Mate Gudelj

1. Introduction: The Vision for RGH

The goal for Retro Gaming Hub was to create a dedicated home for the classic gaming community. It was designed from the ground up to be a modern, feature-rich platform where the passion for retro games could thrive. The core mission is stated on the homepage:

"Rediscover the Classics. Preserve history.

Welcome to Retro Gaming Hub, the ultimate hub for enthusiasts of pixel-perfect classics and timeless gameplay. Whether you're here to discuss legendary strategies, trade rare cartridges in our marketplace, or stay up-to-date with the latest news and mods, you've found your community."

To achieve this, the project focused on a sleek "Midnight Console" dark theme, creating an immersive experience that feels both nostalgic and professional, making the vibrant art of classic games the star of the show.

2. Initial plans

The initial plan was to create a much more “rigid”, curated site with a bunch of options, categories, subsections etc.

Mid-fidelity prototype

Due to the requirements and the mission to “preserve history”, a solution like that was never going to work, and is not scalable. Of course, the landing page prototype was also quickly written off in favour of a more modern, dark theme. (perfect when browsing in a dark room, as all gamers do)

First landing page

3. Designing for the Community: User-Centric Features

Since the idea of the site changed so much, so did the personas. Instead of guessing what users might want, the design was guided by these three new core personas, each representing a key part of the community and directly influencing the features we built.

• Chloe – The Collector (32): Chloe's primary goal is to find specific items for her collection. She needs a marketplace that is powerful but not overwhelming. This persona directly led to the creation of the tag-based marketplace. The ability to filter by tags like "nintendo-64" or "cib" and sort by price is designed for her.
• Leo – The Social Gamer (25): Leo wants to share opinions and feel like part of an active community. He is used to modern social media, where feedback is instant. This inspired the implementation of an Optimistic UI for the "Like" and "Bookmark" buttons. When Leo clicks, the UI updates instantly, before the server confirms the action, making the site feel incredibly fast and responsive.
• Sam – The Newcomer (19): Sam is new to retro gaming and wants to learn. He needs a welcoming place to find high-quality information. This persona guided the design of the Contentful-powered blog, ensuring it could handle rich content like embedded videos and images for detailed guides, like the "PS3 YLOD fix" tutorial.

4. The Technical Architecture: