Client: Google – Area 120 Incubator
Role: Lead UX Designer & Brand Architect
Skills: UX, UI, Branding, Game Design, Growth Strategy
Platform: Web, Mobile, Android Auto, 3rd-Party Sites
Year: 2019–2023
Intro
GameSnacks is a Google-backed HTML5 gaming platform designed to deliver bite-sized, low-friction games to users globally — especially on low-bandwidth connections. Originally conceived in Area 120, Google’s in-house incubator, the platform has grown to serve millions of users across 7+ Google products and over 50 external sites.
As the sole UX Designer from inception, I led product design, branding, onboarding, and growth UX — helping transform GameSnacks from a scrappy prototype into an acquired product under Google Ads.
Problem
HTML5 gaming was either too heavy or too generic. Our challenge:
Reduce friction to get users into games — fast.
Build a brand that felt fun, light, and modern.
Optimize across wildly diverse devices, bandwidths, and surfaces — all while launching 50+ original titles in parallel.
We needed to create an experience so seamless and snackable that users could play during a coffee break — without app downloads, sign-ins, or lag.
What I did
From nearly its inception in Area 120, Google’s Internal product incubator, I was the sole UX Designer for GameSnacks responsible for ensuring an optimal user experience and building the brand across all surfaces.
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I lead UX design, rapid testing, and iteration of our UI across web and mobile platforms. Additionally, I provide UI/UX guidance for our custom HTML5 games and contribute to strategic innovations, including the development of our game creation tool aimed at driving growth. I have also facilitated onboarding onto seven Google products—Play, Chrome, GPay, Discover, Assistant—and integrated with over 50 external partner sites and applications.
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I led the naming and brand development of GameSnacks that resulted in our acquisition by the Ads org and is now a legit Google brand poised to be the next big thing.
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I led and managed the production of GameSnacks Originals, exclusive, high-quality HTML5 games that out preformed our other games in all engagement metrics. Some favorites were (and still are): HexaDungeon, Stack Bounce, and Ship Merge. Play one now :)
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From the outset, my primary goal was to focus on impactful growth strategies, including accelerating player onboarding, increasing session durations, and encouraging social invitations. The key performance indicators we prioritized were traffic, session time, and Lifetime Value (LTV).
Rapid paper proto
When we started exploring how to answer "impossible questions" in new contexts there was a lot of ambiguity. I created a paper prototype in InVision that I socialized around the office which helped coalesce ideas. We learned quickly that answers were more valuable if they were coming from “qualified” people - it was about trusting the source. Essentially, crowd-sourcing answers had enormous potential to help people.
Early screen of first time user experience
Early screens of Group Play with modular content on the home page
Early screen for onboarding with page states
Early screens for Scores with visual podium and reactions
Early screens for sharing games with friends
Early screens showing profile pages with customization
Name and brand
I lead the naming and re-branding of GameSnacks. The goal of the rebrand was to emphasize the fun of playing our games. Our games could be played in spare minutes waiting in line or between meetings - like a snack rather than a meal - therefore we mashed up “games” and “snacks” and landed on GameSnacks. And it stuck.
Then, with the help of a design studio, we explored conceptual sketches to arrive at this logomark.
Name and brand
I lead the naming and re-branding of GameSnacks. The goal of the rebrand was to emphasize the fun of playing our games. Our games could be played in spare minutes waiting in line or between meetings - like a snack rather than a meal - therefore we mashed up “games” and “snacks” and landed on GameSnacks. And it stuck.
Then, with the help of a design studio, we explored conceptual sketches to arrive at this logomark.
Icons of games + snacks
I worked with the agency to create a set of playful icons to support the brand. A Pizza + paper airplane. A ice cream + basketball. A cherry + bomb. It’s just the right kind of cute and playfulness for our platform of games.
UI and UX
As the games were essentially web pages, downloads were not needed. To lower the friction even more we didn’t require log in. I was responsible for integrations across all surfaces that included Google products and third-parties around the world. Each integration was unique and required materials to ensure that the experience was smooth.
Onboarding
I provided onboarding solutions for our platform as well as for each integration. One example is, a player’s top goal is to play high-quality games so I removed extra clicks to get into a game. They needed to easily find games they played before so I created a “Keep playing” section at the top of the page. Removing speedbumps and friction increased engagement and growth.
Game parties
One idea to spur growth was to create a way to play games with friends via sharing a link, we called it a "Game Party". This allowed users to play games with friends in the same room or wherever they may be.
Scoring with users
A player’s top goal is to play high-quality games so I removed extra clicks to get into a game. Also, to easily find games they played before, I created a “Keep playing” section at the top of the page. Removing speedbumps and friction increased engagement and growth.
Many features were tested to attract more users, including a results page with a winners podium, from here you could chat or share with friends that could then join the game.
Making games
I managed the game design team and the production of the games. I worked directly with game developers worldwide to make our own exclusive games. We called these games, GameSnacks Originals, and they outperformed our licensed games in both session count and session length. I helped our team launch over 50 Original games.
Play a game now. My favorite Originals are: Merge Pirates, HexaDungeon, Pocket Champions, Element Blocks, Cards of the Undead, and Stack Bounce.
Integrations
I partnered with UX teams across Google to implement our games on other Google products. Interestingly, Android Auto offered our games while your car - while it was in Park of course.
Swag
Of course, swag. There’s nothing like wearables to bring a smile to the team.
Celebrate our wins
In Google’s Area 120 we had a gong to celebrate our wins. And for our quarterly reviews we celebrated with extra fun when we met our metrics. :)