Designing for Long-Term Engagement

Map of Maps Screen

In Family Island, the Map of Maps screen serves as the main navigation hub - connecting players to the current adventure islands, the Home Island, and occasional Expeditions. However, we identified a key retention issue: advanced players would complete all event content within 1–2 days and then drop off, despite the event lasting 3–4 days. This case study showcases how we restructured both UX logic and UI layout to support continuous player engagement.

Overview

Product Design Lead - I led the UX/UI vision and managed a team of 11 designers and animators.
UX/UI Design - Created wireframes, mockups, and multiple visual concepts for the new dock and supporting systems.
Design Research - Collaborated with Market Research team to study reference games, retention curves, and visual metaphors to guide our solution.

My Role

Check Out Family Island 

Company

Moon Active

The original UI displayed only one active festival at a time. When players completed it early, they were left with no reason to return until the next one unlocked.
We saw an opportunity:

rather than release one event every few days, what if we opened a progression path of multiple events, each unlocking when the previous one was completed?

The Problem

  • Allow players to advance at their own pace through a chain of events

  • Prevent drop-off after early completion

  • Support this new logic with a UI that clearly communicates progress and unlocks

Our Goal

Design Solution

We redesigned the floating UI dock into a fixed wooden panel, visually “anchored” to the bottom of the screen - better integrated with the game's wooden/tribal aesthetic.

  • Each icon now represents an entire festival, not a single island

  • Future events appear in grayscale and unlock progressively

  • Completed events remain accessible for a limited time (e.g., 24 hours)

Updated Dock for Event Progression

Clear Visual Hierarchy

  • Home Island remains in the bottom-left corner

  • Active Festival Islands continue to be shown in the center of the screen

  • Expedition Islands & Special Adventures (e.g., Ocean Adventure) are accessed via floating icons on the right

The horizontal dock now works like a progress bar - encouraging completion. Players can see how far they’ve come and how many events remain in the chain.

Progress as Motivation

Design Exploration

  • A raft-shaped dock, referencing the family’s journey to the Home Island

  • 3D wooden docks with higher fidelity and shadows

We explored multiple visual directions:

However, we found these versions drew too much attention and conflicted with gameplay clarity.
We ultimately chose a friendly 2D wooden dock - stylized, minimal, and aligned with the game’s look and feel.

Results

This redesign led to a 40% increase in player retention during active festivals.
By supporting multiple event chains, we transformed the gameplay from a short burst into a longer, more satisfying journey - without requiring additional daily content drops.

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