Digital Pool — Alexis Gu

01 Context

Inconsistent cards made the tournament feed chaotic and hard to use.

Digital Pool connects 18,000+ players to pool tournaments worldwide. Every card varied in layout, sizing, and structure.

Important information like prize amount, entry fee, and game type was difficult to parse quickly, creating a chaotic browsing experience at scale.

Redesigned the tournament card to be structured, scalable, and data-flexible.

I redesigned the tournament card component. I focused on clearer information hierarchy that helped users compare tournaments at a glance.

San Marcus billiards 01

December 6th 2025

Full Moon Saloon SM - San Marcos , Texas

Director: Edward Smith

8Eight Ball • Double Elimination - Race to 2

6 Players

Progress: 100%

Patrick - 1st

Rj - 2nd

John - 3rd

02 Discovery

What information matters most when pool players find tournaments?

I talked with pool players to understand how they browse tournaments.

Their feedback revealed what information mattered most. It also showed where I could simplify the existing cards to make discovery easier.

Players check the prize first to decide if a tournament is worth entering.
Players weigh the cost to enter against what they could win.
Players filter by the game they play, like 8 ball or 9 ball.

03 Iteration

Translating player feedback into a scalable design.

Each iteration revealed new tradeoffs between usability and engineering constraints. I used player feedback and technical input to refine the design.

A vertical card grouped the details, but was too tall to browse.

Swiping through 45,000+ tournaments one at a time made comparing them overwhelming.

Make key details easy to scan
Scale across 45,000+ tournaments
Keep the feed fast to render

Tournaments

Corner Pocket Classic

8 Ball | $250 added | $30 entry

Harrah's Resort
Atlantic City, NJ

October 10-15
11:00AM

Lone Star Ladies 8-Ball Championship

8 Ball | $1200 added | $40 entry

Full Moon Saloon
San Marcos, TX

September 4
11:00AM

Steel City 10-Ball Open

10 Ball | $2500 added | $100 entry

Corner Pocket
Austin, TX

September 9
11:00AM

Scotch Doubles Social

Scotch Doubles | $40 added | $20 entry

Shooter's Billiards
Fort Worth, TX

September 14
11:00AM

One Pocket Showdown

One Pocket | $800 added | $60 entry

Rack 'Em Up
Denver, CO

September 21
11:00AM

DashboardPlayersVenuesEvents

A horizontal card fit more on screen, but slowed the feed down.

Engineers flagged that blur effects to every card would slow rendering, especially for players using older devices.

Make key details easy to scan
Scale across 45,000+ tournaments
Keep the feed fast to render

Tournaments

Corner Pocket Classic

8 Ball | $30 entry | $250 added

Harrah's Resort
Atlantic City, NJ

October 10-15
11:00AM

Lone Star Ladies 8-Ball Championship

8 Ball | $40 entry | $1200 added

Full Moon Saloon
San Marcos, TX

September 4
11:00AM

Steel City 10-Ball Open

10 Ball | $100 entry | $2500 added

Corner Pocket
Austin, TX

September 9
11:00AM

Scotch Doubles Social

Scotch Doubles | $20 entry | $40 added

Shooter's Billiards
Fort Worth, TX

September 14
11:00AM

One Pocket Showdown

One Pocket | $60 entry | $800 added

Rack 'Em Up
Denver, CO

September 21
11:00AM

Midwest Masters

9 Ball | $500 entry | $25,000 added

Side Pocket
Chicago, IL

October 1
11:00AM

Thursday Night Eight

8 Ball | $10 entry | $40 added

Harrah's Resort
Atlantic City, NJ

October 10-15
11:00AM

Rack Attack Weekly

9 Ball | $20 entry | $150 added

Full Moon Saloon
San Marcos, TX

September 4
11:00AM

Corner Pocket Classic

8 Ball | $30 entry | $250 added

Harrah's Resort
Atlantic City, NJ

October 10-15
11:00AM

Lone Star Ladies 8-Ball Championship

8 Ball | $40 entry | $1200 added

Full Moon Saloon
San Marcos, TX

September 4
11:00AM

Steel City 10-Ball Open

10 Ball | $100 entry | $2500 added

Corner Pocket
Austin, TX

September 9
11:00AM

Scotch Doubles Social

Scotch Doubles | $20 entry | $40 added

Shooter's Billiards
Fort Worth, TX

September 14
11:00AM

One Pocket Showdown

One Pocket | $60 entry | $800 added

Rack 'Em Up
Denver, CO

September 21
11:00AM

Midwest Masters

9 Ball | $500 entry | $25,000 added

Side Pocket
Chicago, IL

October 1
11:00AM

Thursday Night Eight

8 Ball | $10 entry | $40 added

Harrah's Resort
Atlantic City, NJ

October 10-15
11:00AM

Rack Attack Weekly

9 Ball | $20 entry | $150 added

Full Moon Saloon
San Marcos, TX

September 4
11:00AM

DashboardPlayersVenuesEvents

Material 3's list met engineering's needs, but not players'.

In user testing, players still struggled to scan key details and hesitated before registering.

Make key details easy to scan
Scale across 45,000+ tournaments
Keep the feed fast to render

Tournaments

Corner Pocket Classic

8 Ball | $30 Entry | $250 Added

Lone Star Ladies 8-Ball Championship

8 Ball | $40 Entry | $1200 Added

Steel City 10-Ball Open

10 Ball | $100 Entry | $2500 Added

Scotch Doubles Social

Scotch Doubles | $20 Entry | $40 Added

One Pocket Showdown

One Pocket | $60 Entry | $800 Added

Midwest Masters

9 Ball | $500 Entry | $25,000 Added

Thursday Night Eight

8 Ball | $10 Entry | $40 Added

Rack Attack Weekly

9 Ball | $20 Entry | $150 Added

Corner Pocket Classic

8 Ball | $30 Entry | $250 Added

Lone Star Ladies 8-Ball Championship

8 Ball | $40 Entry | $1200 Added

Steel City 10-Ball Open

10 Ball | $100 Entry | $2500 Added

Scotch Doubles Social

Scotch Doubles | $20 Entry | $40 Added

One Pocket Showdown

One Pocket | $60 Entry | $800 Added

Midwest Masters

9 Ball | $500 Entry | $25,000 Added

Thursday Night Eight

8 Ball | $10 Entry | $40 Added

Rack Attack Weekly

9 Ball | $20 Entry | $150 Added

DashboardPlayersVenuesEvents

I walked engineers through user testing results and articulated where M3 fell short.

We aligned on a custom card that reused core M3 components. Performance preserved. Scanability improved.

Make key details easy to scan
Scale across 45,000+ tournaments
Keep the feed fast to render

04 Outcome

The redesign introduced a unified tournament card system built for long-term scale.

The final solution improved browsing clarity across 45K+ tournaments.

Even the smallest components deserve systems thinking.

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More tournaments visible in the same browsing area
0K+
Tournaments supported by a unified card system
0K+
Players who benefited from a clearer browsing experience