Arcanix - Mark Pickering: Remote freelance design

Building a brand and launching a LiveOps planning tool.

PROBLEM

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Objective: Transform a concept into a fully functional, market-ready product within a tight timeframe.

Brand Creation: Designed the logo based on stakeholder requirements, incorporating an infinity element, but kept a backup version based on my own design instincts.

UX Process: With zero gaming industry experience, I collaborated with stakeholders to create personas and define user needs.

Constraints: Due to time limitations, building a bespoke design system was not feasible.

MY DESIGN SOLUTION

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Timeline-Centric UX: I structured the app experience around a timeline, aligning with its end-date-focused planning model, differentiating it from competitors like Monday.com.

AI-Driven Visuals: With limited budget for site illustrations, I incorporated AI-generated imagery – a fitting choice as the product itself uses AI to predict favorable KPIs and optimise promotions within a LiveOps environment.

OUTCOME

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Successfully launched v1.0 to market within the funding window.

Designed the complete UX flow and screens for v0.2, laying the foundation for future iterations.

Developed nested components and expanded the design system, enhancing scalability and consistency.

When investor feedback rejected the original logo, the backup version was used, proving the value of design foresight.

Key Takeaway: This project showcases my ability to adapt quickly to new industries, make strategic design decisions under time constraints and deliver a polished, scalable product that met both stakeholder and market demands.

SERVICE

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Product design

HD prototype

User interface

Artistic direction

A/B testing

Analyse the competition: Trello, Monday.com and other relevant platforms to identify flow comparisons with Arcanix. User personas helped to organise information into distinct groupings to conduct a gap analysis. This process enabled us to identify missing features, refine the product definition and develop unique terminology for events and epics within the platform.

Activity template flow: Using previously created templates or allowing the creation of new ones formed the backbone of Arcanix. Each template requires approval from authorisers before being added to the timeline. Authorisers can waive, escalate or approve any template. All alerts and updates are accessible through the history, ensuring a clear audit trail. Tags can be applied to templates, forming the core structure, with dependencies (predecessor or successor) creating visible links on the timeline.

As the product uses ai measured kpis as indicators for templates it only seemed fitting to use this technology in the creation of the site visuals. My concept was to based it on a high tech interconnected network; using organic matter (think web/mycelium) linked with the aid of technology. Using a mix of Adobe firefly and mid journey and incorporating the brand colours.

The design system leveraged MD3 as a baseline due to its familiar composition and scalability, streamlining the development process.

The following features were released in version 0.1: the Activity and the Deliverable screens – both essential epics in the core user flow. These screens form the foundation of interaction within Arcanix, enabling users to track, manage and take action on key tasks and events.

Version 0.2 introduces key updates including the ability to waive, approve, and escalate events, along with integrated notifications and real-time updates. New features such as the Risk Register and Issue Log provide deeper oversight and traceability. Additionally, the platform now supports mitigated vs. unmitigated timelines, allowing users to compare outcomes and access associated data for more informed decision-making.