Steam App Redesign
Role
User Researcher, UX Designer
Duration
Jan - July 2026
Tools
Figma, Premiere Pro, Photoshop
Role
User Researcher, UX Designer
Duration
Jan - July 2026
Tools
Figma, Premiere Pro, Photoshop
Steam is one of the largest PC video game distributors, with over 123,000 games and 132 million active monthly users. Users can read reviews, connect with others, manage and play games, as well as use the Storefront to purchase titles. As part of my Google UX Design Certificate course, I chose to redesign the Steam app as I wanted my first UX project to be a product I was familiar with but that would also challenge me. Having heard fellow gamers express frustrations with the steam app, I wanted to explore how users more broadly felt about it and how their overall experience could be improved.
The Problem
The Steam app lacks a feature for users to socially connect with fellow gamers, and its overwhelming UI makes it difficult to navigate the Storefront.
The Solution
Redesign the Steam app so users can easily browse the store and find games more tailored to their preferences, while also introducing a chat feature so users can connect with fellow gamers without needing to download a separate app. This will improve how gamers search for and share games by reducing the time spent browsing and creating a more positive app experience, one where users feel part of a community.
Effectiveness will be measured by asking users how likely they are to continue using the app, comparing their responses to the original design against the new design.
Research
My research started with gathering user reviews of the Steam app from the App Store to see what current users had to say about their experiences.
The most common problems I found were the lack of a chat feature, a difficult-to-navigate Storefront, and the overall design of the app.
I went on to download the Steam app to dive deeper into what it had to offer in terms of features, visual design and navigation, and how these compared to its competitors' gaming apps. Steam's top competitors are the Epic Games Store, which offers a competing digital storefront, free PC games, and exclusive titles, and GOG (Good Old Games), which offers a wider selection of offline and retro titles. As neither competitor has a dedicated app, I decided to also focus on indirect competitors such as PlayStation and Xbox.
Steam
Strengths
Weaknesses
GOG
Strengths
Weaknesses
Epic Games Store
Strengths
Weaknesses
PlayStation
Strengths
Weaknesses
Xbox
Strengths
Weaknesses
Competitve Audit
Across all five platforms reviewed, Steam has the most room for improvement when it comes to visual design. The inconsistent UI, busy layout, and the unconventional "?" profile icon all contribute to a less intuitive experience compared to its competitors. GOG leads the way in terms of design consistency, with a well-organised interface and clear separation between the store and the rest of the site, while Epic Games Store and PlayStation Store both demonstrate that a clean, concise storefront can significantly improve browsing. In terms of features, GOG, PlayStation, and Xbox all offer stronger community-focused functionality. PlayStation and Xbox stand out with features like party chats, voice notes, media sharing, and cross-platform connectivity which give users meaningful ways to interact without leaving the app. Steam's lack of a built-in chat feature is a notable gap, especially given that users are required to download a separate app just to communicate with friends. One area where Steam does hold a genuine advantage is its community forum, which enables interaction on a much wider scale than any of its competitors. However, it would be nice if it was prominently featured on the home page, rather than being hidden and difficult to find. Both indirect competitors and Steam include a reward system in their apps which I found very valuable as it encourages ongoing engagement and gives users a reason to return. Xbox's AI gaming copilot and accessibility filtering are also worth noting as forward-thinking features that no other competitor currently matches, and with Steam having 123,000+ games, making content easier to find is an essential.
Empathise
I then conducted five in-person user interviews where in which participants used the app as first-time users, sharing their first impressions and thoughts by answering a series of questions. Through the interviews I was also able to uncover three main pain points.
Interview Goals
Pain Points
4/5 participants look for a gaming app that's easy to navigate and that introduces them to new games
3/5 participants liked the news feature and the ability to follow and keep up to date with their favourite games
1/5 participants would continue using the app
5/5 participants found it difficult to navigate the Storefront
5/5 participants wished the app had a chat feature
Using one of the interviews [transcript] , I was able to build an empathy map to summarise how a participant felt, what they thought, and what they had to say about their experiences as a first-time Steam app user.
With guidance from the user interviews and empathy map, I came up with two user personas.
