Wildfire Games @ UCSC

Helping communities build wildfire resilience through games.
Role
UI/UX Designer
Duration
Sept 2024 – Present
Team
MJ Johns
Yiyang Lu
Anna Toledo
Project Brief
UCSC is developing games to prepare effectively for wildfire disasters. We are exploring narrative interactions and cooperative gameplay to increase learning engagement, especially for older adults and children.

As the UI/UX Designer, I collaborate with the developer and artist to translate concepts into user flows, create & test interactive prototypes, and implement final UI designs in Unity.
Play the games ↗
‍Read about the project ↗
Context
Wildfires are becoming more common.
As global climates become hotter and drier, communities need tools that help residents and stakeholders shift from reactive to proactive approaches to natural hazards. However, resources for wildfire preparation can be complex and difficult to share to those at risk.
Objective
Design engaging, intuitive simulations that help residents prepare for disasters and strengthen resilience in their communities.
Proposed Solution
Games that transform residents into wildfire-ready leaders.
Educational games offer an engaging solution that helps players learn to anticipate and reduce risks before disasters strike. By emphasizing emotional and social connection, these games motivate communities to adopt wildfire prevention and evacuation strategies.
In Progress
Testing our prototypes!
I designed and implemented the UI elements to our Unity builds, which are now playable in browser. My next goal is to usability test with players to fix bugs, clarify objectives, and enhance learnability.
Firewise Citizens Prototype ↗
Explore evacuation dilemmas through character narratives.
Firesafe Friends Prototype ↗
Learn to harden your home in this 2-player cooperative game.
RESEARCH
Evaluating what we had.
Before starting the design process, I played the original games, referenced past feedback, and demoed them with players. I compiled my observations of what players said and did to identify the top pain points.
Low engagement: Player learning was hindered by unintuitive interactions, complex user flows, and overwhelming content presentation.
Limited social interaction: Existing games were focused on solo gameplay, limiting community building that is crucial in wildfire preparation.
Aligning on design goals.
I applied the Octalysis Framework and brainstormed with our team to identify how we could use epic meaning, ownership, and social influence to enhance positive long-term player motivation.
GAME 1 – FIREWISE CITIZENS
Increasing engagement with interactive narratives.
Overwhelming content presentation, complex user flows, and clear right/wrong answers meant players skimmed through content. Adding narrative interactions and replacing text-heavy screens with visuals can reduce cognitive overload by presenting information clearly and concisely.
Firewise Citizens: Players interact with residents through narratives, then choose from 3 options in a simplified decision screen.
Learn by doing with micro-choices.
Player choices significantly impact the simulation. To emphasize the decision-making aspect, we added narrative flows that led players directly to the decision screen. Linking these together strengthens information retrieval and retention.
Editing for brevity and intuitiveness.
The biggest challenge for "Firewise Citizens" is to make the existing text more concise. Plain language (around the 5th grade level) helps people understand what they're reading and make informed decisions in the game.
In addition to content changes, we also need to explore intuitive on-screen elements. My initial idea was to reference visual novel UI elements, but a quick test revealed that players were unsure how to answer the dialogue. (Design edits in progress, please check back!)
GAME 2 – FIRESAFE FRIENDS
Enhancing connection with cooperative play.
Home hardening is most effective when done with neighbors. Embers can travel long distances, so even a well-prepared home remains at risk if nearby properties are vulnerable. Modeling collaborative efforts shows the importance of creating a shared buffer zone to reduce the overall risk of fire spread.
Firesafe Friends: Two players take turns upgrading their homes and shared spaces to prepare for a fire season.
Ownership and customization to build motivation.
Once we finalized this direction, I mapped out the initial home modification flow, including the inventory and store elements. We also decided to boost player collaboration with gift-giving (feature design in progress).
Digital prototyping to validate new concepts.
Since "Firesafe Friends" is a new game, I started with low-fidelity prototypes for stakeholder buy-in. I created the inventory and shop systems and experimented with UI placement with my team.
Once we agreed on the game direction, I created high-fidelity versions and added them into Unity. We're creating more customization options with pop quizzes that let players earn money and plant placements in the front yard. I'm learning how to 9-slice in Unity for scalability!

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