09.24 - 12.24
ROBLOX
UI Design | Gaming Industry | Mobile/ Desktop Dashboard
Introduction
New forms of Connection and Entertainment.
Client
Roblox is a global platform with 100M+ daily active users where players explore, socialize, and create immersive experiences built by a community of independent developers. As a fast-growing, identity-driven platform, Roblox is looking for the future of gaming platforms.
My Role
Product Designer: Conducted user research to uncover gaps in the gaming platform industry, defining design criteria that shaped the design of core features and product strategy.
Impact
The hub is projected to reduce early drop-off by 20%, tracked through the percentage of new non-gamer users still active (in line with Roblox's D1/D7 and first-session retention benchmarks). It also drove a projected 12% increase in satisfaction, as the solution provided a more relevant entry point into the platform than a gameplay-first experience could offer.
Peak into the solution
Introduction
The Brief
Explore how future technologies and cultural trends could expand platform into new forms of connection and entertainment.
Objective
Ensure users feel seen, secure, and continually inspired through a digital experience that supports individual growth and interpersonal connection.
What Users Need?
Users expect platforms to support connection, identity, and meaningful interaction.
What Creators Need?
Creators rely on platforms to support growth, creativity, and community.
What Platforms Need?
Platforms must balance connection, creativity, and safety to support both users and creators.
Primary Research
Research Insights
Survey divided into 1. Games, 2. Non Gamers, both of which gave very different outlooking to the growth of the platform. Th orginial brief was to expand the user base to a wide variety of audience and this survey helped pin point that out.
250+
Survey responses.
30+
Interview Participants
Age Demographic split
Who has the responsibility for Safety Moderation?
Company
Creator
User
KEY INSIGHT
Users expect platforms to evolve with them, staying trend-relevant, while delivering personal growth, creative connection without judgment, strong moderation, and clear monetization paths (especially through video).
Reducing Churn
Outgrowing platform, social influences are main reasons for platform abandonment.
Monetization
A need for users to be able to have a clear monetization path.
Learning
Gaming platforms with real-life application of learned skills was desired.
A cultural hub
UGC platforms can serve as a bridge between the digital and real world.
Design
Concept - The Hub
Prioritize personal relevance when expanding on features and adapting with users, rather than growing for growth’s sake.
Safety should be built into the infrastructure of the design to prevent negative experiences before they happen. Let users curate their own safe spaces.
Implement growth pathways for creators in the system itself, instead of an individual feature that pushes that responsibility onto the creators themselves.
Designed features should tie back to potential for real-world meaning and growth, building skills and a sense of belonging that can exist long-term.
A fully customizable hub where users
shape their own digital identity in a single
space that grows with them personally
and professionally.
Library / Learn
A place to learn and create, directly touching on the need to grow personally, professionally.
Social / Community
Community engagement and a place of support for creators.
Games
A singular flagship game that becomes representative of the platform, along with other creator-driven games.
Marketplace
A place to sell, buy, and trade creative assets. A direct way for creators to monetize their work.
Explore
Explore the custom feed that is curated based on user interests and preferences.
Event Space
A special space for brands/ real-life events and cultural trends to connect with this digital platform.
Branding
Designed navigation for the platform to create a cohesive brand experience that guides users seamlessly from gaming to learning to monetization.
Mobile / Desktop Navigation
Designed navigation for the platform to create a cohesive brand experience that guides users seamlessly from gaming to learning to monetization.
Central Hub
Maximum Customization
This central hub instead of a regular home page will be a place where users can explore and engage with different aspects of the platform. This increased user engagement in the form of customization and personalization helps reduce the churn rate mainly for first time users.
Personalized Content Feed
Flow of potential user interests through posts, videos, art, streams, etc. There is a need to 'Explore' by Category
60%
of survey participants say current trends have an influence on what they engage with.
“I think naturally seeing more motivates you to continue.”
Different environments for different users specifically exploring VR, and immersive experiences.
These environments will help the users to create their own digital identity and connect with others.
Design
Library
Directly supports individual growth.
Tutorials, lessons and full courses on a variety of creative tools. Collaborative tutorials- learn and create with your friends. Creates new path for creators
41.2%
of non-gamers want more Education & Learning.
"Anything I can learn to help me excel or become a better designer, I’m all for it.”
Design
Market Place
Monetization and a bridge to the real world.
Buy, sell, and trade creative assets. A general hub for e-commerce. Groups and categories for interests
43.1%
Non-gamers want to make money off of their creations.
“In-game stores create a fun shopping experience, away from the stress of having to worry about real-world dollars everytime.”
Wrapping Up
Impact
Successful Proposal to ROBLOX
Presented the central hub concept to Roblox stakeholders as a unified solution to fragmented user experience. The proposal was approved to move forward into further design and prototyping, validating the hub model as a viable direction for the platform.
Reduced platform abandonment
Roblox tracks new-user drop-off primarily through D1/D7 retention and first-session retention. Because the hub gives new users an immediate, personalized space to land in (rather than a generic landing page), it's projected to improve first-session retention and reduce early abandonment, based on Roblox's own benchmark.
20%
reduced drop off of new users (non gamers specifically).
Wrapping Up
Personal Reflection
Balance buisness goals and user needs
Designing for Roblox meant constantly reminding myself that the majority of users aren't adults making informed choices, they're kids and teens still learning what boundaries and safety even look like online. It was a real lesson in designing responsibly for a user base that can't always advocate for itself.
Designing with a World Class team
Working alongside Roblox's design and product teams meant designing at a level where every decision had to hold up to platform-scale scrutiny, millions of users, zero room for assumptions. It sharpened how I collaborate, asking sharper questions earlier, and treating feedback as a shortcut to better.
Love this project as much as I do?
Shivali Meenakshi Murali © 2026