User Persona 1:
The gamer who values community and connection
User Persona 2:
The gamer who values simplicity and efficiency
UX deliverable
Goal: To quickly find and purchase a game tailored to their tastes while connecting and chatting with fellow gamers in one place.
| Stage 1 — Discover | Stage 2 — Research | Stage 3 — Decide & Purchase | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actions |
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| Thoughts | "I wonder what my friends have been playing lately." "There are too many games here. Where do I even start?" |
"I don't want to read 50 reviews to make my mind up." "I want to hear from real players, not just the marketing." |
"Finally — that took longer than I wanted, but I'm there." "Glad checkout is quick at least." |
| Feelings | 😩 Overwhelmed — frustrated almost immediately. The homepage feels noisy. | ⏳ Impatient — time-pressured. Wishes the verdict was clearer immediately. | 😌 Relieved — reassured by the simple checkout, but conscious they spent more time than hoped. |
| Pain points |
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| Opportunities |
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Define
After empathising with users and identifying potential pain points, I moved into the define phase, where I asked myself two key questions:
To determine which needs were the most important to address, I put myself in the shoes of my two user personas to identify each one’s main pain point. Our first user, Sam, is a video game streamer who values community and needs a gaming app where he can connect with others and share similar interests. The community section of the Steam app is difficult to find and navigate, making it overwhelming to locate the right community. Additionally, the absence of a chat feature means users must download a separate app to connect with others, adding extra steps that may discourage some users from trying altogether. Natalie, our second user persona, is a gaming enthusiast with a busy schedule who needs an app that’s simple to use and tailored to her preferences, so she can easily find games she would enjoy without spending a long time browsing. The current Steam storefront design is cluttered with information that many users may not need, making the process of finding a specific game or genre more time-consuming than it should be. So, how might we solve these problems?
To understand how my design could address these needs and create value for users, I conducted a usability test with the same five participants, giving them four tasks to complete. I wanted to observe how each participant approached navigating the app, particularly the Storefront, when given a specific goal.
2/5 participants didn’t realise that they were already on the app’s store page. When searching for the most popular game, they had to scroll quite a bit to find it, and once they did, participants noted confusion around which list represented the most popular games, as they were several options including “New and Trending”, “Top Sellers” and “Popular Upcoming”. Participants had no difficulty adding the game to their cart but expressed a preference for the ‘Add to Cart’ button to be positioned near the top of the page, rather than having to scroll down to find it.
All the participants were able to find the action category without difficulty by selecting ‘Category’ from the home menu. However, none of them realised that the action category was also accessible from the store home page by scrolling down.
Participants had no difficulty finding their chosen category but felt overwhelmed by the volume of text displayed.
3/5 participants suggested it would be helpful if each genre had an accompanying icon.
Participants began by searching “community” or “NBA” in the search bar before requiring guidance to locate the community section. Once they found a community, they were hesitant to select ‘Follow’, as it was unclear whether that was the correct way to join.
All participants agreed that there should be a dedicated community tab, and that having the section buried away from the bottom menu makes it feel disconnected from the rest of the app.
After reviewing the usability test findings, the main navigation issue identified was the overwhelming amount of unnecessary text, which caused confusion when users were trying to locate a specific feature, call to action, or piece of information.
A more organised app with a clear visual hierarchy would reduce confusion, improve overall user experience, and create a smoother user flow.
Ideate
With the most important user problems defined, I moved into the ideation stage, using the Design Sprint method Crazy Eights to sketch out potential design directions for the app.
Using Figma, I created lo-fi wireframes exploring new layouts, with a focus on the Storefront, Community section, and a new chat feature.
I experimented with different designs and colour schemes to find what best addressed the problems I was trying to solve. Ultimately, I decided to retain Steam's original colour scheme so the redesign wouldn't feel too disconnected from what users already know. From there, I focused on consolidating content into a much simpler, cleaner form, reducing the confusion and overwhelm that the original navigation tends to create.
Prototype
Test
Once the design was finalised, I carried out a final round of usability testing with the same five participants, asking them to test the new design and share their thoughts. The most common piece of feedback was that the redesigned Community section felt significantly easier to navigate and created a much stronger sense of community.
All five participants said they would likely continue using the app with the new design over the original.
This project was one I really enjoyed, even as someone already familiar with Steam. That said, it came with its own challenges, particularly during the define and ideate stages, where I had to be selective about which user problems to prioritise and then communicate the solutions to those problems clearly through design. It was a valuable reminder of how important it is to choose the right research methods to effectively uncover the answers you're looking for, and just how much of an impact visual hierarchy can have on a user's overall experience.
If I were to develop the app further, I'd look at evolving the "For You" section to incorporate a social dimension, for example, a personalised carousel showing what friends are currently playing. I'd also explore adding a quick overview score to each game to help users make faster decisions, as well as a side-by-side comparison feature for saved games.