Tanbii

UX/UI Intern | May 2024 - September 2024

Tanbii is a mobile game that educates and incentivize players to adopt low-carbon lifestyles. By tracking and gamifying real-world actions like walking or recycling, Tanbii rewards players with in-game tokens. These tokens can be used to purchase in-game items or real-world products. It even contributes to tree planting initiatives by partnering with various brands.

During the internship, my team and I iterated on numerous design projects to expand and enhance Tanbii's gameplay. We designed assets and user interfaces, conducted market research, and pitched the placement of advertisement triggers.

Client:

Tanbii

Team:

Bradley Diep
Tara Farzin
Isaac Koentopp

My Role:

UX/UI Design
UX Research

Tools:

Adobe Photoshop
Clip Studio Paint
Google Workspace

Visual & Concept Designs

Weather Effect Designs

For one of the projects, my team and I were tasked to conceptualize different weather scenes and how they would look on the game's overworld map.

Sunny

Cloudy

Rainy

Snowy

Blizzard

Heatwave

Bug Encounter Designs

The trees in Tanbii have very little interactivity with users. In the game, users could only just water trees and collect resources from them. My team and I were tasked to make tree gameplay more engaging, and we thought that the addition of bugs could deliver.

Finding Bugs

At certain intervals in-game, a mystery bug icon will appear on a tree. A tree with this icon will indicate whether a tree has a good bug or a bad bug.

By interacting with the tree, players enter a little microgame in which users will use their finger to control a magnifying glass to inspect the tree for bugs.

Good Bugs

If players encounter a good bug, the good bug will benefit the tree and stay there for 1 day. Once players press "Confirm", they exit the screen and the good bug that was encountered will appear on the tree. There will be a time limit on the tree showing how long the bug will stay.

There will be a time limit on the tree showing how long the bug will stay and multiple good bugs of the same kind will crawl around the tree.

Bad Bugs

If players encounter a bad bug, it will reduce the tree’s health bar by 10% every 1 hour the player is in-game. Failing to exterminate bad bugs within a certain time limit will cause the tree to eventually die out. The time limit depends on the tree’s health. However, they have a chance to get rid of them with bug extermination methods.

Like good bugs, bad bugs will crawl around the tree. The difference is that the tree they're affecting takes damage and the tree's HP is reduced. The tree also has a more nasty-looking green.

Companion Designs

Another gameplay idea that we thought would make trees more interactive is the introduction of companions. Companions are little creatures that reside in different types in trees. By feeding them, companions can accompany players and potentially assist them with certain tasks.

Taking a Companion

The player encounters a tree with a companion and interacts with it.
The player has the option to take the companion with them if they have the necessary materials.
The player has acquired the companion.

Removing a Companion

The player has a companion with them that they want to remove.
The player has the option to remove their current companion without using any materials.
The companion has returned to its tree and won't accompany the player unless it is given the necessary materials again.

Swapping a Companion

The player wants to replace their current companion (squirrel) with a new one (woodpecker).
With the necessary materials, the player can swap companions.
A brief second image will show the player feeding the new companion.
The new companion (woodpecker) accompanies the player and the old companion (squirrel) goes back to its tree.

Market Research

Our market research projects involved competitor analyses and investor research.

For the competitor analyses, we looked into 2 Web3 games: Sunflower Land and Pixels. In our research we were able to identify their unique selling points, gameplay mechanics, monetization methods, and community-building strategies.

For the investor research, we examined 30 potential companies that would invest in Tanbii. In our research we identified their investment focus, list of portfolio companies, and recent deals.

Advertisement Trigger Designs

Within Tanbii, there are multiple areas where players can watch an ad. My task was to conceptualize new ideas on where to place and design ads. The goal was to create seamless integration of ads that could enhance the user experience without being frustrating.

Design Requirements:

Seamless Integration: Ads should not interfere with the core gameplay.
Clear Communication: Inform players when they are about to see an ad, especially interstitial and rewarded video ads.
Reward Transparency: Clearly state the rewards for watching a rewarded video ad.
Skip Options: Allow users to skip interstitial ads after 5 seconds. Rewarded video ads should not be skippable but should be clearly marked as optional.

Banner Ads

Banner ads will be placed on screens that have little activity such as menu screens and areas where players can buy or sell items. Tapping on a banner ad will take players to the Google Play Store or Apple Store.

Community Tab

While a community tab doesn't exist in the game, my team and I thought that placing a banner ad here would be a welcome addition.

The community tab will have 4 sections:

All: shows all articles in the community tab in order of latest to oldest
Events: announces special in-game events
News: news related to Tanbii updates and their blog posts
Eco Tips: sharing ways to help the environment

There will also be a section at the bottom of the community tab that shows all of Tanbii's social media.

3D Printer Station Ads

At the 3D Printer Station, players can use sticks as currency to get weapons. However, by placing an ad on this screen, players can roll weapons for free by watching an ad. Players can watch a total of 3 ads before the ad button disappears for the day.

Type of Ad: Video Ad

Occurrence: 3 times a day

Before Ad

After Ad

Type of Ad: Interstitial Ad or Video Ad

Occurrence: Permanent

Before Ad

After Ad

Reflection

My internship at Tanbii taught me the importance of iteration when it comes to creating a product. To keep the game engaging with innovative ideas for the future, researching competitors and creating new designs was necessary. Conducting market research improved my analytical skills by allowing me to translate my findings into actionable insights. Identifying modern trends and competitor strategies helps keep the game up-to-date with the market.

By designing interfaces, I realized that it requires a balance of functionality and aesthetics. While I was eager to create assets and interfaces for the game, I really had to think about if they aligned with project goals and the game's context. Months of designing pushed me to think critically about integrating gameplay elements because they may disrupt the user experience.

Most importantly, I learned how to collaborate with my team and supervisors on actual UX projects. It was my first time working in a formal setting and it was a valuable learning experience. Working at Tanbii taught me the importance of different perspectives and feedback, which is crucial to making a successful game that players will enjoy.