Solving Rec Room’s Content Shortage
Role: Lead Designer | Company: Rec Room | Timeline: 4 Months | Team: 8 Engineers
Problem
Rec Room’s content pipeline was bottlenecked. First-party projects took 6-9 months, creator tools were inefficient and the company lacked long term tooling strategy.
Impact
I set the strategy for Rec Room’s 80-person creator org, prioritizing pro teams to solve a content shortage. To execute that strategy, I led the design of a PC-native creation toolset that accelerated workflows and shortened project timelines.
Key Outcomes
150% faster creation workflows (menu interactions reduced from 75% → 25%)
30% shorter project timelines (6 → 4 months)
Full adoption by internal teams in 2 weeks
Creator segmentation model established, adopted company-wide
In-app survey tool launched, now the primary channel for creator feedback
Context & Challenge
75% of player time was spent in first-party showcase rooms — highlighting a content supply gap.
Internal teams faced 6–9 month timelines per project, creating bottlenecks.
Creator org lacked structured feedback — relied on Discord, which was biased.
Tools were built for VR then awkwardly ported to PC, leaving advanced creators inefficient.
Strategic Question
Should Rec Room prioritize end-user creators or focus on internal pro teams to solve the supply issue fastest while setting up for long-term success?
Key Insights
Ecosystem mapping showed ~50 successful creators — far too few for 8–10M MAU
90% of engaged creators used VR, but internal teams all built on PC
In-app surveys (3 months of data) confirmed: pros wanted efficiency/precision, while most others found tools confusing and hard to learn
Updated Strategy
Tailor creation tools to each platform’s strengths
Start with PC-native workflows to meet internal needs and prove the model
Shift philosophy from beginner-first to pro-first, creating tools that serve experts while still providing a foundation to onboard new creators
Execution
Partnered with 8 engineers to ship directly in-engine
Designed and implemented 40+ features in 4 months
Created lightweight feature specs to give engineers a starting point, then rapidly iterated in-engine together
Ran weekly feedback sessions with internal content teams to validate changes and keep workflows aligned with real creator needs
Smart connector for Rec Room’s visual scripting system, enabling faster, context-aware logic setup.
Always-on UI with drag-and-drop object placement.
2D panel for fast object selection and organization.
Clickable bar with keyboard shortcuts for quick access.
Improved cursor with fast, intuitive multi-object selection.
Reflection
Rec Room’s beginner-first approach led to tools that were as complex as pro software but misaligned with proven workflows
The result was friction for both new users and pros
By shifting to pro-first design, we solved immediate content needs while building a foundation that makes it easier to onboard and grow new creators