Rachid | Product Designer

Rachid Bath

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Rachid Bath

Tournowa

Mobile App

Overview

Tournowa is a mobile platform that enables casual gamers to create and play tournaments instantly with minimal friction.

It started with a moment: a group of friends at a coffee shop, competing on mobile games for fun. When someone won, a friend said "I'd only care if real money was on the line." That one comment revealed a gap no existing platform was filling for casual players.

This project explores how I transformed that shared frustration into a scalable MVP concept for casual competitive gaming.

Timeline:

Project Type:

Tools:

1 Month

Solo Concept Project

Figma

FigJam

The Problem and opportunities

The e-sports tournament ecosystem is valued between $2B–$5B, yet most platforms still leave a massive casual gaming audience underserved.

limited game support
complex onboarding
rigid tournament structures
pre-registration requirements
scheduled tournament waiting times

limited game support
complex onboarding
rigid tournament structures
pre-registration requirements
scheduled tournament waiting times

This creates an opportunity for a faster, low-friction competitive experience tailored for casual mobile gamers.

3B+

Global gamers worldwide

85%

Casual game players

79%

Gamers play on mobile

55%

Gaming revenue from mobile

Sources:

(Statista, NewZoo, inStreamly)

The key insight wasn't about improving how players browse tournaments, it was about letting them create one.

Shifting the entry point from discovery to creation reduced friction and put the player in control from the first tap.

The Design Solution and impact

Tournowa is a mobile platform that enables players to create and play tournaments instantly in their preferred games.

Choose a game
Set an entry fee
Invite and/or auto-match players
Compete instantly

Choose a game
Set an entry fee
Invite and/or auto-match players
Compete instantly

Designed to simplify competitive gaming for casual mobile players through a fast and accessible tournament model.

The Model

Select game & Config

→

Invite Friends

And / Or

Match Players

→

Play ,Win & Get Paid

This simplified flow helps reduce onboarding friction while enabling faster competitive experiences for casual gamers.

5 min tournament entry flow
Instant tournament generation through dynamic player pooling
Reduced dependency on scheduled tournaments
Scalable commission-based revenue opportunities from entry fees

5 min tournament entry flow
Instant tournament generation through dynamic player pooling
Reduced dependency on scheduled tournaments
Scalable commission-based revenue opportunities from entry fees

The Design Process

Every screen traces back to a research insight.

I used a shared frustration among friends as a starting point. To shape the experience, I conducted desk research and user interviews, then synthesized the findings into personas, journey maps, sitemap, and user flows to design a seamless tournament experience.

Research Insights

Recurring patterns revealed that players wanted faster setup, simpler flows, and instant competitive access.

If I could set it up fast, invite friends, and start immediately. No waiting.

Karim

i would say clear option to join a tournament, and it only took a few taps.

Zainab

a way that gives me exactly what iam looking for like the game the amount of money and players

Youssef

Smooth UX, fair matchmaking, and decent prizes. That’s it.

Karim

Simple setup, fair matchmaking, and being able to play without stress.

Zainab

High-skill players, no lag, smooth UI, and real stakes.

Youssef

Persona

A casual competitive gamer seeking quick, low-friction tournament experiences.

Karim

Age:

18-27

Employment:

Part time job

Marital Status:

Single

Karim

Age:

18-27

Employment:

Part time job

Marital Status:

Single

Values:

Playing with friends

relaxation, Fun, Simple Games, & real Money rewards

Challenges:

Overwhelmed by the complexity when trying to join a tournament

Skeptical of real-money apps

Overwhelmed by the complexity when trying to join a tournament

Skeptical of real-money apps

Needs and wants:

Simple, intuitive tournament setup

Ability to join solo without friends

Clear and minimal effort to get started

Real rewards (e.g., mobile credit, gift cards, Money )

Simple, intuitive tournament setup

Ability to join solo without friends

Clear and minimal effort to get started

Real rewards (e.g., mobile credit, gift cards, Money )

Tools:

Mobile phone,

WhatsApp ,Discord, Facebook Groups

Mobile phone,

WhatsApp ,Discord, Facebook Groups

Sitemap

I simplified the platform architecture to prioritize speed, accessibility, and fast tournament creation.

UserFlow

The flow was designed to minimize friction from tournament setup to gameplay.

Ideation & wireframing

After validating the problem space and defining the MVP's Information Architecture through a sitemap and user flows, it was time to move into ideation. Wireframes helped transform early ideas into tangible concepts and establish the foundation for the final user experience.

Key Product Decisions

Friend Invites

Research revealed that many users preferred playing tournaments with their existing friend groups in a fast and organized environment.

This led to prioritizing seamless friend invites as a core tournament entry method.

If I could set it up fast, invite friends, and start immediately. No waiting.

Karim

Select the game, set the entry fee, see prize info, invite friends

Zainab

Key Product Decisions

Auto-Matchmaking

Some users preferred joining tournaments solo, without relying on friends being available.

To support accessibility and reduce participation friction, an auto-matchmaking system was introduced to dynamically fill tournament slots with compatible players.

I don’t want to depend on friends being available. cause i dont have many

Youssef

Final Design

The following flows represent the core interactions that shape the Tournowa experience.

Throughout the design process, I focused on simplifying the experience for casual and non-competitive players through intuitive and low-friction interactions.

Game account connecting

Connecting a game account takes one step, unlocking tournament access and syncing player stats automatically

Setup Tournament Flow

3 focused steps to go from considering a tournament to actually playing the tournament, with no complexity.

Product & Technical Considerations

While designing Tournowa, I explored operational and technical constraints around game integrations and tournament validation systems.

The concept assumes official partnerships and APIs for supported games whenever possible. For unsupported games, I designed community fallbacks allowing users to manually add games and coordinate via in-app tournament group sessions.

Key operational mechanics mapped out:

Queue Liquidity: Constrained MVP configurations (1v1, single-elimination) to ensure rapid matchmaking.

The 10-Min Rule: Automated countdown timers to prevent lobby stalling and drive user urgency.
Result Verification: Screenshot/recording submission flows to handle dispute resolution.
Trust & Fairness: Anti-cheat considerations, secure entry-fee escrow, and age-verification loops.

Queue Liquidity: Constrained MVP configurations (1v1, single-elimination) to ensure rapid matchmaking.

The 10-Min Rule: Automated countdown timers to prevent lobby stalling and drive user urgency.
Result Verification: Screenshot/recording submission flows to handle dispute resolution.
Trust & Fairness: Anti-cheat considerations, secure entry-fee escrow, and age-verification loops.

Lessons Learned

Reframing the entry point from joining to creating was the single decision that unlocked the rest of the design, sometimes the right solution means questioning the starting assumption entirely.