust error handling across transaction scenarios. Created cross-platform design patterns optimised for mobile, tablet, and desktop environments.
Transaction History & Tracking
Redesigned comprehensive transaction management system creating transparent user activity records and facilitating complex tracking workflows. Implemented hierarchical information architecture for multi-step actions, integrated real-time status updates, and developed intuitive historical data access patterns, enabling users to review past actions and celebrate their progress.
Behind Closed Doors: Uncharted Waters
The company was navigating unprecedented transformation - their first rebrand after a decade of operation, concurrent with aggressive expansion across sponsorship, loyalty, VIP management, and affiliate programs. The shift from external agency to internal design team represented a fundamental organisational change, requiring rapid capability building while maintaining product delivery velocity. As the company adopted a data-informed culture for the first time, design leadership was crucial in aligning user experience, operations, and team growth with newly ambitious product goals. I was simultaneously expanding my domain knowledge, delivering design systems, redesigning core products, and building the team—all while working directly alongside the CEO.
“Every time we jump on a call, we solve a puzzle and it feels great.”
Feedback from a recent performance review
Learning
This experience reinforced the critical role of design leadership in organisational transformation, particularly the challenge of building design culture while delivering complex technical solutions. Managing team scaling, stakeholder alignment, and product delivery simultaneously taught me the importance of systematic design operations and clear communication frameworks.