Product design proposal
Astro Siege, shaped into a confident mobile-first product.
Mission
Make the whole experience feel intentional
The core concept and most of the game mechanics already exist. The design opportunity is to make that depth understandable, usable and convincing without flattening what long-term strategy players value.
- Understand the game well enough to make informed decisions.First-hand play, Simon's expert context and the current Astro Siege product are used together. Research supports the work rather than becoming the work.
- Design the system before multiplying screens.Navigation, hierarchy, status, actions, data patterns and responsive behaviour need to work as one product.
- Make the important journeys genuinely mobile-first.The aim is not a compressed desktop interface. It is a web application that remains clear and fast on a phone and can later support an app.
- Validate the product as it develops.Each phase should be reviewed, tested and organised as we go, so the final product is already grounded in evidence rather than waiting for one validation pass at the end.
Workflow and cadence
From planning to a validation-ready product
The work moves through four clear phases. Each phase answers a different question, produces something tangible and includes its own validation, refinement and organised outputs.
01Planning and direction · Weeks 1–3
Build enough product understanding to decide what Astro Siege needs to become, what the beta must prove and where the design effort will create the most value.
Work involved
- Two focused days of first-hand OGame play and observation across the opening three weeks
- Audit the current Astro Siege interface, placeholder assets and existing concepts
- Map the core loops, recurring tasks, dependencies and player decision points
- Record friction for new players without losing the depth veterans expect
- Define the tester and investor story, including the role of monetisation
- Explore the first wrapper, navigation and mobile structure ideas
- Turn the findings into a prioritised design plan for the remaining phases
- Review the findings with Simon and keep the decisions and open questions organised
OutcomeA beta brief, opportunity map, flow priorities and agreed design direction.
02Experience architecture, wireframes and prototype · Weeks 4–6
Turn the plan into a clear product structure and test the important journeys before visual detail makes changes expensive.
Work involved
- Define global navigation, account and planet context, resources, queues and alerts
- Map the end-to-end journeys connecting overview, economy, galaxy, fleets and reports
- Establish page families, action hierarchy and reusable responsive layouts
- Design low-fidelity wireframes for mobile and desktop
- Cover loading, empty, unavailable, error and completion states where they change the flow
- Join representative screens into a low-fidelity prototype for review
- Validate the structure through weekly walkthroughs, revise it and document the approved behaviour
OutcomeAn approved product structure and low-fidelity prototype ready for visual design.
03Product system and high-fidelity direction · Weeks 7–10
Create the visual and interaction foundation that makes Astro Siege feel like one product and gives every later screen a consistent set of rules.
Work involved
- Develop the visual direction from low-fidelity layouts into representative high-fidelity screens
- Define colour, typography, spacing, sizing, radius, elevation and responsive tokens
- Design core components for navigation, actions, cards, tables, forms and overlays
- Create repeatable patterns for resources, queues, timers, requirements, status and alerts
- Define interaction, loading, disabled, success, warning and error states
- Apply the system to representative mobile and desktop screens to prove it works
- Review the high-fidelity direction as it develops and keep tokens, components and decisions documented
OutcomeA documented product system and an approved high-fidelity direction.
04Priority flows and full UI design · Weeks 11–16
Apply the product system in full detail to the journeys that make the beta useful, convincing and representative of the wider game.
Work involved
- Overview, global state, navigation, resources, queues, timers and alerts
- Economy, buildings, production, research, requirements and progression
- Galaxy browsing, target inspection and the route from information to action
- Fleet composition, mission setup, confirmation, movement and fleet save
- Combat and espionage reports, messages, notifications and urgent decisions
- Onboarding, early goals, recovery from mistakes and selected monetisation surfaces
- High-fidelity mobile and desktop layouts, edge states and connected prototype moments
- Validate priority journeys continuously with Simon and suitable veteran-player perspectives
- Refine weak points, join the key experience into a convincing prototype and prepare the investor walkthrough
- Keep final screens, components, tokens, behaviour notes and deferred work organised as the UI is completed
OutcomeA validated high-fidelity beta design, joined prototype, investor walkthrough and organised product system.
Working cadence. Validation is part of every phase. We have one useful review each week, likely Thursday at 4pm, with a tangible artefact, the decisions made and the next priority. Short updates and questions can happen asynchronously through WhatsApp or email at the cadence that works for Simon.
Timeline
A clear sixteen-week sequence
The timeline follows the same four phases described above. Validation and organised handoff happen throughout, while weekly reviews keep decisions moving and allow the detailed priorities to respond to what we learn.
Planning
Architecture
System
Full UI
Week 1481216
Scope and quote
Astro Siege product
£30,000
16 weeks
Phase allocation
- 01 · Planning and direction£6,000
- 02 · Architecture, wireframes and prototype£6,000
- 03 · Product system and high-fidelity direction£7,200
- 04 · Priority flows and full UI design£10,800
Billing
- Four invoices, one per four-week period£7,500 each
- First invoiceProject start
- Total design fee£30,000
Terms
- CurrencyGBP
- VATNot charged
- Motion productionSeparate
- Production art, recruitment and implementationExcluded
Project controls
Enough structure to reach the outcome
- One agreed priority at a time.The weekly review sets the next decision, while the phase plan keeps the work moving towards the complete beta.
- Representative patterns, not unnecessary duplication.Shared page families and components allow more of the game to be covered consistently within the time available.
- Scope decisions happen with evidence.Planning confirms the detailed priority flow list. If a new area enters, we agree what it replaces or quote the additional work.
- Motion follows stable interaction design.I will identify valuable moments during the work. If specialist animation is worthwhile, it is scoped only after the relevant interface is approved.