Context: ecosystem of connected kids’ gaming products including Disney Infinity, Club Penguin, and Pixie Hollow.
Role: Sr. Experience Designer · Game UX Engineer
Timeline: 2011 – 2012
Disney Interactive Worlds
Designing Connected Kids’ Gaming Systems
Created UX systems across Disney’s gaming portfolio, supporting avatar creation, microtransactions, child/parent safety, educational reward loops, and cross-platform engagement. Partnered with game design, IA, engineering, and the Disney Learning team to deliver fast, resilient, ergonomically sound flows for young players and families.
Club Penguin
Club Penguin was a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) that ran from 2005 - 2017. The game featured a virtual world that included a wide range of online games and activities.
01
Foundations
Understanding the Multi-game Ecosystem
Player Archetypes — Defined workflows for kids, parents, moderators, and Disney Learning teams across console, mobile, and tablet experiences.
Core Loops — Mapped behavior loops for avatar creation, friends lists, in-game rewards, and microtransactions.
Safety Systems — Integrated COPPA-aligned mechanics including permissions, blocking, and parent-validated rewards.
Device Ergonomics — Adapted UX for children’s motor skills, account switching, and iPad landscape touch patterns.
Create a Penguin / Avatar
Data Migration IA
File Organization IA
Feature Function Flow
Snippet of Connectivity Flow
02
Systems design
Designing Scalable Game UX for Kids
Avatar & Identity — Designed simplified avatar creation and editing tools usable by kids as young as six
Social Graph — Built flows for friends lists, safe chat, blocking, and moderated interactions.
Economy UX — Structured point-conversion, microtransactions, achievements, badges, and inventory systems.
IA Architecture — Created consolidated navigation models for cross-game features and parent-child touchpoints.
03
Education layer
Building Parent-child Reward Flows
Learning Incentives — Partnered with Disney’s Learning Team to design parent-validated reward loops triggered by math, spelling, and vocabulary mini-games.
Multi-Device Access — Delivered Kindle and iPad prototypes enabling parents to approve rewards or manage accounts.
Progress Visibility — Developed dashboard structures showing children’s progress, unlocked rewards, and parent tasks.
Interaction Pathways — Crafted ergonomic flows for parents reviewing tasks while kids navigated game worlds.
Wireframed Map Layout
Actual Rendering of Wireframe
Wireframed Avatar Creation
Actual Rendering of Wireframe
Wireframed Choose an Avatar
Actual Rendering of Wireframe
04
Delivery
Specifications for Cross-platform Game UX
High-Fidelity Screens — Delivered production-ready flows for avatar workflows, social systems, and reward validation.
IA Packages — Documented navigation trees, page templates, and modular UI components for multiple titles.
Gameplay Workflows — Produced end-to-end UX specs for console/tablet/mobile interactions, reducing engineering ambiguity.
Handoff Kits — Compiled annotated wireframes, flow maps, and UI references for engineering and game UI artists.
Early Kindle Parent to Child Incentivize App 1
Early Kindle Parent to Child Incentivize App 2
Early Kindle Parent to Child Incentivize App 3