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lnsmith

Fab by Epic Games

Creating a Cross-Platform Marketplace for 3D Creators

Services

UX Strategy, Product Design, User Research, Design Systems, UI Design

Tools

Figma, Maze, Mural, Jira, FigJam, Confluence, and more.

Platform

Unreal Engine Plugin & Web Marketplace

View the live site

View the live site

Fab by Epic Games

Creating a Cross-Platform Marketplace for 3D Creators

Services

UX Strategy, Product Design, User Research, Design Systems, UI Design

Tools

Figma, Maze, Mural, Jira, FigJam, Confluence, and more.

Platform

Unreal Engine Plugin & Web Marketplace

View the live site

Project Overview

Epic Games set out to launch Fab, a new digital asset marketplace unifying Quixel, Sketchfab, ArtStation, and Unreal Engine Marketplace into a single platform for 3D creators. The goal: deliver a fast, intuitive, and scalable experience across both the Unreal Engine plugin and a responsive web platform—all within a 3-month MVP timeline.

As Product & UX Design Consultant, I led design from strategy through implementation—translating complex workflows and metadata into a cohesive, user-centered experience for global creators.

My Role

Title: UX & Product Design Consultant
Platform: Unreal Engine Plugin + Web Marketplace
Teams: USA, France, Brazil
Reporting To: Epic Games Product & Design Leadership, WWT Leadership

Key Responsibilities

  • Defined UX strategy and IA across plugin and web

  • Designed core features: product detail pages, search, filters, navigation, asset cards, admin tools

  • Co-developed a unified design system with Epic’s Paris team

  • Facilitated weekly sessions with engineers, PMs, and architects across 3 time zones

  • Supported alpha testing, localization, and QA for edge cases

Challenges & Constraints

  • Compressed Timeline: MVP delivered in under 90 days; full project spanned ~2 years

  • Platform Consolidation: Merged 4 distinct ecosystems with unique taxonomies and flows

  • Dual-Platform Design: Created responsive, modular layouts for both web and plugin—including dynamic resizing within the Unreal editor

  • Backend Limitations: Built flexible IA, filtering, and tagging logic to accommodate immature infrastructure

Key Audiences

  • Indie Developers: Solo creators with varied pipelines and tools

  • AAA Studios: Teams with high standards for compatibility, licensing, and quality control

  • 3D Artists: Creators looking to showcase and monetize assets

  • Plugin Users: Developers working directly within Unreal Engine seeking in-editor purchasing

Research & Discovery

We kicked off with a structured discovery phase to align user needs with platform and business goals. Our approach combined qualitative research, prototype testing, and competitive analysis.

Maze Testing: Navigation & IA:
Remote Maze tests validated early IA concepts, revealing friction points in navigation and discoverability across plugin and web contexts.


Buyer Interviews: Evaluation Behavior:
In-depth interviews with asset buyers from AAA and mid-size studios shaped our approach to product detail pages—highlighting the importance of metadata like license type, polygon count, versioning, and engine compatibility.

Seller Interviews: Marketplace Expectations:
We spoke with active sellers across platforms (Unreal, Etsy, Redbubble, Spotify, Airbnb) to understand:

  • Which content and metrics drive conversions

  • What creators expect from seller dashboards

  • Where other platforms fall short on transparency and control

Competitive Audit
We benchmarked UX best practices across top marketplaces, influencing our architecture for filtering, metadata, seller tools, and backend requirements.


Design Process

Discovery & Strategy:

  • Conducted competitive audits to identify gaps and patterns

  • Led journey mapping workshops to define plugin vs. web-specific workflows

  • Created personas and use cases from stakeholder and user interviews

  • Aligned on business goals, technical feasibility, and feature prioritization





    UX & UI Design:

  • Created wireframes and task flows for asset discovery, evaluation, and management

  • Built responsive, high-fidelity Figma prototypes for plugin and web

  • Unified asset metadata display for clarity and consistency

  • Designed modular filtering and tagging systems adaptable to evolving backend

  • Co-created a cross-platform design system with Epic’s internal team

Cross-Functional Collaboration

  • Partnered daily with engineering to validate feasibility and align on data models

  • Presented design milestones and strategy to Epic Games’ C-Suite

  • Iterated designs based on stakeholder feedback and QA insights

  • Delivered detailed specs to streamline development and visual QA


Methodologies

  • User-Centered Design: Research-driven, iterative, and grounded in real workflows

  • Design Thinking: Navigated ambiguity with rapid prototyping and testing

  • Agile Collaboration: Worked in sprints across global teams

  • Information Architecture: Structured scalable navigation and filtering

  • Journey Mapping & Flow Design: Defined core user tasks across plugin and web

  • QA & Handoff: Ensured implementation accuracy and design integrity

Outcomes & Impact

Delivered a successful cross-platform alpha launch in under 90 days

  • Unified product vision across plugin and web experiences

  • Established a flexible foundation for future asset types and feature growth

  • Informed long-term roadmap through scalable design patterns and research insights

This project exemplified how thoughtful UX can drive product clarity and momentum—balancing speed with strategy to shape not just the interface, but the future of the platform.