Designing an Esports Fan Engagement Platform
Designing an Esports Fan Engagement Platform
A 0→1 platform for fan identity, community, and engagement
A 0→1 platform for fan identity, community, and engagement
Thailand is TALON’s largest and most active fanbase, especially for ROV — but their experience is scattered across multiple platforms. There’s no single place where TALON can understand its fans or build ongoing engagement.
Thailand is TALON’s largest and most active fanbase, especially for ROV — but their experience is scattered across multiple platforms. There’s no single place where TALON can understand its fans or build ongoing engagement.
Starting in Thailand is a strategic choice. It’s the market with the strongest traction, clearest behaviors, and highest potential to shape a platform that can later scale across APAC.
Starting in Thailand is a strategic choice. It’s the market with the strongest traction, clearest behaviors, and highest potential to shape a platform that can later scale across APAC.
My Role
Lead Product Designer responsible for taking the platform from 0→1 — defining the design system, visual direction, core flows, and the end-to-end feature experiences.
My Role
Lead Product Designer responsible for taking the platform from 0→1 — defining the design system, visual direction, core flows, and the end-to-end feature experiences.
01
Inside the World of TALON’s Fans
Designing for TALON’s fans meant understanding not just what they do, but why they do it. Early research with Thai fans revealed patterns that shaped the product’s foundation — emotionally, culturally, and behaviorally.
02
Shaping the Platform’s Direction
These insights clarified the real design opportunity: the platform shouldn’t just aggregate content — it needed to give fans a place to belong, express identity, and connect with each other. From these insights, several guiding principles emerged.
Platform at a glance
Platform at a glance
Before diving into individual features, it helps to understand how the platform fits together as a whole. The experience is built around three interconnected cores that reflect how fans naturally engage with TALON:
Before diving into individual features, it helps to understand how the platform fits together as a whole. The experience is built around three interconnected cores that reflect how fans naturally engage with TALON:
Staying Updated
// What I Care About
Match results, schedules, highlights, and social updates. This mode captures the fast‑moving pulse of esports — giving fans one place to keep up without hopping between platforms.
Staying Updated
// What I Care About
Match results, schedules, highlights, and social updates. This mode captures the fast‑moving pulse of esports — giving fans one place to keep up without hopping between platforms.
Staying Updated
// What I Care About
Match results, schedules, highlights, and social updates. This mode captures the fast‑moving pulse of esports — giving fans one place to keep up without hopping between platforms.
Feeling Connected
// Who I Share Moments With
Chat, live reactions, and shared match experiences. This mode reflects how fans form community through emotional spikes — the highs, lows, and everything in between.
Feeling Connected
// Who I Share Moments With
Chat, live reactions, and shared match experiences. This mode reflects how fans form community through emotional spikes — the highs, lows, and everything in between.
Feeling Connected
// Who I Share Moments With
Chat, live reactions, and shared match experiences. This mode reflects how fans form community through emotional spikes — the highs, lows, and everything in between.
Expressing Identity
// Who I Am as a Fan
Profiles, badges, cosmetics, achievements, and personal stats. This mode supports self‑expression and recognition, allowing fans to show their dedication and personality.
Expressing Identity
// Who I Am as a Fan
Profiles, badges, cosmetics, achievements, and personal stats. This mode supports self‑expression and recognition, allowing fans to show their dedication and personality.
Expressing Identity
// Who I Am as a Fan
Profiles, badges, cosmetics, achievements, and personal stats. This mode supports self‑expression and recognition, allowing fans to show their dedication and personality.
Key Features That Bring the Ecosystem to Life
Key Features That Bring the Ecosystem to Life
These selected features show how the platform’s principles — identity, cultural nuance, clarity, and emotional connection — were translated into the real fan experience.
These selected features show how the platform’s principles — identity, cultural nuance, clarity, and emotional connection — were translated into the real fan experience.
Illustrating the TALON Universe
Illustrating the TALON Universe
Alongside the product work, I illustrated the backgrounds and avatar assets that define the platform’s tone.
Alongside the product work, I illustrated the backgrounds and avatar assets that define the platform’s tone.
These visuals brought warmth, energy, and personality into the experience — giving each screen a sense of place and giving fans expressive ways to show who they are through custom frames and themed art.
These visuals brought warmth, energy, and personality into the experience — giving each screen a sense of place and giving fans expressive ways to show who they are through custom frames and themed art.
What I learned:
Designing for fandom means translating emotional, cultural, and behavioral nuances into clear product decisions. It requires turning complex in-game data and moments into experiences that feel intuitive and easy to follow. Strong design is what brings all of that together into a system that feels simple, cohesive, and meaningful.
What I learned:
Design turns evolving policy into a system that understands people, and helps people understand policy. It’s not only about solving problems, it’s about making sense of them especially when the destination is still being defined.
What I learned:
Design turns evolving policy into a system that understands people, and helps people understand policy. It’s not only about solving problems, it’s about making sense of them especially when the destination is still being defined.
Project Details
Project Details
Company
Company
TALON Esports
TALON Esports
Year
Year
2025
2025
elva
retta
elva
retta