As the lead game designer for NBA 2K Mobile, I designed live-service systems, progression features, and player experiences for one of the most-played basketball games on mobile. As the team grew, my role expanded beyond feature ownership. I mentored designers, became the primary point of contact for our UX team, and helped raise the quality of design discussions by encouraging thoughtful critique, player-focused decision making, and healthy debate.

Tourneys

One of my largest contributions was redesigning Seasons into Tourneys, transforming the game’s primary mode into a more engaging competitive experience with clearer goals and stronger player motivation. The redesign helped grow daily active users from 350,000 to 750,000 within six months, becoming one of the most impactful features released during my time on the project.

Endorsements

I designed Endorsements, a monetization feature built around player progression rather than interruption. By integrating sponsorship opportunities into existing player goals, the feature aligned business objectives with player motivation and ultimately became the game’s highest-converting monetization feature.

Difficulty Redesign

While metrics are rewarding, the work I’m most proud of is the work that improves how a game feels to play. One example was redesigning the difficulty system to make matches feel fairer and player expectations clearer. Rather than simply adjusting challenge, the redesign focused on helping players understand why they won or lost, creating a more satisfying experience even when matches were difficult.

Leadership

As rewarding as the feature work was, what stays with me most is the impact I had on the people around me. Creating an environment where teammates felt comfortable sharing ideas, challenging assumptions, and raising the quality of design discussions became just as meaningful as shipping successful features.

Some of the peer feedback I received during my time on the project reflects that impact.

“Clay brings ideas and proposals to the table that always keep the player’s perspective at the forefront. He puts himself in the shoes of our users and clearly plays the game a ton, which gives him a perspective our team needs when we discuss live ops and design initiatives.”

“Clay’s communication skills have been exceptional, and he has been effective using design tools such as Balsamiq to boil down designs to actionable tasks.”