Initial research was conducted with the user needs in mind. Essentially the idea of the app was "Netflix for gamers". As such, I started by looking at Netflix's UI and model. Netflix was a great example of UI/UX done well, because it has a very streamlined flow of content delivery, a good library of content, and has really dialed into the user needs (searching, streaming, skipping pesky intros, and suggestions for new content).
Essentially this exercise would be taking a proven business model, and tailoring it more towards a specific audience. After some initial user-research, and surveying friends who were into gaming, I compiled the typical user's desires into a list.

• The ability to play games (duh)
• A wide library of games, preferably from multiple consoles and PC
• Good graphics
• No lag
• Ability to play from any device
• Ability to play online with friends
• Good suggestions for new games and low price
• Cloud saving and/or autosaving
• A slick, simple UI

A lot of these requirements were more business or development-related, but I like to consider everything when creating UI elements, even down to the overall product strategy.

After conducting research around the product concept, I set out to create the main UI.The interface was heavily inspired by Netflix but with a few key differences. I tried a light and dark version of the site, but the dark version looked much better. It also fit our target demographic better since so many gaming and development applications have successfully used dark themes. In order to differentiate the site from Netflix, I used a dark grey instead of a pure black. I also chose to use a rainbow gradient look to keep a unified feel to the site, even though it would showcase a wide variety of games with a wide variety of art styles.

Finally I decided to prototype the banner and game carousels as an exercise in HTML CSS. It was a fun challenge which proved to not be too difficult. I have included the Codepen links here: