Family Island - Tribes & Social Features
About the Feature
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.
My Role
As Product Design Lead, I managed a multidisciplinary team of 11, including UX/UI designers, concept artists, and animators, ensuring a cohesive vision across all design aspects. I personally designed multiple iterations of the feature—starting from wireframes to high-fidelity mockups and concept art—to explore and refine the user experience. In addition, I collaborated closely with the Market Research team to source and analyze the most relevant references, helping align the feature with player expectations and industry trends.
Company
The Challenge
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.
Our Goals
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.
The Solution
We redesigned the Tribes feature from the ground up, focusing on social engagement and cooperative gameplay.
Early Concept
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.
Advanced Iteration
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.
Final UX Direction
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.
Key Enhancements:
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 tribe players.
Resource Exchange - Early explorations for trading mechanics within tribes.
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.
The Outcome
Although the feature wasn’t shipped yet (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.
