Designing an Idle Game with Social Impact
My Role: As the UX Designer, I developed the framework for gamified behavior change and refined the UX through iterative user testing to ensure every interaction felt intuitive and aligned with user goals.
Collaborators: 1 Visual Designer, 2 User Researchers
Skills: user research and testing, prototyping, UX design
Tools: Figma, Midjourney
Duration: 5 weeks
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
In the digital age,
is all screen time bad?
As our lives become increasingly intertwined with technology, screen time has become an inevitable part of our daily routines. But is all screen time inherently harmful? What about reading an eBook or learning a new skill on YouTube—both screen-based activities, yet arguably positive and enriching.
This led us to consider how intentional screen time could actually support healthier habits, such as improved focus or even better sleep. These questions guided our thinking as we refined the problem space.
Specifically, we set out to address mindless scrolling that disrupts the users from the task at hand. Our goal was to make deep focus as appealing as the instant gratification users get from scrolling.
USER PERSONAS
PROBLEM SPACE
How might we support users in staying focused throughout the process of developing sustainable, healthy screen time habits?
SOLUTION OVERVIEW
Gamification— implicit behavior change
Users take on the role of baristas, building and personalizing their own virtual cafe through earning in-game rewards for meeting productivity goals. Gamification makes behavior change feel more rewarding, helping users avoid resistance to screen time limits and build lasting habits.
Key Psychological Components
Feature Highlights
Personalization— fitted for you
Users can either restrict specific applications or an entire category (e.g., all social media). This flexibility allows users to reduce distractions without needing to entirely disconnect from their phones, supporting a more realistic and personalized approach to focus.
To make goals more actionable, I designed a system that prompt users to define what they want to accomplish—whether that’s a one-time task or progress toward a long-term goal like reading for 30 minutes before bed. This structure makes progress feel more tangible and purpose driven.
Combatting Temptation
A strategy we’ve incorporated into our design is loss aversion, a principle that states people are more motivated to avoid losing something they already have than to gain something new.
When a user attempts to access a restricted app, a screen appears reminding them of the rewards they risk losing by giving up. The message in the intervention is intentionally worded to reinforce commitment by prompting users to reflect on the goals they've set and the value of staying on track.
Visual Growth— this is their world
Users earn in-game currency for each successful focus session, which can be used to unlock new café decorations, menu items, and avatar customizations. This progression system fosters a sense of ownership and long-term engagement by seeing their efforts reflected in the growth of their café.
Additionally, collaborations with real-world cafes present an opportunity for monetization and brand partnerships. These rewards can also encourage users to step away from their screens and engage in offline experiences, further supporting the app’s mission to promote balanced, mindful living.
Maintaining Connections— invite friends!
For users who are more motivated while working alongside others, I designed a feature that allows friends to join each others' virtual cafés. When users are in a session together, their avatars will appear behind the counter working side by side. This creates a visual representation of shared progress and strengthens accountability.
BACKGROUND & LITERATURE REVIEW
Idle games are well-suited for repetitive and health behaviors
To support our approach to sustained motivation, we drew from behavioral psychology, focusing on goal setting, reward systems, and motivation theory. Our methods are supported by both class concepts and literature reviews.
Literature Review Brainstorm
Power of Language and Reactance
Language plays a crucial role in shaping how users experience an application, so we were intentional about every phrase we included. We were especially mindful of psychological reactance— the natural resistance people feel when they sense their freedom is being limited. To reduce this effect, we chose language that feels empowering, neutral, and encouraging, helping to create a more positive experience.
Key Design Drivers
IDEATION AND USER TESTING
A Cozy Cafe
We were inspired by the world of cozy gaming— titles like Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and Unpacking that emphasize relaxation and low-stress engagement
Mood Board
User Flow
Lo-Fi Prototype
User Testing Feedback
Mid-Fi Prototype
User Testing Feedback
Hi-Fi Prototype
Professor + Classmate Feedback
After receiving feedback from our classmates and professor (as opposed to self-recruited users), we made further iterations and refinements to address other user needs and issues in the UI and UX flow.
Key Changes & Implementations:
Make all the controls available "in" the cafe
Input duration of session rather than using a slide bar
Reduced redundant screens
Addition of "real world" achievements
User setting goals before the focus session
Having your friend "come in" the store
Final Prototype Walkthrough
Try it here!
REFLECTION
What I Learned
Understanding the user's mindset cannot be underestimated during the design process. As I worked on the interface, I realized I had become somewhat blind to certain layout and design choices that were no longer optimal. This experience reinforced the importance of intentionality and feedback during early design processes.
Design systems and user flow serves as your guide. Our team initially leaned dived straight into prototyping. However, after crafting a solid design systems and user flows first streamlined collaboration and communication more efficient.
A more personal takeaways from this project was realizing how my area of discipline—psychology and design—deeply influence each other. This experience pushed me to think beyond just aesthetics and think more critically on design intention and impact.