Executive Summary

Problem

In a critical Beta phase, the chat system—the heart of the game—had such severe friction that it hindered social interaction, threatening player retention and the fundamental vision of the product.

My Role

As UX Lead, I facilitated a cross-functional effort to diagnose the root causes, align key stakeholders (including the Creative VP) on a new vision, and lead the complete redesign of the social experience.

Solution

We implemented a two-pillar strategy: We centralized the social ecosystem into an in-game 'phone,' creating a scalable hub. And,we redesigned the chat interface from the ground up, adopting universal interaction patterns to eliminate friction.

Validated Impact

Although in Alpha, the redesign resulted in a drastic shift in community sentiment (from frustration to praise) and an **observed increase of ~30% in key social interactions**, validating our strategic direction.

1. Situation: A “Heart-attacked” Social Core

Party Parrot World (PPW) is an ambitious social virtual world, conceived as the spiritual successor to Club Penguin and led by industry veterans. Its core promise is not gameplay, but connection.

However, upon entering the Beta phase, the product faced a critical paradox: it was a social game where socializing was extraordinarily difficult. The initial MVP implementation, focused on speed, had accumulated significant user experience debt. The chat, the system that should have been the game’s engine, was its biggest brake.

The feedback from our initial community was clear and alarming: the system was slow, confusing, and frustrating. We were losing players not due to a lack of content, but because of fundamental friction in the main experience.

2. Task: Diagnose, Align, and Redesign the Social Foundation

My mandate as UX Lead was clear: to lead the initiative to transform the social experience from an obstacle into a catalyst for engagement. This required going beyond a simple UI redesign.

Our objectives were:

  1. Diagnose the root causes of friction through heuristic analysis and synthesis of community feedback.
  2. Align product and creative leaders on a new strategic vision for in-game social interaction.
  3. Design and oversee the implementation of a solution that not only fixed current problems but also provided a scalable foundation for the future.

We established a central hypothesis: *“By drastically reducing friction and unifying social tools, we can increase key interactions (messages, emotes) by 30-50% and significantly improve community sentiment.”

3. Action: From a Shared Diagnosis to Design Principles

Our process was deliberate and collaborative, divided into clear phases of diagnosis, strategy, and execution.

Phase 1: Forging a Shared Diagnosis

The first step was to organize a series of workshops with the Creative VP and product stakeholders. Instead of presenting solutions, I presented the problems. A heuristic analysis revealed three critical flaws:

  1. High Cognitive Load: The flow to send a simple message or emote required multiple clicks and navigation through confusing menus.
  2. Critical Visual Obstruction: The chat interface could cover more than 50% of the screen on mobile devices, breaking game immersion.
  3. Fragmented Social Strategy: Features like emotes, actions, and chat had no unified home, creating a disjointed experience.

This approach ensured we weren’t just “redesigning a screen,” but solving business and user problems validated by the entire leadership team.

Phase 2: Principle-Based Execution

With a shared diagnosis, we defined two strategic principles that guided every design decision:

Strategic Principle #1: Centralize the Social Ecosystem

To solve fragmentation, we proposed and co-developed the concept of the “Kakapo Phone.” Inspired by successful models like Animal Crossing, this in-game device became the central hub for everything social. It wasn’t just a UI; it was a paradigm shift that gave us a scalable system for chat, friends lists, events, and more.

Concept of the Social ‘Mobile’

Strategic Principle #2: Adopt and Adapt Universal Patterns

For the chat itself, our philosophy was not to reinvent the wheel. Players already have invaluable muscle memory from apps like WhatsApp and Discord. Our job was to adapt those patterns to our context.

  • Instant Input Flow: We implemented the “Enter to chat” keyboard shortcut, reducing the time to start a conversation from ~5 seconds to less than 1.
  • Minimalist Interface: We redesigned the chat bar to be a single line, giving screen space back to the player and immersion.
  • Clear Expression Hierarchy: We consolidated menus into a two-click flow, prioritizing the most used actions (emojis and expressions) for fast and fun non-verbal communication.

Before

Before

After

After

4. Result: Friction Eliminated, Community Satisfied

After deploying the new design in the Beta, the impact was immediate and clear, validated through the methods available in our Alpha/Beta development phase.

  • Qualitative Validation: The change in community sentiment was drastic. The Discord feedback channel went from being filled with reports of frustration about the chat to praise for the new fluidity and ease of use. Complaints about the chat ceased entirely.
  • Observational Validation: In monitored play sessions and through analysis of general behavior, we observed an estimated 30% increase in the use of social interactions (messages and emotes) per session, validating our initial hypothesis.

The redesign not only fixed a usability problem but also restored the community’s trust and realigned the product with its core vision: to be a world where social connection is at the heart of the fun.

5. Key Learnings

  • A shared diagnosis is half the solution. Investing time in aligning stakeholders on the definition of the problem before discussing solutions is the fastest way to an impactful and organizationally-supported design.
  • In the early stages, qualitative data is king. When quantitative metrics are scarce, direct community feedback and careful observation are not just “what you have,” but an incredibly powerful tool for validating direction and building with your users.

Fun Fact

  • I made this promotional video for the game that tell the Story of a Parrot that invites you to a Party, where you are also invited!