Tribes was a proposed feature for Family Island designed to deepen social engagement and collaboration between players. By building on the existing but underutilized tribe system, we aimed to create a vibrant community space where players could chat, trade resources, and participate in cooperative events. This project included extensive UX/UI exploration and became a cornerstone for future social features in the game.
Tribes & Social Features – Family Island
Product Design Lead
UX/UI Design
Market Research
My role
Company
Moon Active
Family Island lacked meaningful social interaction and competitive elements. Specifically:
Players couldn’t communicate effectively within the game.
There were no mechanics for competitive or cooperative events.
Resource acquisition was strictly individual, there was no way to trade or collaborate for shared rewards.
This left the existing Tribes system underutilized. The chat feature, for instance, saw minimal engagement due to its basic functionality.
The Challenge
We aimed to transform Tribes into a central social hub by:
Enabling players to connect socially - share experiences, tips, and even screenshots of their islands.
Introducing social events that foster collaboration and competition between tribes.
Allowing players to trade resources, album cards, and in-game currencies, building a sense of mutual support.
Our Goals
We redesigned the Tribes feature from the ground up, focusing on social engagement and cooperative gameplay.
The Solution
A low-fidelity wireframe focused on core functionality – tribe chat, member management, and basic navigation using top tabs. This version prioritized simplicity and quick prototyping.
Early Concept
A mid-fidelity wireframe introducing richer interactions, including improved chat features (like resource sharing) and a more robust tribe management flow. Visual organization and user journeys were tested in usability sessions.
Advanced Iteration
Wireframe aligning with genre benchmarks. We moved the navigation to a left-hand sidebar for better scalability and introduced key features like creating/joining tribes, enhanced chat UI, and a dedicated panel for trading and events.
Final UX Direction
Revamped Chat - Added emojis, quick resource sharing, and richer messaging to encourage daily interaction.
Tribe Management Tools - Leaders could easily add/remove members, assign new leaders, or report players.
Resource Exchange - Early explorations for trading mechanics within tribes.
Key Enhancements:
Social Events: The Ocean Challenge
We designed unique cooperative events to make tribes feel alive and rewarding.
In the Ocean Challenge:
Tribe members were paired to collaboratively build an island.
Players took turns contributing in-game currencies and resources to construct buildings.
Each completed building unlocked rewards, while fully building the island granted large tribe-wide prizes.
The event encouraged teamwork, competition between tribes, and a sense of shared achievement.
Although the feature wasn’t shipped (due to roadmap prioritization), our work was validated through internal research and player testing:
Increased player interest in social interactions during usability tests.
Positive feedback on collaborative event concepts and resource sharing.
The project became a foundation for future social features in Family Island.