Start with a real job
Draft Companion began with a narrow question from NBA 2K MyNBA Player Lock players: how can a game on the court become a career that feels earned off it? Players can enjoy controlling one athlete while still wanting clearer progression, attributes, badges, and a story around the box score.
That gave us a product job to solve. After a game, a player can enter or import stats, earn XP based on performance, and use it to develop a character. The product sits alongside the game; it does not modify a console save. Draft Companion is fan-made and is not affiliated with NBA, NBA 2K, or 2K Games.
Make the first loop understandable
The earliest version had to answer four questions quickly: What do I do after a game? How is XP earned? What can I improve? What changes next time I play? When any of those answers was buried, more features did not make the experience feel richer. They made it harder to start.
We built the web experience and its mobile screens around that loop. The larger Pro career world adds high school, college, and NBA paths, plus off-court decisions such as endorsements and interviews. Those systems matter because they give context to the player's next game, not because a long feature list looks impressive.
Let community feedback change the work
A community can reveal where a product's language is unclear, where a rule feels unfair, and which moments players want to share. It is useful research only if the team can distinguish a loud request from a recurring problem. We looked for patterns in questions and play paths, then used those patterns to prioritize the next change.
That approach also shapes growth. A screenshot or story shared by a player can introduce the product to someone with the same specific frustration. We treat that as an opportunity to learn what resonates, not as proof that every share produced a signup or sale.
The lesson for client products
Do not start with the feature inventory. Write down the moment a user arrives for, the action they must take, and what they should understand afterward. Make that path work on a phone. Measure whether people complete it before adding another layer.
Draft Companion is an in-house product, so the consequences of unclear copy, confusing navigation, and slow iteration are ours to own. That experience makes our agency work sharper: we know what happens after the mockup is approved and real people start using the thing.
Explore the current product at 2KDraft.com.