Steam App Redesign: Enhancing User Experience and Accessibility

Redesigned the Steam webpage with a focus on enhancing user experience and aligning with modern design trends. Improved navigation and visual elements to create a more intuitive and immersive interface for gamers.

Overview

Background

This is a conceptual redesign of Steam, the world’s largest PC game platform. The project focuses on improving visual hierarchy, enhancing user engagement, and optimizing navigation to create a more intuitive and modern user experience.

It aims to reimagine the Steam interface from a fresh, user-centric perspective, with an emphasis on clarity, accessibility, and emotional resonance.

My role

I led the entire design process—from identifying usability issues and redefining user flows, to crafting high-fidelity mockups and building an interactive prototype.
This was a solo concept project created to explore new UX paradigms in game platform interfaces.

  • UX Research & Heuristic Evaluation

  • UI Redesign and Wireframing

  • Visual & Interaction Design

  • Web Structure & Flow Planning

  • Solo Concept Execution

Goal

The ultimate goal was to transform the cluttered and overwhelming experience of the original interface into something elegant, intuitive, and delightful.

  • Modernize Steam’s outdated and visually dense UI

  • Streamline the user journey for smoother discovery and interaction

  • Emphasize featured and trending games with stronger visual storytelling

  • Establish consistency across sections to reduce cognitive load

discovery

During user testing, we identified multiple usability issues with the current Steam interface.

The core problems were:

  • Users felt overwhelmed by the dense content and numerous banners, making it difficult to focus on what mattered.

  • There was no clear visual hierarchy, leading to confusion between promotional content, featured games, and ongoing sales.

  • Navigation through categories and genres was unintuitive, with buried options and redundant lists.

  • The interface was heavily text-based, lacking emotional engagement or visual storytelling.

  • On the game detail pages, important actions like “purchase” or “read reviews” were difficult to locate within cluttered layouts.

Problems with the Current Steam Website

Problem Description
Information Overload The homepage displays too many banners and dense content at once, leading to scattered attention.
Lack of Visual Hierarchy Promotional sections, featured games, and sales are presented without clear prioritization.
Complex Navigation Structure Genre categories and filters are buried or repeated, creating a high barrier to entry.
Text-Dominant Design The interface relies heavily on textual information, with minimal emotional or visual engagement.
Cluttered Game Detail Pages Game pages are content-heavy and overwhelming, with key actions like purchase or reviews buried in clutter.

Improvements in the Steam Redesign

Improvement Description
Refined Information Structure The homepage layout is reorganized to focus on key content areas such as recommendations, sales, and genres.
Strong Visual Hierarchy Large typography and featured banners direct user attention and guide content consumption in a structured flow.
Simplified Navigation Flow Genre and theme-based navigation is placed prominently at the top, reducing friction.
Visual-Centric Experience The design emphasizes immersive screenshots and image cards to deepen emotional connection with content.
Improved Game Detail Page Key elements like purchase options, trailers, and reviews are modularized into cards for clarity and ease of use.

New Features: Integrated Live Streaming

Feature Description
Profile Integration Users can stream live gameplay directly from their Steam profile, allowing friends to watch without leaving the platform.
Auto-Streaming on Game Launch When launching a game, streaming starts automatically through platforms like Twitch, YouTube, or Kick.
Real-Time Visibility A "Live" badge appears on the user's profile, making it easy for friends to notice and join the live session.
Seamless Sharing No complex setup needed; live streaming starts smoothly inside Steam when gameplay begins.
Community Experience Enhancements Revamped community section with Quests for mission-driven engagement, visually rich tile layouts, personalized "Channel You Play" hubs, real-time online presence indicators, and gamified interaction models to boost user participation.

