The Opportunity

Club Penguin Island was an open sandbox game that allowed for exploration and discovery in it’s game design. Unfortunately, data was telling us that many of our key features and events were not meeting the engagement levels we were expecting.

The Solution

Launch a daily/weekly suggestion engine, the Club Penguin Island Live, and the Launch Pad cellphone app feature to enhance and personalize the Club Penguin Island experience every day.

Role

UI/UX team manager and lead designer

feature

Island Live was a live in-game feed on Club Penguin Island that served as a hub for various content, creating a direct communication channel with players. The system allowed over-the-air updates, enabling the development team to quickly respond to in-game trends and real-world events.

Key Features

Direct Communication: A central platform for updates, announcements, and narratives, keeping players connected to the evolving game world.
Dynamic Content: Supported the "living world" concept by providing timely, relevant content.
Versatile Narratives: Consolidated multiple storylines and updates into a single, easy-to-navigate feed.
Efficient Updates: Reskinnable widgets streamlined the process of updating assets for feature launches and events, making updates efficient for the development team.

Access

Players accessed Island Live via the penguin phone, landing at the top of the feed. Navigation options included:

Exiting via the “X” button in the top right.
"Read More" buttons for posts with extended content, expanding to full-screen views.
Articles were sorted by the most recent, with “pinned” posts prioritized for critical updates.
Posts automatically expired or were removed based on preset dates, and players couldn’t delete posts.

Notifications

For Online Players: A banner notified players of new articles in real-time, followed by a breadcrumb on the penguin phone for easy access.
For Offline Players: The breadcrumb appeared when they logged in, but no banner was shown.
New articles featured a “New” banner within the feed, which was removed after the newsfeed was reloaded.

Island Live created a streamlined, engaging way to keep players informed, connected, and immersed in the game’s world.

Daily Challenges Widget

Displayed the current set of Daily Challenges. Completing all five challenges for the day rewarded players with a bonus of 50 coins, encouraging consistent engagement and progression.

CONCEPT 1 - Hide/reveal DAILY CHALLENGES

Infinite scroll is used to display content widgets

CP News, Settings and future apps will be accessed from the bottom apps hud
Apps hud may be collapsed by tapping the down arrow button
Daily challenges will be collapsed to one. User will tap between "See all" and "Less" to toggle between the full list
Countdown timers are used for timed events and experiences

Concept 2 - vertical scroll Daily Challenges (chosen)

Infinite scroll is used to display content widgets

CP News, Settings and future apps will be accessed from the bottom apps hud
Apps hud may be collapsed by tapping the down arrow button
Daily challenges will scroll horizontal, as our current experience does
Countdown timers are used for timed events and experiences

Daily Challenges functionality

Infinite scroll is used to display content widgets

Progression is tracked within the Daily Challenges Widget
Tapping go takes user to the in-world challenge
Status of challenge is displayed on the widget when user returns

Daily Challenges Widget States

Go for it notification

Purpose:
To give the user options/functionalities/finding information that will  make the game more fun or informative. These actions are not  physical items you could see in the world. These actions are not going to change something you are doing in the world.

Breadcrumb and particle FX

Communication prompts

tasks to-do

User taps "Go!" btn

Particle FX appear to demonstrate celebration and coins earned when successfully hitting "GO!"
Notification stays on screen for 5 seconds
User is loaded into the location

Challenges

Events Widget

Displayed ongoing events such as parties or new Disney Shop additions, including their duration and a "GO!" button to transport players directly to the event’s location. The widget was unavailable in Offline Mode, ensuring it reflects only active, real-time events within the game world.

Live Events Widget

The Live Events Widget features a countdown timer to the next event, along with a "GO!" button that deep links players to the event's in-world location. It displays upcoming mini-games like the Crate Co. target game, Team Dance Battle, Tilt-o-Tube, Boardwalk trampoline, and Tube Racing. Once a mini-game begins, the widget updates to show a countdown to the next scheduled event, ensuring players stay engaged with fresh activities.

Featured Widget

Highlight newly launched features with engaging visuals and deep links to explore them in-game. When no event is active, a featured activity is displayed alongside a "GO!" button. Once pressed, the activity is launched and will no longer appear for that player, ensuring fresh, relevant content and a seamless user experience.

Adventures Widget

Provides an overview of the player’s progress in their current adventure. If a player is actively on an adventure, it displays the adventure name and the next task to complete. In this case, the Daily Challenges section will not appear.

If the player is not on an adventure but has unlocked uncompleted ones, it highlights an unfinished adventure along with its potential rewards. In this scenario, the Daily Challenges section remains visible, offering players a variety of engagement options.

Concept 1 - Activity Tracker “apps”

Adventures widget sits above a full list of “apps” that the user can access within the Activity Tracker feature.

Concept 2 - inline with collapsable apps bar (chosen direction)

Infinite scroll is used to display content widgets
CP News, Friends, Settings and any future features can be accessed from the bottom collapsable hud

Daily Win Spin Widget

The Daily Win Spin Widget incentivized daily logins by allowing players to spin a wheel for a random prize once per day, resetting at midnight PST. Rewards included coins, XP, furniture, clothing, fabrics, and party supplies. If the daily spin had been used, the widget moved to the bottom of Island Live and remained non-interactive as a visual reminder until the next reset. This feature supported retention by creating a consistent, engaging reason for players to return daily.

Shop Widget

Highlights sale items to encourage users to visit the shop and make purchases. Displays information about ongoing sales when applicable, enticing players to explore and take advantage of special offers.

Level Status Widget

Displays the experience bar for the rank nearest to leveling up and offers suggestions for earning XP tailored to that rank. It also previews the next level pack and highlights a few rewards it contains. This widget will not appear if the player has reached the maximum level, ensuring relevance to their progression.

Results

Island Live was a valuable tool for boosting engagement, improving communication, and optimizing content delivery for both players and developers.

Boosted Engagement: Players interacted frequently with Island Live, using it to stay updated on events and participate in group activities. Pinned posts garnered the highest engagement, reinforcing the importance of prioritizing key updates.

Enhanced Communication: Island Live enabled faster and more transparent communication with players, with real-time updates ensuring they were always informed about in-game events and trends without requiring software updates.
Streamlined Development Process: The integration of reskinnable widgets allowed the development team to quickly update assets for events and feature launches, improving efficiency and freeing up resources for new initiatives.
Positive Player Feedback: Players enjoyed the intuitive design and features of Island Live, including the "New" banners and notifications, which made it easier to stay connected and engaged.
Increased Retention Rates: Players actively engaging with Island Live logged in more frequently and participated in events more consistently, fostering stronger community ties and improving overall player retention.