EventLink Manual Pairing

Reducing friction in live tournament management through intuitive pairing tools.

Wizards of the Coast

Oct 2023 - June 2024

UXR
UX
tl;dr
I led UX design for the Manual Pairing feature in Wizards of the Coast’s EventLink platform, solving a long-standing pain point for Tournament Organizers. Partnering with a Subject Matter Expert, I mapped task flows, prototyped interactions, and delivered high-fidelity mockups focused on clarity and ease of use. We validated the design through in-store testing at three game stores. After launch, support tickets dropped by 43% and satisfaction rose 5 points to 86%.

Situation

EventLink is Wizards of the Coast's official web-based tournament management system for Magic: The Gathering. Local game stores (LGS) use it to streamline the process of organizing, running, and reporting events. EventLink is also paired with the Magic the Gathering Companion app that allows players in LGS's to self report wins and losses during events. Reviewing feedback from Local Game Stores and online sentiment from players, we discovered that we were missing a pairing editing feature. What we learned was that

  1. Human error and player misreports happen
  2. There was no way to add late arrivals
  3. Player Experience needs to be more flexible for causal players
  4. We needed to give Local Game Stores the power to allow for fun

Local Game Stores had no way to resolve late arrivals or player misreports because all results were final, often forcing staff to give upset players free Magic cards or other product at the store's expense. Stores also couldn’t add fun or flexibility to events, like kid-only tables or avoiding frequent rematches. They needed real-time control to better support their player communities.

Task

"Design a flexible yet rules-compliant system that allows tournament organizers to manually adjust match pairings and correct scoring errors in Wizards EventLink, addressing real-world edge cases like late entries, incorrect results, and interpersonal player dynamics, all without compromising event flow or competitive integrity."

Actions

Feedback Collection

We collected and analyzed feedback from a range of channels: support emails, online help forums, in-person conversations at conventions, and structured player surveys. This multi-source approach helped us validate recurring pain points, uncover edge cases, and better understand where the experience was breaking down. The variety and consistency of feedback made it clear the problem was systemic, not isolated, and gave us a strong foundation to determine the need for a manual pairing feature.

Subject Matter Expert Interview & Task Flow

Due to the project's high priority and tight timeline, we opted to work directly with a resident Subject Matter Expert (SME) instead of conducting time-intensive interviews or focus groups with Tournament Organizers. The SME provided critical insight into how local game stores managed player frustrations caused by the lack of manual pairing by offering free card packs or simply stating there was nothing they could do. These issues typically stemmed from small errors like misreporting or players missing the start time.

Working closely with the SME, I mapped out an ideal task flow that addressed these scenarios and captured what a streamlined manual pairing experience should look like.

Competitive Review

I conducted a competitive review of Melee, our primary competitor and the software Wizards already used for large-scale professional tournaments. This review was prompted by insights from our Subject Matter Expert and focused on how Melee handled real-time pairing edits during events. I documented the process through screenshots and step-by-step observations.

Wireframes and Prototype

To keep on schedule, I rapidly built wireframes and an interactive prototype to test key functionality. My focus areas included:

After building the wireframe prototype, I held a quick approval session with my SME and Product Manager before moving onto mockups.

High Fidelity Mockups and Critique

I advanced to high-fidelity mockups, adding key UI elements to reflect real-world scenarios and improve usability.

Enhancements included:

Usability Testing

To validate the Manual Pairing experience in real-world settings, I ran in-person usability tests at three local game stores — two in Seattle, WA, and one in Washington, DC — chosen to represent a mix of store sizes and workflows.

I created the testing framework, including:
For each session, Tournament Organizers (TOs) selected 2–3 players to intentionally misreport match results. Once the next round began, the TO used Manual Pairing to resolve the issue, simulating a common event-day scenario.
The feature was tested 18 times across the three stores. Afterwards, I led semi-structured interviews with TOs, who consistently described the tool as intuitive, fast, and a meaningful improvement over prior workarounds.
This testing confirmed the feature’s effectiveness in live environments, with zero need for onboarding or documentation.

Results

Manual Pairings launched in March 2024 as part of a broader initiative to improve EventLink usability for tournament organizers. Despite a tight timeline, the feature was well adopted and contributed to measurable improvements across user satisfaction, support ticket volume, and overall sentiment, all tracked through June 2024.

  • User satisfaction increased from 81% to 86%
  • Sentiment score improved from 3.5/5 in 2022 to 4.3/5 post launch, with Manual Pairings frequently cited as a contributing factor
  • Zendesk support tickets dropped 43% (from 9.9 to 5.6 per week) immediately after launch
  • Compared to early 2023’s average of 14.2 tickets per week, this reflects a 61% overall reduction
  • The feature announcement received 102 positive reactions on Facebook — the most engagement seen on any EventLink-related post to date

These outcomes validated our design decisions and confirmed that even a focused, time-boxed solution could significantly improve both user satisfaction and support burden. It also reinforced the value of collaborating directly with subject matter experts to move quickly without sacrificing user-centered thinking.

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shauntesmi@gmail.com
206-714-9617
Greater Seattle Area