store Page

Before

  • Overwhelming homepage with multiple carousels and banners

  • Weak visual hierarchy and dense sidebar menus

  • Text-heavy structure with minimal emotional impact

  • Discovery options buried in long lists with small icons

  • Lack of modularity in layout; inconsistent section spacing

Library Page

Before

  • Cluttered layout with small elements and unclear structure

  • Key details (cloud save, play time, achievements) presented flatly

  • Feeds like activity logs and updates lack visual impact

  • No clear visual differentiation between information types

Before

  • Feels outdated with flat design and dense layout

  • Static modules for guides, reviews, and screenshots

  • Minimal interactivity or gamification elements

  • Search-heavy interface with weak visual cues

  • Lacks personalization or real-time relevance

After

  • Community now feels alive and mission-driven with “Quests”

  • Visually engaging tiles replace text-heavy sections

  • “Channel You Play” creates a personalized community hub

  • Live status (e.g. online player count) adds social presence

  • Encourages engagement through gamified interaction design

my profile Page

Before:

  • Text-heavy layout with minimal visual hierarchy

  • Static list of recently played games, badges, and comments

  • Lack of interaction, real-time content, or personality

  • No highlights or “showcase” moments

  • Customization is limited to colors/backgrounds

After

  • Clean, grid-based structure with wide spacing and clear segmentation

  • Hero banner draws attention to top content with cinematic appeal

  • Discovery by tag and genre made visually intuitive with filter chips

  • Modular card-based layout supports faster scanning and action

  • Typography, color, and contrast improved for readability and engagement

After

  • Hero-style banner creates emotional engagement with owned titles

  • All game data (status, playtime, achievements) visually grouped and prioritized

  • Sections like Patches, Media, Reviews, and Community are modularized

  • Visual storytelling: rich previews, thumbnails, and interaction options

community Page

After

  • Live streaming banner creates a real-time connection point

  • “Showcase” section highlights achievements like speedruns

  • Recently played games shown in a clean, card-style layout

  • Friend activity and profile summary moved to the side for clarity

  • Gamified design language adds fun and ownership to the page

scenarios

Persona

According to a global report by Newzoo (2024 Global Games Market Report), over 70% of gamers actively seek platforms that offer not just game purchases but also content discovery, live streaming features, and community engagement. Modern users expect an experience that is immersive, social, and easy to navigate.

For this project, the persona is set as Daniel, a thirty-something passionate gamer who values both discovering new games and sharing gameplay experiences with friends. Daniel represents today’s gaming audience, who want more than just a store—they seek intuitive browsing, emotional immersion through visuals, and seamless real-time interaction. His character embodies the modern Steam user’s needs: fast discovery, personalized recommendations, and integrated social experiences.

Final product

Objectives

  • Elevate Steam from a transactional launcher to a community-first hub

  • Introduce gamified engagement mechanics to increase session time and user participation

  • Reorganize content-heavy interfaces into clean, modular layouts

  • Improve accessibility and personalization through smart filtering and content surfacing

Visual Design Language

  • Dark UI for immersive, eye-friendly navigation.

  • Vibrant CTAs and real-time activity indicators to drive engagement.

  • Card-based layouts with consistent spacing and hierarchy for easy scalability across devices.

  • Minimalistic iconography and clean typeface for visual clarity.

Outcome

This redesign elevates the Steam experience into a socially gamified, user-centric ecosystem. By merging storytelling, player identity, and live content into every corner of the platform, users are encouraged to explore, share, and connect—making Steam not just a store, but a world to live in.

Store Page

  • Applied modern e-commerce patterns to the game discovery experience: genre tags, smart filters, and real-time sale countdowns.

  • Banners, events, and recommendations are now arranged in a scrollable card system optimized for browsing without fatigue.

Library Page

  • Developed an in-depth game hub interface with dedicated tabs for Patch Notes, Media, Mods, Reviews, and Community updates.

  • Focused on content hierarchy and readability, ensuring players can dive into a game’s ecosystem without visual clutter.

Community Page

  • Introduced a "Quest" system that presents game-related missions, encouraging users to explore new content and events.

  • Integrated Hot Channels with real-time player activity to surface trending communities dynamically.

  • Used a vertical tab structure for fast switching between different community content types.

My Profile Page

  • Redesigned user dashboard as a personal achievement hub with speed-run records, recently played games, and progress trackers.

  • Integrated friend activity and Steam Guard features in a modular sidebar, optimizing for quick insights and security access.