Figaro Jeux is the mobile extension of the historic French newspaper Le Figaro’s beloved puzzle section. The goal of the app was to digitize the traditional experience of playing games like crosswords, sudoku, and word puzzles—and to expand it with new, app-exclusive games like Wordl.
As UX and UI designer for the project, I was responsible for transforming a heritage print experience into a seamless, engaging, and intuitive digital product, while respecting the spirit and aesthetic of Le Figaro’s legacy.
Client
The main challenge was translating the tactile, familiar experience of newspaper puzzles into an interactive mobile format without losing the simplicity and pleasure users associated with the original medium.
There were several key UX challenges:
Adapting the complexity of paper-based games (especially crossword grids and sudoku layouts) to small mobile screens, while maintaining readability and ease of use.
Designing intuitive interactions for inputting answers, navigating puzzles, and checking solutions—all while minimizing friction and cognitive load.
Maintaining a coherent experience as new, more modern games were introduced alongside the classic ones.
The product also needed to appeal to a diverse audience, from traditional newspaper readers who might be less digitally fluent to younger users discovering the games for the first time.
To meet these challenges, I focused on building a clean, user-friendly, and responsive mobile app experience:
UX Design: I created userflows and interaction models tailored to each game type, ensuring that navigation, input, and feedback mechanisms felt natural and fluid. I paid special attention to screen ergonomics, optimizing the layout for different screen sizes and thumb zones.
UI Design: The visual style respects Le Figaro’s elegant brand identity while bringing a fresh, modern touch. I used high-contrast typography, clear visual hierarchies, and intuitive iconography to make the interface accessible and visually appealing. The games themselves were designed to be visually lightweight, keeping the focus on gameplay while avoiding visual fatigue.
Scalability: I designed the app to accommodate future games with minimal disruption, creating a modular system that could flexibly integrate new titles and gameplay modes over time.
User-Centered Iterations: Throughout the design process, I iteratively tested prototypes internally, refining interactions and layouts based on user feedback to ensure the best possible player experience.
The result is a multi-game app that successfully bridges the tradition of Le Figaro’s paper puzzles with the expectations of modern mobile users. Figaro Jeux offers a smooth, enjoyable, and faithful digital puzzle experience, preserving the charm of the originals while expanding the brand’s reach to a broader, tech-savvy audience.
This project demonstrates how thoughtful UX and UI design can breathe new life into traditional media, creating continuity between heritage and innovation in a way that feels natural and compelling.