Background

As part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to become a global esports hub, the Saudi Esports Federation launched Gamers8, a 60-day mega event hosted at Riyadh’s Boulevard Stadium.

After a successful first season, the event scaled up with a $45 million prize pool and expanded to include concerts, cultural showcases, and family entertainment, aiming to attract both local communities and international visitors.

However, the existing website provided only limited venue and esports details, failing to reflect the event’s scale, energy, and diversity. With hundreds of events planned across multiple zones, the Federation needed a fully redesigned platform that could help users explore the festival, plan their visit, and experience Gamers8 as the world-class destination it had become.

My Role



Led UX for this fast-paced 4-month project, driving end-to-end experience strategy—from stakeholder workshops and user interviews to design execution and testing. I collaborated with two visual designers on creative direction and worked alongside a usability expert to validate key flows.

Problem

Tackling a domain like esports, which was new to our team, required upfront preparation through secondary research. We studied global and Saudi-specific esports audiences to understand their behaviors, preferences, and expectations.

Building on that foundation, we conducted an intensive one-week research sprint to move quickly and avoid repeating Season 1’s shortcomings. This included a field visit to Riyadh, walkthroughs of event venues, in-depth interviews with users and stakeholders, website analytics review, and an analysis of local demographics.

This led us to uncover four key challenges:

1. Lack of Language Support for Local Majority

Despite positioning Gamers8 as a global event, 95% of attendees were local Saudi residents, and 70% preferred browsing in Arabic. The website was English-only, creating a language barrier that excluded a significant portion of its primary audience and impacted overall engagement.

2. Misalignment Between Esports Aesthetics and Cultural Norms

Esports is visually bold and high-energy, often using intense content and edgy themes. These clashed with Saudi Arabia’s conservative cultural expectations, creating a risk of alienating local audiences if not carefully balanced.

3. Overwhelming Volume of Events Without Clear Navigation

With hundreds of events happening weekly across various zones, users—especially first-time visitors—struggled to understand what was happening, when, and where. There was no easy way to identify events relevant to their interests or plan their time effectively.

4. Limited Appeal and Guidance for International Visitors

Although globally promoted, Gamers8 saw low international turnout in Season 1. For many tourists, the event lacked broader travel context and felt disconnected from the overall Saudi experience. The absence of trip-planning support further discouraged international participation.

Solution



1. Full Bilingual Experience with Local Context

We implemented seamless support for both Arabic (RTL) and English (LTR), with mirrored layouts, fully localized content, and intuitive language switching. The design and content structure were carefully tested to ensure clarity, consistency, and cultural resonance across both languages.

2. Visual Language that Balances Esports Energy and Cultural Sensitivity

We developed a design system that preserved the energy and boldness of esports while aligning with Saudi Arabia’s cultural values. This included moderated use of color and animation, respectful imagery, and a tone that felt both vibrant and inclusive for a broad public audience.

3. Personalized Event Discovery and Planning Tools

We introduced intelligent filtering options, interest-based categories, and a personalized event planner. Visitors could now explore events by type (e.g., gaming, family, music), save favorites, build custom schedules, and get real-time updates—all designed to reduce overwhelm and improve wayfinding.

4. Integrated Travel Guide for International Visitors

To increase global participation, we added a dedicated travel section featuring visa information, nearby attractions, hotel and transport options, and suggested itineraries. The platform positioned Gamers8 not just as an event, but as part of a larger travel experience—appealing to new visitors and tourists already in Saudi Arabia.

Understanding eSports Gamers

To gain insights into our users, we began by conducting secondary research to understand gamers both globally and in Middle Eastern countries, focusing on their preferences, attitudes and behaviours.

Insights from secondary research

• Around 70% of Arabic-speaking users in the Middle East prefer browsing websites in Arabic, so the website must support both Arabic and English languages.

• With English being a left-to-right (LTR) language and Arabic a right-to-left (RTL) language, the design must accommodate both layouts seamlessly.

• Since 70–80% of web traffic in the Middle East comes from mobile devices, the website should prioritize a mobile-first design strategy.

• Users in the region equally use high-end and low-end smartphones, so layouts and interactions should be optimized for a wide range of devices.

• Avoid inappropriate imagery, such as depictions of alcohol, revealing clothing, or non-halal food, to ensure cultural appropriateness.

Competitor UX Benchmarking

As part of our UX benchmarking analysis, we evaluated competitors such as ESL Gaming, DreamHack, and Riot Games, focusing on key aspects like navigation, design, ticketing, schedules, user engagement, media integration, and accessibility.

Observations from UX Benchmarking

• Dynamic Visuals & Gaming Aesthetic: eSports websites use high-energy, immersive visuals with bold, dark themes, neon accents, and gaming-related imagery to create an engaging atmosphere.

• Real-Time Updates: All competitors provide live scores, event streams, countdowns, and real-time updates to keep users engaged during events.

• Interactive Features: Few competitor websites incorporated live chats, live streaming, scoreboards, and tournament brackets to foster active user participation.

