Case study
Yard: a COVID-necessitated poker app for friends
- Product design
- Go
During the COVID-19 lockdowns, weekly poker nights with friends moved online. The experience was always clunky: a combination of a dated online poker platform and a separate Zoom call running in the background. It felt disconnected and lacked the seamless social interaction of a real poker game.
This pain point sparked led me towards an idea for a new product. A modern, integrated poker application that combined clean gameplay with native video chat, creating a single, elegant environment for a more streamlined virtual game of cards.
Design, branding and backend
I approached this as a full-stack personal project, tackling the user experience from the visual design right down to the core game logic.
The first step was to solve the core user experience problem. I designed several generations of high-fidelity mockups, focusing on a clean, intuitive interface that put social interaction at the forefront. The designs integrated player video feeds directly into the table, creating a more personal and engaging atmosphere than the existing solutions.
To give the app a unique identity, I designed a complete, custom deck of playing cards and brand assets. This was an exercise in creating a cohesive and visually appealing aesthetic that felt modern and distinct from the generic look of many online poker platforms.
With the design established, I built the backend engine in Go. This engine was the functional heart of the game, responsible for managing the entire game state: shuffling and dealing cards, handling player actions like bets and folds, and determining the winner of each hand.
Proof of concept
The project resulted in a fully designed user experience, a unique brand identity, and a functional backend engine capable of running a complete poker game.
As lockdowns lifted and regular life resumed, the personal need that sparked the project naturally dissolved. The project therefore served its purpose as a deep dive into game development and user experience design, successfully proving the concept of a more integrated and modern poker app. It stands as a strong demonstration of my skills in UI/UX design, branding, and backend engineering with Go.