Description
Originally starting out as a humble reservation app for the annual PlayStation Experience event, it grew into a global multi-platform ecosystem that rewarded fans for being fans.
Role
Lead designer
Product strategy
Branding
Design system
User research
Front-end markup
The Experience PlayStation app v2, circa early 2019.
The initial app launch was at PlayStation Experience 2016 with its main functions being registration and line management. It was a success, and we quickly moved to scale it up to support more events. However, as the product grew more complex, the clearer it became that we would have to work on a new version that would better support our expanded vision. We began planning Version 2.0 while still doing regular updates on current version.
Each major event necessitated new features and new surfaces for the identification and reward systems we had built. Because of the increasing amount of clients, we also started work on a content management system, enlisting the help of an external studio for backend and design support.
Working on future concepts and the day-to-day updates simultaneously was proving to be a challenge. To keep the designs on point, I retroactively created the official design system, collaborating with the internal PlayStation team to keep it on-brand but distinct.
Above: A portion of the Experience PlayStation design system set up in Sketch.
About a year and a half into the app’s life cycle, we launched a web plugin and began scoping for an event live-streaming site and a PS4 console app. These would be supported by the CMS we were already building.
Originally meant to service just events and campaigns in North America and LATAM, the app, its web plugin, and reward system now includes Asia and Europe. This meant new design challenges with localization, iconography, and different regulations for each territory.
Above: An Experience PlayStation app sign in PAX Australia. Screens: Left is Paris Games Week, right is from Hong Kong Toys and Games Fair.
The original version of the app is still on the App Store and Google Play store, and some of its ecosystem lives on in PlayStation.com, most recently in its “Gaming Year in Review” campaign.
The English version of the Experience PlayStation app (version 1.0) for PlayStation Experience Southeast Asia.
Left to right: The app in use at Lucca Comics and Games (Lucca, Italy), PlayStation Experience Southeast Asia (Bangkok), E3 (Los Angeles), and PAX Australia (Melbourne).