Netflix is expanding the way members play games, bringing cloud gaming experiences to the TV and turning the mobile phone into a connected controller. The Netflix Games Controller app bridges these experiences, creating new opportunities for players to connect, interact, and play together.
My role was to help shape the visual and UI foundation for this next chapter of Netflix Games across three key areas:
Audit the existing UI and visual language to identify opportunities for greater consistency, clarity, and cohesion.
Design a UI system for social experiences within the Netflix Games Controller app, supporting new multiplayer and platform-level features.
Establish a Games-specific branch of Hawkins, Netflix’s design system, adapting its foundations to the unique needs of gaming.
Role: Senior Product Designer - Visual & Design Systems
Product Design: Alex Genette, Lil Chen, Rowland Brown, Hawke Bassignani, Hannah Mei, Shea Hawton, Ryan Casey
Content Design: Shae Ryan
Design Systems: Miranda Bouck
Design Management: Christy Schaefer
Engineering: Garrett Heinlen, Olivier Poitrey, Ying-Chun Wang, Dorde Ristic, Cassidy Hsieh, Jared Haren, Anwar Karam
Product Management: Edith Chao
Design Leadership: Dave Schlafman
Plus many more talented folks across the Netflix organization that made this project possible.
The controller app introduced a new layer to the Netflix gaming experience, bringing social interactions and platform features directly to the devices players already use to play. The Platform XD team built social features that support multiplayer experiences and friending, creating new ways for players to connect and interact beyond the game itself.
A key challenge was integrating these experiences into an interface primarily designed for gameplay. I helped establish a lightweight UI overlay that could surface social functionality without overwhelming the controller or interrupting the play experience.
By bringing controls and supporting interactions from the TV to the mobile device, the app created a more flexible foundation for social gaming—one that keeps the primary gameplay experience front and center.
To support this new product surface, I audited and refined existing UI styles, identifying opportunities to simplify patterns, improve consistency, and create a more cohesive visual language for Netflix Games.
Working within Netflix’s Hawkins design system, I helped establish a dedicated branch, tailored to the needs of gaming. This meant unifying existing foundations with the visual language that evolved with new NGC features, and codifying them into a practical, reusable system that could support the controller app, the games platform, and the designers and engineers working to develop them.
The result was a more focused design system for Netflix Games: one that builds on Netflix’s established design language while making room for the distinct interaction patterns, social features, and visual needs of gaming.
More coming soon!
This work is in active development, with additional phases releasing in 2027.
