The NYT Games app is debuting a new redesign to help users find games and track their progress more easily. The redesign comes nearly a year after The New York Times changed the name of its gaming-focused app from “NYT Crosswords” to “NYT Games” to better represent the company's growing family of games. It was done later. Featuring a new game card design and streamlined navigation, this redesign is the next step in the company's creation of a gaming hub.
Jennifer Scherer, director of product design at NYT Games, told TechCrunch in an interview that the company redesigned the app, which was originally just for crosswords, to turn it into a hub for all its games. Previous versions of the app were primarily designed for crosswords, but as the company added more games, the team realized the app needed to go beyond its previous design and accommodate its growing portfolio of games. I felt that there was.
The redesign aims to convey a more technologically modern and attractive atmosphere to users. Lian Chang, lead product designer at NYT Games, told TechCrunch that the redesign caters to both old and new players.
“We used a lot of color because we wanted new players to feel the breadth of all the games,” says Chan. “The brand icon is very clear and we've streamlined the typography as well. So even first-timers should be able to find the game they want to play. For those who have played a lot of our games, we've streamlined the typography as well. We wanted to make the experience more functional. Game cards on the feed help you find games that haven't been played yet.”
As soon as you start playing a new game, your progress will be reflected on your game card, making it easy to see what you've already played and how far along the puzzles you are. Chang says the redesigned game cards will motivate players to come back and finish the game. The idea behind the redesigned game cards was to not only be attractive for discovery purposes, but also functional.
The company also wanted to simplify navigation by adding all of its games, archives, and packs in one place, making it easier for users to access the games they want to play.
“What we had before was focused on crosswords, and all the other games were like horizontal scrolling,” Scherer said. “What we're trying to do is provide a list of all the games we have, not hide them, to make it a little bit easier to find new games. So with this I think there will be room to easily add games and add features to games.”
The old design of the app had five tabs at the bottom, but the redesigned version only has three. Chang says the team tested different tab counts and configurations to see what worked best. After testing various options, the team decided to streamline the app's home page by making only the “Games,” “Stats,” and “Leaderboards” tabs functional.
The redesign also features personalized greetings aimed at giving players a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The greeting changes over the course of the day, depending on factors such as whether he opens the game first thing in the morning or comes back in the evening to play some more.
Looking ahead, Chan and Scherer said the company will continue to listen to user feedback as it builds the gaming hub, noting that the redesign is just the beginning of the work the gaming team wants to do. did.