←Showcase / 2020 – 2022 Live

PopFlash

Match hosting for competitive Counter-Strike, redesigned across the platform.

Problem: A match hosting platform with over a million players was in the middle of a full redesign.
My role: UI and UX across the whole platform and public site, working directly with the owner, who built it.
Result: Shipped across the platform, which is still live. Players said the redesign was easier to find their way around.

FIG. 1The scrim lobby. Two teams, settings, chat and the waiting room on one screen, because a lobby is a waiting room.

Role: Every page, component, icon, and the visual identity, working directly with the owner, who built it.
Team: The owner (PopFlash is a one-person company) and me
When: 2020 – 2022
Contract
Built with: Figma, Design system
Links: Website

01Context

PopFlash lets Counter-Strike players host their own matches on dedicated servers and invite friends with a link. It’s a one-person company: the owner has built and run it since 2015, and wants it to be the simplest way to host a match, calm and fast, with no gambling ads and no skins.

He was working on a full redesign when he brought me in for the UI and UX. I designed the new interface across the whole platform and worked through each flow with him, from starting a scrim to the match page afterward.

“I believe products should be calm and treat their users with respect.”
The owner, on popflash.site

02The flow

Effortless match hosting for Counter-Strike.

Only the host needs a subscription. Everyone else gets a link, signs in with Steam, and lands in the lobby. That flow already existed when I joined. My part was redesigning the experience around it: the lobby layout, how teams get made, and the path from the link to the server.

TRY IT · YOU'RE THE HOST, EGG

Share the linkNine friends click it.
They're inSteam login. Zero sign-ups.
Make teamsScramble, or pick as captain.
LaunchThe lobby becomes the match.

03Details

The lobby changes mode, not page.

Captain picks and map vetoes happen inside the lobby, as overlays on the rosters everyone is already watching. Nobody loses their place, and nobody reloads.

Captain picking and map veto overlays on top of the scrim lobby.

FIG. 2Captain picks and map veto, drawn over the lobby.

The match summary.

When a match ends, the match page becomes a summary of the whole game: the final score, the round-by-round history, and a full stat table for every player on both teams. It’s the screen players come back to after a scrim to see who played well.

Match page with the final score, round history, and detailed stat tables for both teams.

FIG. 3The match page after the game: score, round history, and stats for both teams.

One system across the whole platform.

Buttons, badges, inputs, rosters and chat all come from one component set, with contrast checked across the palette. Every page on the platform, from the lobby to the stat tables, is built from those same pieces.

PopFlash component library: rosters, stats tables, chat, settings, and a color palette with contrast ratings.

FIG. 4The component set and palette, with contrast ratings.

04The website

Along with the scrim lobby, I designed the entire platform and site: the landing page for new players, the signed-in home with news and recent matches, pricing, the blog, team pages, and player profiles.

The PopFlash website: landing page, signed-in home, and the long marketing page.

FIG. 5The public site, from the landing page to the full marketing page.

PopFlash pricing page with free, Supporter, Team/Streamer, and Community plans.

FIG. 6Pricing. Playing is free; the plans are for hosting.

FIG. 7Player profiles, with rating history and recent matches.

05What happened

1M+

players on the platform

servers around the world

Still live

at popflash.site

Players told us the new design was easier to find their way around. The redesign rolled out while the community kept playing. The owner has kept iterating since my contract ended, so these screens show the work as I delivered it.

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