Emudeck

Emudeck / 2024

Redesigning a cross-platform gaming emulation tool to elevate visuals and enhance usability.

Side project

Product

The opportunity

I started delving into gaming emulation by the end of 2023. One of the main products for that is EmuDeck, a tool that help users setting up emulation applications on their devices. In May 2024, they opened a contest to the community to help them redesign their logo. In the last day of the contest, I took my saturday afternoon to explore some branding work for EmuDeck and submitted my application to them, including some studies of how the brand could be applied to their application and website.

I began exploring gaming emulation in late 2023 and quickly discovered EmuDeck, a tool that helps users set up emulation applications on their devices. In May 2024, EmuDeck announced a community contest to redesign their logo. On the final day of the contest, I spent a Saturday afternoon working on branding concepts for EmuDeck and submitted my entry, which included ideas for how the brand could be applied across their application and website.

First of four proposed alternatives

Second of four proposed alternatives

The project

After a few days, the EmuDeck team reached out to me communicating that my submission was one of the finalist, but they choose to go with other logo option. However, they were interesed in my interface explorations and invited my to help them to rethink their applicaiton interface. EmuDeck is a cross-platform tool, with users mainly on Linux, but with a version for Windows and versions in the works for Android and MacOS.

A few days later, the EmuDeck team informed me that my submission was a finalist, although they ultimately chose a different logo. However, they were impressed by my interface explorations and invited me to help rethink their application’s interface. EmuDeck is a cross-platform tool with a primary user base on Linux, as well as versions for Windows and upcoming releases for Android and macOS.

Challenges

We had a few limitations and requirements. First, we should focus on improving the app interface without making major updates to the flows, in order to keep the scope of the initial redesign reduced and allow for a smoother transition. We should also support light and dark modes, and experiment with keyboard navigation.

The project had several limitations and requirements. We needed to enhance the app’s interface without making significant changes to the existing flows to keep the scope of the redesign manageable and ensure a smooth transition. Additionally, the redesign had to support both light and dark modes and incorporate keyboard navigation.

Keyboard navigation explorations

Results

With a few weeks of work, I designed most of the key pages and setup guidelines. The development of the work is still in progress and should be released in a few moths.

Within a few weeks, I successfully designed most of the key pages and established guidelines to assist with the technical implementation. The implementation is currently underway and is expected to be released in a few months.