Games, Social Media
Social Feature Integration
for Mobile (iOS) App
Role
UX Designer
UX Researcher
Skills
Market Research
User Research
Feature Prioritization
Tools
Figma
Photoshop
GoogleSheets
Context
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) is a life simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo Co., Ltd. that enables up to 8 players to interact with each other simultaneously.
Released on March 20, 2020, it quickly became a “Quarantine Bestseller” during the COVID-19 Pandemic as individuals played to
stay connected with friends and family
build community in a time of isolation¹
restore a sense of agency in the face of restrictions and global uncertainty²
Design Opportunity
While Animal Crossing: New Horizons remains the second best-selling Nintendo Switch game, its popularity has noticeably declined.³
The primary player demographic strongly values the social engagement aspect of the game (text messaging, voice chatting, video calling, media sharing). However, NookLink, the game companion service within the Nintendo Switch Online app, is severely underutilized.
Integrating an asynchronous social feature into Nooklink may help retain and increase users in the years following COVID-19. It would promote feature discovery while providing users in-house opportunities to stay connected with their community. Users would remain within the Nintendo ecosystem rather than rely on external applications, creating a positive feedback loop.
¹ “Association of Social Gaming with Well-Being (Escape COVID-19): A Sentiment Analysis” (The American Journal of Medicine)
² “Animal Crossing and COVID-19: A Qualitative Study Examining How Video Games Satisfy Basic Psychological Needs During the Pandemic” (Frontiers in Psychology)
³ 12.9% Decline in Profit (Nintendo Co., Ltd. Q1 FY2021 Earnings Report)
Share experiences through
indirect exchanges!
Build immersive experience
across the game & the app!
Promote gameplay via
progress tracking / achievement logging!
Design Strategy
Leverage ACNH Players’ mental model by matching their in-app experience with their in-game experience
Utilize existing user interface (UI) & features well-loved by the community
Follow common design patterns of social media (Twitter/X, Instagram)
NookLink
X/Twitter
Bulletin Board
Social connection drives user engagement.
Similar design components and patterns not only promote learnability but also creates a more seamless experience across platforms (mobile app, video game).
While existing design systems (Nintendo products, iOS native components) can be technical constraints, they can also be creativity drivers.