I am your Swiss Army knife for all things game design and production.
Explore my game/UX design services and working process. Discover how I can add value at any stage of your project’s lifecycle.
Concept development
Research phase
Based on the briefing, I start with researching the market, genre, and audience. Deliverables vary but often include market analysis and feature comparisons.
Initial concept
This step focuses on the core interaction loop and the meta-game layers supporting the core. The initial concept provides enough input for a first feedback round.
Instead of writing long documents I use collaborative whiteboards like Miro to create flowcharts, wireframes and mock-ups. The mixture of high level flowchart and wireframe visualises the game loop screen by screen. Publishers, developers, project managers, and designers find the wireframes much more helpful than written documentation at this stage.
Prototyping
Get an interactive experience of your core loop as early as possible! No plan survives contact with reality, and a working build reveals more than any design document.
AI-assisted coding has been a game changer in creating interactive prototypes in hours rather than days.
I create prototypes in Unity 3D, HTML, or whatever tool gets the job done. Machinations diagrams are a great way to simulate anything from player progression to whole economies. Even LEGO bricks can be used to create prototypes.
Specifications
I extend the flowcharts and wireframes based on feedback in close cooperation with developers and stakeholders. They can now be used as a basis to define the feature set.
Now an iterative specification phase follows. There is no one-fits-all-template at this stage since every software project requires different deliverables at various stages throughout the development process.
Gamification Strategy & Design
Points, levels, streaks, and badges are superficial if the core product experience is weak. Gamification is not about layering game mechanics on top of a product but creating feedback loops that motivate users to keep going. To succeed, game design principles must shape the product from the start, not be patched in later. Involving a game designer early ensures the experience is motivating by design.
Deconstructing your app
I analyse and break down your app into its screens, loops and systems to identify areas for improvement with onboarding, user experience, retention, and monetisation.
- I map out exactly how users move through your app – screen by screen.
- I look at your app through a game designer’s lens: Can users make meaningful choices? Is the feedback satisfying? Does it actually feel good to use?
- I compare what you’re doing against competitor apps.
What you get:
- A prioritized list of changes that can increase engagement and revenue.
- Quick fixes you can implement right away, plus bigger strategic moves for later.
- Recommendations that work within your budget and technical constraints.
Production & Project management
Teams often get bogged down when priorities change frequently, feature creep sets in, or groupthink clouds their vision. A second opinion and an outsider’s perspective can often help to refocus on the main goal and to bring development back on track.
I can help you to avoid the common pitfalls I have encountered again and again when working with product teams:
- Underestimating the real scope of a project or feature. I can help your product and development team to identify and focus on features that matter most.
- Not focussing on the core interaction loop first, which often leads to the late discovery that the product actually does not work and you should have killed it months ago.
AI Solutions
I can help you cut through the AI hype to design and deliver solutions that incorporate all aspects of AI – from machine learning models to large language models.
As with gamification, AI is not a silver bullet but is best applied to very specific use cases and embedded within a broader user experience strategy – whether for chatbots, knowledge bases, AI-based training applications or intelligent process automation.
Data Analytics & Intelligence
Let me help you transform your raw data into actionable insights to increase user engagement and business growth. With deep hands-on experience in a wide range of analytics tools and methodologies, I work with you to ask the right questions and to make smarter, data-driven decisions.
Strategy & Setup – Establishing the right data foundation—identifying key metrics, setting up robust tracking systems, and building your business data strategy from the ground up.
Technical Implementation Using Google Analytics, BigQuery, GameAnalytics, SQL, and Python/Pandas, I create comprehensive data pipelines and automated reporting systems.
AI-Powered Analysis Let me help you discover patterns and opportunities through intelligent automation and AI-driven insight mining.
Software development
End-to-end software development and co-development for mobile, desktop, and web through Robot Riot .