Challenge
Timezone is one of Singapore's most popular arcade brands, and users generally report having a positive experience when they visit. However, despite high satisfaction levels, many visitors rarely return after their initial visit. Research showed that while people enjoy playing games with friends, Timezone is often treated as a one-off leisure activity rather than a community people actively engage with over time.
Problem Statement
How might we transform Timezone from a place people visit occasionally into a platform that fosters ongoing social connection, friendly competition, and community?
Key Insight
The issue wasn't that people weren't having fun.
The issue was that the experience ended the moment they left the arcade.
Research revealed that players enjoyed spending time with friends, but lacked a sense of belonging, community, or purpose to return. Many described Timezone as somewhere they "just play and leave."
The key insight is:
People don't return because of the games alone—they return because of the relationships and communities formed around those games.
But as my team phrase it:
"It is not what you play,
but who you play with."
The Opportunity
Rather than adding more games, we saw an opportunity to revive the sense of community and friendly competition that once defined arcade culture.
The goal was to create:
Ongoing social connections
Friendly rivalry
Shared achievements
New friendships
that extended beyond a single arcade visit.
Solution: Timezone Showdown
We redesigned the Timezone Fun App into Timezone Showdown, a social gaming platform that extends the arcade experience beyond a single visit.
Team Matching
Players form teams and compete against other groups in curated arcade challenges.
Leaderboard
Performance is compared across teams, creating ongoing motivation and friendly competition.
Achievement
Badges, rewards, and progression systems provide reasons to continue participating.
Social Connect
Performance is compared across teams, creating ongoing motivation and friendly competition.
App Mock-Up
This is a mock-up of the app that you can try for yourself to understand better how it work:
Impact
The concept shifts Timezone's value proposition from:
Playing Games
to
Building Community Through Play
By creating social connections, shared achievements, and ongoing competition, the experience provides players with meaningful reasons to return and engage repeatedly with the brand.
Find out more:
To find out more about this project and gain a more in dept understanding, you can find out more in the link below:
Role: UX Designer & Experience Strategist
Responsibilities
Conducted trend and market research on arcade culture and gaming communities
Analysed user behaviours and motivations relating to repeat engagement
Synthesised research findings into actionable insights
Developed wireframes and app concepts
Designed digital touchpoints to support community-building and retention
Contributed to overall experience strategy and concept development
Skills Demonstrated
UX Design
User Research
Wireframing
Experience Strategy
Gamification
Community Design
Reflection
This project taught me that retention problems are not always solved by adding more features. Initially, it was tempting to focus on improving games or rewards. However, the research suggested that the deeper issue was a lack of community and belonging. Through this project, I learned the importance of looking beyond surface-level behaviors and identifying the emotional and social motivations that drive engagement. It also reinforced my interest in designing experiences that strengthen human connection—a theme that continues to shape my approach to service, product, and experience design.
