Even small visual updates can make a big difference.

Note: This case study is adapted from a talk presented at the Game UX Summit 2025 in Antwerp, Belgium, co-delivered with my fellow designer, Mihyun Ko.

Role
Senior Product Designer

Team 
Designer - Mihyun Ko 
Product Owner - Lea Lüttgens
Developer - Christian Sebra, Xia Yu "Shirley" Feng, Jia Xun "Frost" He, Ulf Persson, Mohamad Rahal
Quality Assurance - Olena Illienko, Andrii Romanenko, Oleksii Okhonko  
User Researcher - Natali Rein
UX Writer - Myriam Forbes

Timeline
2024

Platform
Web

Ubisoft Playlist is an employee benefit program that gives access to Ubisoft games through the Ubisoft Connect PC client. ​

To sign up, employees visit a dedicated page and use their private Ubisoft account. ​
​
Sounds simple, but even this straightforward flow caused unexpected issues.​

Hidden Traps in the Flow

We discovered hidden traps that were causing pain points for three key internal groups: the Tech-Ops team, new Ubisoft employees, and the development team.

High Support Load

In 2024, our Tech-Ops team received approximately 140 support tickets until the website revamp in late October 2024.

59 of them — over 40% — were related to account revocation.​

And 40 of those — nearly 70% — happened because users signed up with their company email(e.g., ubisoft.com, massive.se).​

This is crucial because they could no longer access their Ubisoft account with their company email after leaving Ubisoft.​

User Confusion

This high number of tickets revealed a deeper issue: new Ubisoft employees were confused when linking their accounts, because...

• No clear instructions on which Ubisoft account to use
  
  
• Login screen opened in a pop-up window
  
  
• External login options (e.g., PlayStation Network, Xbox, Facebook, Twitch) made users get lost, because our desktop client didn't support external login options yet
  
  
• Many users forgot which Ubisoft account was used for the sign-up. However, the Playlist website didn't show any information after the sign-up

Development Constraints

Our dev team also faced pain points, mainly from existing limitations:

• Legacy design & code: Difficult to maintain and update the product due to the outdated structure
  
  
• Login dependencies: We had limited customization availability on web authentication setup because other teams were handling the tech of it
  
  
• Backend limitations: Dependencies on other teams, and they also showed some concerns about ownership logic, revocation risks, performance, etc

My Approach

Since a complete system overhaul wasn't feasible, primarily due to the existing dependencies above, I focused on small and smart improvements that could still deliver meaningful results.

My approach included:

• Exploratory research
• Clarifying account guidance
• Simplifying the login experience
• Providing instant feedback
• Improving visual design
• Validating with users

Exploratory Research

I re-walked through the existing sign-up flow with fellow design & research teammates to feel the confusion firsthand. 

I also had interviews with our Tech-Ops team to get an understanding of the support tickets and recurring issues.

Clarifying Account Guidance

Our research indicated that improving the text and providing clear account instructions would be key to resolving the primary issues.

I've started rewriting the text used on the sign-up page in general, especially regarding which Ubisoft account to use for the sign-up.

Simplifying The Login Experience

The dev team and I agreed to disable the confusing external login options and replace the pop-up window with an iframe instead. 

Providing Instant Feedback

As a long-awaited improvement, we have finally added a section that shows which Ubisoft account is currently linked to the Ubisoft Playlist program, providing users with instant confirmation.

Improving Visual Design

I also gave the website a visual refresh using our new internal design system library, Online Services Tooling Development Platform(OSTDP).

Using the existing design system library made the product much easier to maintain and update, potentially.​ 

Validating with Users

The final critical step was to validate the changes with real users.

I interviewed a few new employees who joined Ubisoft Montreal around 1~3 months ago, got insightful feedback on the old sign-up page, and the new sign-up page prototypes.

Tangible Impact

All our focused efforts brought clear and positive results, impacting all three key groups I mentioned earlier.

Tech-Ops Team

• Support tickets dropped by nearly 50% (138 to 70)
  
• Revocation-related tickets were cut by more than 50% (59 to 27), especially those caused by sign-ups with company emails (40 to 17)
  

New Ubisoft Employees

• Enhanced user experience – they find it easy to use, and the process is reliable.​

Developers

• Modernized, maintainable website using Ubisoft Online Services' latest design system library 

Small Changes, Measurable Impact

Faced with legacy code and technical dependencies, a complete system overhaul was not feasible. Instead, I adopted a strategy of targeted micro-improvements — focusing on clearer UX copy writing, intant feedback, and leveraging our new internal design system library.

This approach proved that solving UX 'hidden traps' doesn't always require a massive rebuild. The resulting 50% reduction in support tickets demonstrates a direct link between design clarity and operational efficiency, turning a source of internal friction into a seamless experience for both employees and the Tech-Ops team.

© Daekeon Kim 2026