UX/UI & Level Designer
Clawmi
2D Mobile Casual and Simulation Game
A relaxing and fun 2D claw-machine game where every catch unlocks new decor to customize your dream room. Master the claw, complete collections, and create a home that is uniquely yours.
Personal Project
Role:
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User Experience Designer
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User Interface Designer
Developed:
Mar 2025 - Present
Background
As someone who enjoys cozy collection games, but found a lack of claw machine mobile games, I wanted to explore what a mobile experience could feel like when creativity and self-expression are at the center.
That curiosity led to Clawmi, a 2D claw machine game focused on collecting, decorating, and showing off what you’ve earned!Building this project in Unity with a programmer also gave me space to explore UX/UI design and create assets through iterative development.
Tools & Skills Applied
Skills:
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Game Design
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Level Design
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UX/UI Design
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User Testing
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System Design
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Investment Design
Tools:
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Unity
- Figma
- Aseprite
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Microsoft 365
Explore UX/UI Pipeline
Clawmi's Mind Map
Project Goals
I created 30+ wireframes, user flows, and an interactive prototype, then refine them through iteration and usability testing.
I aimed to design intuitive interfaces that support quick, pick-up and play sessions while also practicing pixel art asset creation and implementing polished in-game UI.
A key goal of this project was to strengthen my iterative design process.
I designed, tested, and refined gameplay systems through repeated playtests, using player feedback and observation to guide decisions. Mechanics like claw movement, reward feedback, and room decoration were adjusted across iterations to improve usability, reduce frustration, and better support long-term engagement.
This process reinforced the importance of testing early, failing fast, and iterating with intention.
Practice Iterative Design & Player Feedback
User Experience
Research
My research began by defining the foundational elements needed to create a clear, accessible, and engaging player experience. I focused on understanding who the game is for, how players interact with its core mechanics, and how visual and audio feedback support usability and immersion.
Research Focus Areas
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Target Audience
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Core Game Mechanics
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Genre & Theme
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Art Style
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Visual Effects
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Sound Effects
Design Process
Market/Game Research
I studied existing games to analyze their visual style, claw machine movement, and animations. As well as studying how claw machines work!
Clawbert
Why its Inspiring: Fun and cute claw machine game that is simple and straightforward in gameplay.
What I Liked:
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Progression (how I unlock new plushies)
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Collection (different themes, colors)
- Animations (visual effects)
Clawbert, Hyper Beard
Tokyo Claw Machine
Why its Inspiring: It combines claw machine gameplay with a personal room that you can decorate with won plushies.
What I Liked:
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Show off to other players
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Rooms (personalize)
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Plushie Themes
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Visual and audio feedback
What my room looks like
Winning a Prize, Omochi Studio
Round1 Bowling & Arcade
Why its Inspiring: Although Round1 is NOT a video game, its claw machines offer strong user experience. It helps me understand how real players respond to feedback, difficulty, prize visibility, and claw behavior.
What I Liked:
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Visual and audio feedback
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Chance of grabbing a plushie
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Themed plushies
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Claw Mechanics
Winning a Prize
User Research
Methodologies & Findings
To better understand the target audience, I conducted a survey with 15 participants to gather general insights into playstyles, gameplay preferences, and expectations around claw machine and decoration games.
The results helped identify common behavior patterns and motivations, which informed the creation of three personas representing the core, secondary, and tertiary audiences.
Survey Example Question
Survey Questions
These are some of the questions I asked:
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How many hours per week, on average, do you spend playing mobile games?
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Have you played any claw machine games?
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Have you ever been to an arcade with claw machines?
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Why do you like plushies?
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If you didn't play any claw machine games, why?
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Have you played any mobile games with collection or decoration mechanics?
User Pain Points
The Problem
Survey responses revealed three major challenges.
First, many players had little to no experience with claw machine games on mobile or PC, suggesting a need for an intuitive and approachable first-time experience.
Second, players expressed frustration with monetization in games, particularly when costs felt too high or intrusive that causes them to stop playing.
I asked them more questions of general UI in games, where Interface pain points were also consistent: small or closely placed buttons, too many taps required to complete tasks, unclear icons, overcrowded layouts, and poor text readability.
These insights directly helped establish my game's target audience and the creation of three personas.
