Unblocking Horizon Worlds by Restoring Reliable Navigation
Role: Product Design Lead | Company: Meta | Timeline: 3 Weeks | Teams: Social, Server, Instancing
Problem
Party travel in Horizon Worlds was failing 75% of the time, blocking playtests and stalling development. There was no system or UX documentation in place, so the system lacked clear flows and ownership.
Key Outcomes
99.75% success rate in party navigation (up from 25%)
3-week delivery after 3 months of stalled attempts
200 people-days per week in development velocity recovered
First UX documentation and system diagrams for world navigation
System still in use as Horizon’s standard navigation flow
Impact
I established the first end-to-end navigation UX for Horizon Worlds, creating flows and system diagrams that didn’t exist. With that foundation, I led a cross-team redesign that unblocked development, feature testing and reset the company’s navigation strategy.
Context & Challenge
Party travel was failing 75% of the time, blocking playtests and stalling dev
Over 200 people-days per week lost in wasted effort
No documentation or shared system understanding
Unresolved for 3+ months despite multiple attempts
Strategic Question
How do we restore reliable navigation while setting up multiple teams to successfully collaborate on shared systems going forward?
Key Insights
Reconstructed undocumented flows across UX, server, matchmaking, instancing
Discovered conflicting assumptions across 4 teams
Analyzed internal playtests and user reports to define what “reliable navigation” should feel like
Benchmarked party systems in other platforms to guide design patterns
Updated Strategy
Create the first documented navigation UX and flows
Align 4 teams around a shared model
Redesign party travel to feel intentional, reliable, and transparent
Ship fast under platform constraints to unblock testing
Execution
Defined requirements: shared intent, equal control, fast shipping
Introduced the Ephemeral Party Leader, a novel rotating role with no hierarchy
Explored UI delivery surfaces: inline UI, interactive toasts, modals
Designed and iterated directly in build with engineers and PMs
Prototyped and validated the new system in 3 weeks
Reflection
Navigation had been treated as “it just works,” with no UX ownership or documentation. By establishing the first system-wide navigation framework and aligning multiple teams, we not only solved the immediate failures but also created a foundation for consistent cross-team collaboration going forward.