STEAM REDESIGN

PROBLEM

Every design decision in this redesign balances honouring Steam's existing layout with introducing fresh, user-focused additions. The deliverables, from heuristic reports and competitive analyses to Figma designs and testing summaries, outline a clear call to action.

SOLUTION

This conceptual project not only gives Steam a fresh new look but also shows a process that can be repeated for future, data-driven iterations.

overview

In five days, I conceptualised and designed a redesign of the Steam desktop client while wearing the UX designer and researcher hats to redesign its look, feel, and path of navigation. Armed with Figma, I transformed Steam's messy maze of panels into a clean, intuitive interface that feels warm to hardcore gamers but fresh and fascinating to new gamers. Though this was a conceptual exercise and had nothing to do with Valve, it showcases the output of focused research and rapid prototyping towards the reinvigoration of a classic application.

CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION

I anchored the redesign in three core principles:

• Modern Visual Language: Drawing on contemporary UI trends, clean typography, simplified iconography, and balanced negative space to replace Steam’s dated panels and menus.

• User-First Navigation: Prioritising the most-used features (library, store, community, settings) and surfacing them through a lean, consistent sidebar.

• Personalised Discovery: Leveraging modular dashboard cards that adapt to user behaviour, offering tailored game recommendations and quick-access shortcuts.

To ground these principles, I assembled a reference matrix including Epic Games Store, GOG Galaxy, and Xbox Game Pass to distil best practices in layout, filtering, and social integration.

RESEARCH & WORKFLOW

I began by performing a comprehensive heuristic evaluation of the existing client, noting system feedback, consistency, and breakdowns in error prevention. I then conducted in-depth interviews with five diverse Steam users to uncover the frustrations plaguing daily gameplay discovery, cluttered homepages, secret community hubs, and complex settings. A benchmark evaluation of competing solutions also sharpened my understanding of industry standards to allow me to concentrate on three areas of high impact: home dashboard, library browsing, and community feed. Armed with this research, I created low-fidelity wireframes in Photoshop, guerrilla tested them in Figma, and iterated flows into clean, interactive prototypes.

COMPETITOR RESEARCH

	Epic Games Store Epic's store greets you with big, full-bleed headers promoting weekly free games and temporary exclusives, establishing immediacy that makes you return. Its tidy sidebar and minimalist launcher yield lightning-fast load times, but library management remains basic and social features are an afterthought. By borrowing Epic's "Free This Week" carousel and condensing submenus into sweeping, icon-based categories, Steam can trigger repeat engagement and improve discovery without constraining depth.
	GOG Galaxy GOG Galaxy honours user autonomy with a DRM-free ethos and a cross-library aggregator pulling games from all launchers into a stunningly filterable interface. It's powerful tags, installed-status toggles, and shelves to customise enrich gamers lives, but its multi-account setup and optional skins may baffle newcomers. Steam could learn some lessons from GOG's filter sidebar, which is always available and immediately accessible to allow players to view only installed, favourite, or non-Steam games, yet with a unified core appearance.
	Microsoft Store | Xbox Microsoft's app brings PC and console together under one roof, with Game Pass front and centre and automatic syncing of saves, achievements, and party invites between consoles. But with its hybrid media library and occasionally slow performance, it dilutes the experience. Merging a Steam "Pass" pane that focuses on subscription benefits, with cloud-sync icons on library thumbnails and a clean social overlay for quick-join games, would mix Xbox's cross-platform magic with Steam's performance power.
	Ubisoft Connect | Beta Ubisoft Connect draws players into live events, timed challenges, and a single rewards currency across all Ubisoft titles, promoting habitual checking in. Its menus aplenty, stores, news, rewards, and stats may resemble a maze, and the preponderance of microtransactions too strongly dominates play at times. Steam may capitalise upon Ubisoft's event-based engagement through the creation of a "Live Events" hub and an XP-nodding badge system for seasonal community goals, all presented in a flatter, more streamlined navigation.
	EA App EA's redesigned launcher simplifies playflows with big "Play" buttons and a news feed touting early access and Insider drops. EA Play subscription perks take the form of trial-hour icons for owned games, although the feed tends to be full of sales, and the grid-predominant library begs for richer sorting features. By enhancing its "News & Events" sidebar with friends' achievements and upcoming DLC, and by showing trial-access badges on Steam cards, Steam can achieve the perfect balance between personal news and publisher content.

VISUAL DESIGN & COMPONENTS

• Colour & Typography: Retained Steam’s dark-blue palette but introduced subtle gradients, increased contrast for legibility, and standardised font hierarchy.

• Iconography & Components: Developed a minimal icon set for primary actions (play, download, chat), and built reusable Figma components to enforce consistency.

• Navigation Structure: Replaced multi-level top nav with a persistent, collapsible sidebar grouping Store, Library, Community, and Settings with clear visual affordances.

PROTOTYPING & INTERACTION

Two moderated tests with eight participants generated high-quality feedback. In the first round, users adored the sidebar's minimalist look but asked for more explicit labels between the Store and Community tabs. In round two, with high-fidelity prototypes, the new dashboard yielded high consensus on relevance and navigability. Testers did suggest broadening the search input field and adding subtle hover states to library filters, however, this iterative process attested to the magic of rapid feedback loops: small changes yielded out-of-proportion gains in clarity and satisfaction.

REFLECTION & NEXT STEPS

This sprint project emphasised the benefit of having a tightly fenced scope and constant checking. In the future, I will attempt to test more thoroughly across a wider sample of older players and players with accessibility needs to ensure the redesign has met Steam's diverse player base. I will also bring Figma elements out into a living style guide or Storybook library, bridging the gap between design and development. Finally, analytics integration will play a key role in monitoring real-world usage of future interfaces.

Areas for Improvement:

• Accessibility: Conduct contrast audits and keyboard-only navigation tests to ensure WCAG compliance.

• Data-Driven Insights: Incorporate quantitative metrics (e.g., clickstream analysis) to prioritise features by actual usage.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This Steam redesign journey has sharpened my ability to drive a UX initiative from discovery through validation in a condensed timeframe. By balancing innovation with familiarity, the project demonstrates how incremental, user-centred improvements can revitalise a beloved platform without sacrificing its essence.

LINK TO PROJECT: https://www.figma.com/proto/Xu5k8u1ATjpFq2hvhRWoXc/Steam_Redesign?node-id=0-1&t=aywqfNahWqCnxJeb-1