User Personas
Overview
I created three personas that represent different player motivations and engagement levels. Rather than designing for "everyone", I intentionally prioritized a casual audience while still accounting for more dedicated and niche players. This approach allowed me to balance simplicity, and long-term depth without overcomplicating the experience.
Why Emily Is the Core User
Emily represents the core casual audience. Design decisions prioritize accessibility, clear feedback, and visual clarity to keep the experience fun, simple, and easy to learn.
These are my second and third personas
Early Concept
Wireframes
Each wireframe includes a main navigation bar located at the bottom of the screen. This navigation provides quick access to the game's core features, with buttons arranged from left to right:
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Hatch - opens the incubator for collected eggs
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Bag - accesses the player's inventory
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Home - returns to the claw machine or player room, depending on which screen they are on
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Collection - displays all collected prize items
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Shop - allows player to purchase prizes, decor, and currency
Early low-fidelity wireframes focused on three core screens: the claw machine, player room, and incubator. Prioritizing these areas helped establish clear navigation and low-friction interactions while reducing unnecessary complexity.
Wireframes were annotated to define UI functionality and communicate design intent clearly to my programmer during development.
- The Claw Machine -
Annotation Key
1. Player Level and Experience Bar (XP Bar)
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Shows and tracks player's progress to leveling up
2. Currency Icons
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Coins (main currency) - on the left
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Tickets (premium currency) - on the right
3. Options Icon
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Volume, notifications, mail, achievements, daily log in
4. Claw - grab prizes
5. Joystick, Refresh, and Grab Buttons
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Prize refresh countdown
- The Player's Room -
Annotation Key
1. Build Mode
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Enters Build Mode by selecting the Build button (see #3).
2. Claw Machine (interactable object)
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On select, opens a collection of buttons, one gives instant access to that specific claw machine (see #3)
3. Item Action Menu
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Appears when an item is selected, providing relevant actions such as rotate, put away, and view item details.
4. Build Button
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Enters build mode, includes exit button
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Hides all player information except the option button
- The Incubator -
Annotation Key
1. Incubator
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Quick add a egg to incubate, shows current incubating egg
2. Add to Queue Button
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Opens a queue preview and list of available eggs to incubate
3. Hatch Button
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Press to hatch the egg
4. Speed Up Button
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Pay tickets to speed up hatching
Here are all of the early wireframes for the navigation pages and other features:
From left to right: Bag, Series, Achievements, Collection, and Shop pages
Settings, Mail, and Collecting a prize screens/popups
Color Palette
Inspired by modern claw machines and arcade aesthetics
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Bright, pastel tones create a playful and approachable visual style
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Warm peaches, reds, and pinks evoke excitement and reward anticipation
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Light blues and whites balance the palette and support readability
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Light and dark browns ground the interface and support visual hierarchy
These show the different color iterations explored during the claw machine’s visual design process.
Current Concept
Wireframes
Claw Machine
What changed?
The claw machine screen the most iterated on to ensure that players are able to navigate easily.
UI elements were refined to show essential information only: energy and coin costs are displayed numerically to set clear cost per grab, and a ticket counter that shows the cost to refresh prizes.
The navigation bar was redesigned with clearer icons and labels for improved visibility, and button styles were simplified to reduce clutter.
Player level and XP progress are shown through a bar, revealing detailed information on interaction.
The Player's Room
The player’s room is the second most interacted-with screen and plays a key role in personalization and player expression.
(Images, left to right)
When the player enters the room, a Build Mode button appears.
Selecting an item shows an isometric grid, and the item snaps to the grid while moving. A pulse animation and arrows indicate the active item.
The highlight turns green when the item can be placed and red when it cannot.
Default
Selected Item
Build Mode
The Incubator
The incubator is progression-focused that allows players to hatch collected eggs quickly and easily.
(Images, left to right)
The incubator is where players hatch collected eggs.
To keep this process quick and easy, the screen includes a Hatch button, an Add to Queue button that opens a list of available eggs, and a Speed Hatch option that uses tickets to finish hatching faster.
The layout focuses on reducing steps and keeping progression clear and accessible.
Default
Queue List Popup
Here are some other wireframes I designed.
Series
Swaps to different themed claw machines
Collection
Contains a record of collected prizes
Shop
In-game purchases and other items
Achievements
Displays all collected achievements
Collected Item
Choose to put away or incubate the egg
Daily Log In
List of daily rewards
Settings
Control account settings and audio
Refreshing Prizes Screen
Mail
Shows important notices from devs