PEAK6 / Poker Power

First-week retention, tripled.

I rebuilt navigation and designed a guided first game, so new members learn poker by playing a real hand, not reading about it.

Sequence of Poker Power first-game screens, each with a short coaching callout over a live table

How it moved the business

What I shipped

  • Guided first game17 steps, about three minutes, played against bots.
  • Play and Learn navigationEach mode got its own clear home.
  • Core gameplayRedesigned for contrast and less friction.
  • Teacher controlsPrototyped for instructors running live games.

What I changed at Poker Power

  • One design system and brand across the app, membership, website and live events
  • Shared design principles that made three pods' work feel like one product
  • A foundation every new membership feature could build on

Team results from product analytics. As the sole designer across three pods, I owned navigation, gameplay and the first game with product and engineering.

The problem

A live table is intimidating.

Poker Power teaches women confidence and risk-taking through poker. Most new members have never played, and the app mixed playing and learning in a way that confused them.

The key decision

How to teach a first game.

Option A

Explain the rules

Anyone can read how to play poker online.

Option B

Drop them into a game

Bots alone don't teach, and real people intimidate.

Option C · Chosen

A guided experience

A real game against bots, with hints right where the action happens.

Why

It felt like a live game without the pressure. Big ideas got overlays, small ones got tooltips pointing at exactly what they teach.

It took less engineering, but my PM mapped every hand with a poker instructor. Game starts rose 86% and first-game completion 82%.

Also shipped

The work, up close.

Redesigned poker table screens with high-contrast cards, player chips and clear Raise, Call and Fold buttons
Core gameplay, redesigned for contrast and less friction.
Poker Power app screens showing separate Play and Learn areas with lessons and game setup
Play and Learn, each with a clear home.
Teacher controls: instructors run the game without covering the table.

More from the project

A few more screens.

Poker Power premium membership screens: plan comparison, checkout, membership details and cancellation
01The 0-to-1 membership: plans, checkout, management and cancellation.
Poker Power lesson screens organized by level, with live and private lessons and a schedule
02New lessons and learning modules, from beginner to advanced.
Poker Power home screens with a Today list of tasks and upcoming lessons
03Daily tasks on the home screen.
Poker Power sign-up flow: account creation, code entry, poker name and notification permissions
04Sign-up and setup.
Feedback prompts asking whether the first-game walkthrough helped
05Feedback prompts after the first-game walkthrough.
Poker Power marketing website pages
06The redesigned marketing website.
Poker Power website homepage with a video and skill tags
07Website homepage.
Poker Power for Teams page with a contact form for corporate workshops
08Poker Power for Teams.

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