• Ticketing & Merchandising: eSports competitors highlight ticketing systems and exclusive merchandise, often offering event-specific bundles and gaming-related products.

• Multi-Language Support: Competitors in Middle East, such as those based in Dubai, offer their websites in both English and Arabic to cater to the diverse regional audience and enhance accessibility.

• Community Focus: eSports competitors emphasize community engagement through forums, social media integrations, and user-generated content, such as fan voting and content sharing.

  
  

UX Benchmarking of Popular Saudi Websites with Arabic (RTL) and English (LTR) Support

To ensure the website supports both English and Arabic, we first studied the mental models of Arabic users and their typical interactions with bilingual websites. We benchmarked dozens of the most popular websites in Middle Eastern countries, particularly in Saudi Arabia, to gain insights.

Observations from Popular Saudi Websites

• Most websites default to Arabic, with an option for users to switch to English.

• Layouts on websites are mirrored from left-to-right (LTR) to right-to-left (RTL), although certain elements like numbers, dates, separators, and some graphic elements should not be mirrored.

• English content follows LTR alignment, while Arabic content aligns RTL.

• Italics are rarely used in Arabic, and there are fewer font weight variations compared to English.

• In LTR layouts, the focus is typically on the top-left corner, while RTL layouts emphasize the top-right.

On-Site Research: Boulevard Stadium Visit

Our on-site visit to Boulevard Stadium in Riyadh was invaluable in understanding the environment and how Gamers8’s offline facilities are designed to enhance the visitor experience. This understanding is crucial for developing a website that not only complements these facilities but also empowers visitors by providing essential information and effective wayfinding. By bridging the gap between digital and on-ground experiences, the website can serve as a seamless guide, ensuring attendees can fully navigate and engage with all that Gamers8 has to offer.

Observations from Onsite visit

• The stadium’s vast size, resembling a small city, with multiple venues and hundreds of events on the same day, makes wayfinding for specific events challenging for visitors.

• Locating essential facilities like washrooms, help desks, and prayer halls can be difficult due to a lack of clear signage in many areas.

• Timings for open events, such as light shows and fountain displays, may be missed by users as announcements may not reach attendees inside the venues.

• Mobility vehicles for commuting between venues are available at specific spots, but these may be hard for visitors to notice.

• Popular events are clustered in one corner of the stadium, which may cause a concentration of the audience in that area, potentially limiting exploration of lesser-known events in other parts of the venue. Efforts should be made to encourage visitors to explore these areas.

Framing and Shaping

The homepage of the Gamers8 website is designed to immerse users in the vibrant world of esports, featuring bold visuals, neon highlights, and dynamic layouts that reflect the energy of gaming. It supports seamless bilingual functionality, with an intuitive toggle between Arabic (RTL) and English (LTR) languages. Key sections include real-time event updates, ticket booking, live streams, and schedules, ensuring users can easily access the most relevant information. The homepage serves as a gateway to everything Gamers8 offers, catering to both local and international audiences.

The Gamers8 website is designed with a mobile-first approach, ensuring optimal performance and usability across devices, from high-end to low-end smartphones. Layouts adapt seamlessly to different screen sizes, maintaining clarity and functionality on both mobile and desktop. This responsiveness guarantees a consistent and engaging experience for all users, regardless of their device.

The esports page of the Gamers8 website is designed to centralize all tournament information in a dynamic and user-friendly way. It features an interactive match schedule with live countdowns, real-time updates, and seamless ticket booking options. Users can access live streaming links directly from the page, ensuring they don’t miss any action. Detailed team and player profiles highlight stats, achievements, and rosters to deepen engagement. The page is fully responsive, offering a consistent and engaging experience across all devices.

The Arabic version of the Gamers8 website is designed with a right-to-left (RTL) layout, ensuring seamless navigation and usability for Arabic-speaking users. Content is fully localized, including text, imagery, and labels, to resonate with the cultural and linguistic preferences of the target audience. Numbers, dates, and non-language-specific elements retain their standard formats to ensure clarity and consistency. The design prioritizes mobile accessibility, reflecting the high percentage of regional users accessing the site via smartphones. An intuitive language toggle allows users to switch effortlessly between Arabic and English, maintaining a cohesive experience across both versions.

Impact

• Unique Visitors increased from 1.8 million to 3 million (60% increase)

• Page Views grew from 4 million to 6.5 million (62.5% increase)

• Average Time on Site improved from 3 minutes to 5 minutes (66.7% increase)

• Bounce Rate decreased from 45% to 30% (33.3% decrease)

• Conversion Rate (Visitors to Buyers) rose from 2% to 4.5% (125% increase)

Role

I was the lead UX designer on this project, responsible for research, strategy, and overall execution, with support from two visual designers who assisted with visuals and ideation.

Skills Acquired

• Conducted user research to inform design decisions based on user needs and behaviors.

• Gained experience in creating bilingual interfaces for English and Arabic, ensuring accessibility.

• Developed the ability to balance dynam