Squads
Turning groups into a community that keeps playing
Playo already had Groups, but they were primarily a way to keep players together. The experience had limited information and no proper way to see what was happening next.
We rethought Groups as Squads: a richer social space where players could understand the community, discover upcoming games, communicate and keep playing together.
The game was happening. The community wasn't.
Playo's Groups helped players come together, but they didn't give the community much context. There was no proper way to understand what the group was about, discover upcoming games or stay connected between activities.
Players could join the group. But they couldn't easily understand who the community was, what was happening next or how the group connected to their play.
What would make someone come back to their community even when they weren't playing?
Before we redesigned Groups, I sat with hosts to hear how they actually run community games, and which features they were asking for.
Jijo Mathew on running community games
A call to understand how hosts organise games, what they need from Groups, and which features would actually get used.
The original Groups experience — limited context, no sense of community identity
From Groups to Squads
The goal wasn't to create another social feature. It was to make the existing community behaviour more meaningful.
Drag to compare — from a passive group chat to an active community space
Giving every Squad a face
A community starts with knowing what it is. We added a description, display picture and richer member context so players could understand what a Squad was about before joining.
Squad profile — description, display picture, and member context give the community a face
Making what's next easier to find
Previously, players had no dedicated place to understand what was happening inside a Group. The new Squad calendar brings upcoming games into one place, making it easier for members to see what's coming up and decide when they want to play.
Squad calendar — upcoming games in one glanceable view
Connecting Squads to actual games
The squad shouldn't exist separately from the game. When creating an activity, hosts can now tag it to a squad. Members can then discover the game through their community and join it directly.
Squad → Activity → Members → Play
This created a clearer connection between the people, the community and the activity.
Activity creation — tagging a squad connects the game to the community
Keeping the community alive between games
The relationship shouldn't end when the game does. Squad Chat gives members a space to coordinate, talk about upcoming games and stay connected between activities.
The game creates the connection. The community keeps it going.
Squad Chat — the community stays connected between games
The behaviour started showing up
The redesigned experience wasn't just about creating Squads. We wanted to see whether people were actually using them as part of their play.
When players talk about finding their people
The strongest sign of a community experience is what happens outside the product. Social posts and messages from players show how people describe finding a regular group, meeting new players and finally having a community to play with.
A community becomes valuable when there is a reason to come back
Players were already forming groups. We didn't need to invent a new behaviour. We needed to make the existing one more useful.