ROLE

Principal UX Design Director

RESPONSIBILITIES

I led UX for our Redmond-based Mojang team, managing up to 17 artists and designers, aligning our design vision with business strategy and directing the UI/UX team for Web, Launcher, Marketplace, Accounts, among other Minecraft experiences, delivering innovative and whimsical experiences for all Minecraft fans.

OUTCOMES

  • Minecraft.net is the gateway to all things Minecraft. I led our UX of the product and fully staffed the creative team, working with our Lead Designer, PMs, and Engineers on a complete redesign, resulting in improved navigation, deeper scroll depth, and increased click-throughs, improving conversion.

  • PC Java players have the choice to use any Launcher app to play Minecraft. I led UX and fully staffed the creative team, spearheading the design direction with the hypothesis of bringing in-game elements into the experience that eventually more than doubled player engagement and drove significant revenue.

  • The Minecraft Marketplace is our e-commerce store for persona items, texture packs, creator content, and more. I directed UX of the product, staffed the creative team, and led the design direction that supported the UX and rhythm of releases. During my time, we shipped Marketplace Pass and Add-ons, which boosted engagement and led to a significant revenue bump.

  • I led UX, staffed the creative team, and led the direction for the player Account sign-in and sign-up experience, working cross-company to better infuse the Minecraft brand and focus on value propositions, both in-game and on the web, increasing Microsoft sign-ups and sign-ins.

“How might we best infuse our out-of-game experiences with the whimsical soul of Minecraft?”

— Insight from our Creative Process Research Phase

CASE STUDY - PC LAUNCHER APP

Doubling Player Engagement

TEAM

Creative Director - Michael Harnisch

Lead Designer - Will Krause

Artist - Richard Worley

PM Lead - David Siegel

Engineering Lead - Mason McCuskey

Product Owner - Gama Aguilar-Gamez

  • Increase functionality and engagement across all titles, as well as game sales sold directly through the Launcher.

  • Brainstorm opportunities for more impactful usability as well as inject Minecraft lore throughout the Launcher experience, deepening the relationship between the player, the Minecraft brand, and the Launcher.

  • I led the Creative Process across the team, leading to a roadmap that included the Quick Play Bar, richer Marketplace brand presence, whimsical "events" with viral potential that lean on Minecraft lore, and a Legends game launch experience that helped drive pre-order sales.

  • During my time as Launcher Creative Director, we had several highlights, including:

    • 2X engagement of non-Java players

    • Score rating improvement from 3.6 to 4.4 out of 5.

    • Increased Marketplace click-throughs that impacted revenue

Upon joining Mojang, I immediately led the Creative Process with the entire Launcher team as well as key stakeholders across Mojang. I spearheaded the entire process, from Research to Ideation to Prototyping and Execution, crafting the filters that prioritized and defined the roadmap. I worked directly with the Product Owner to author an updated vision statement that guided our investments as well as accelerate alignment with Mojang leadership.

Inspired by our "Reduce Time to Fun" insight, the introduction of the Quick Play Bar gave Java and Bedrock players a more direct path to their latest saved games, limiting clicks, and getting them back into their worlds.

The feature was an immediate hit (high engagement metrics and usability scores) and provided another reason for players to use our Mojang Launcher versus third-party versions, connecting us more deeply with our user base.

With the updated vision statement as our guide, we rallied our roadmap around Reducing Time to Fun (FAST), Promoting a Personalized Feeling (PERSONALIZED), and Expanding Access to All Things Minecraft (ACCESS). Over the next year, we shipped several game-changing features for the Launcher that resulted in doubled engagement and substantial revenue growth through the Launcher, where we previously relied on Web, causing unnecessary friction for players.

In 2023, we selected April Fools Day as a strategic day to create a viral “moment” for the Launcher by setting it on fire. Setting fire to a player’s house is a notorious way to “grief” others in Minecraft vanilla.

The reception was overwhelmingly positive, with the biggest sales bump since the previous holiday season. Engagement numbers spiked significantly as well with positive reaction on social media driving even more players to check out the Launcher. Additional stats:

+50% daily logins

9x average app clacks

For the long-awaited launch of Minecraft Legends, we authored interactive experiences where the in-game characters “escaped” in to the Launcher and altered the UI. We did for each phase of the release, with increased click-throughs to the Legends PDP (compared to the Web) and higher conversation rates. The community response was overwhelmingly positive and contributed to the higher Launcher store ratings.

“I can’t explain the explosion of purchases aside from the unexpected delight of the April Fools experience.”

— Gama Aguilar-Gamez, Launcher Product Owner, on the sales impact of the Aprils Fools “Launcher on Fire” event

CASE STUDY - WEB

Scrolling with Purpose

TEAM

Creative Director - Michael Harnisch

Product Designer - Connor Burtis

Animator - Peter Sheff

PM - Dev Hazarika

Engineer - Justin Watkins

Product Owner - Saher Hirji

Agency - Edelman

  • Increase traffic to our Minecraft PDP (Product Description Page) and purchase conversion by immediately expressing the essence of Minecraft, emotionally connecting current and future players to the brand they know and love.

  • Build a hero image that echoes the “random seed” worlds of Minecraft, with varying mobs, biomes, and times of day, sparking curiosity for visitors to "dig deeper.

  • Connor Burtis created an agile pipeline that allowed for quick and scalable exporting of the assets required to achieve the random magic of the game. Mobs were created as separate elements, allowing them to be procedurally placed, with an unpredictability core to the soul of the brand. The layered effect also afforded easy flora swap as well as time-of-day changes.

  • +11% increase in scroll depth

    +18% lift to PDP traffic

    +5.2M projected yearly revenue

Upon arrival to the Minecraft page, the user is immediately greeted with a 5-layered macro-view of a Minecraft world, complete with animated mobs and either a day or night scene, depending on the timezone.

It was clear from the user-generated heat map that site visitors were delighted by the animated pig and chicken.

The new hero image was 3x the length of the previous key art which sparked concerns of "below the fold” scrolling behavior.

Surprisingly, the longer image actually increased scroll depth considerably, with an additional 11% of users getting the very bottom of the page, highlighting the value of engaging content.

The click-through to “Get Minecraft” increased by 18%, leading an annual projected revenue bump of $5.2M.

LEARNINGS

Brand Authenticity is Key to Player Engagement

Visitors come to Minecraft.net to handle transactions, stay updated, manage games, and engage with the unique Minecraft brand. The updated look and feel brings the brand's personality to life, boosting connection and reminding them why they love Minecraft.

Curiosity Builds Momentum Towards Deeper Discovery

In bringing an atmosphere of life and exploration to the Vanilla PMP with the Parallax Hero, we saw visitors exploring much deeper while also lifting traffic to the PDP and maintaining conversion rates, defying conventional wisdom.

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Dynamics 365