Interval
A mobile-first path from the room to the reefs.
The work moved from a small discoverability idea into a broader navigation and guidance pass. Each prompt refined how players understand the room, find help, reach travel purchases, recognise current destination artwork and return consistently from full-screen tools.
Direction of travel
How the work evolved.
Each step connects the user’s prompt to the practical change it produced.
Explored
Make tappable objects discoverable
Prompt: Mock up a shimmer that reveals which areas of the equipment room can be tapped.
Outcome: An interactive concept used a soft sweep of light across each object in turn, with strength controls and an optional development-only hotspot. It established a calmer alternative to permanent labels.
Implemented
Replace desktop behaviour with mobile guidance
Prompt: Remove hover behaviour and confirmation dialogs, make the shimmer optional in Settings, and add a hanging Help Wanted sign that explains navigation, dive modes, gems, collections and Messages stickers.
Outcome: Room objects now open directly, the shimmer preference persists, and the sign opens a permanent gameplay guide. The guide distinguishes owned stickers from wildlife that has only been revealed, and motion-sensitive users are respected.
Corrected
Keep completed-dive artwork current
Prompt: Update the dive-log banner because it no longer matched the newly adopted site imagery.
Outcome: The log now uses the current Field Atlas image for the completed site, matching its briefing while retaining the established banner proportions.
Refined
Use consistent full-screen navigation
Prompt: Present Settings and Help as full-screen pages and use the same round back control as the globe.
Outcome: Both pages now share the equipment-room navigation pattern, matching the back control's size and position and removing redundant Done buttons.
Expanded
Join guidance, support and travel access
Prompt: Reorganise Help into Computer, Dive Collection, Safe and Admin tabs; improve Settings and support information; add visa and passport shopping to the safe and globe; and refresh outdated reef imagery.
Outcome: The guide now mirrors the collection's tab style, Settings groups accessibility, support, version and credits information, and one entitlement-aware travel shop serves both entry points. Already opened reefs are excluded, while full access disables the offers and removes the globe prompt. All seven reef cards use the current habitat artwork.
Polished
Respond to final screenshot feedback
Prompt: Move the globe's visa action to the marked lower position, then make the safe match Settings and remove redundant exit prompts.
Outcome: The travel action no longer competes with reef labels, and the safe now has the same centred heading and round back control as Settings, without Done or Keep diving actions.
What improved
Improvements made.
Evidence-led changes grouped around the product, implementation, design and working process.
Optional room shimmer
A subtle sequential light sweep reveals tappable objects without covering the room in permanent labels, and the saved preference can disable it.
Direct mobile interactions
Room objects now open their destinations immediately, removing hover assumptions and mockup-only confirmation cards.
Help Wanted gameplay guide
A sign integrated into the room provides a discoverable route to guidance on destinations, game types, gems, collections and owned Messages stickers.
Tabbed learning flow
Computer, Dive Collection, Safe and Admin tabs divide the guide into focused topics using a pattern already familiar from the collection screens.
Consistent full-screen tools
Settings and Help now use the same presentation and round back control as the globe, with clearer accessibility behaviour.
Current destination artwork
The completed-dive banner and all seven reef information cards now draw from the latest Field Atlas and habitat imagery.
Shared travel shop
The safe and globe lead to one visa and passport experience that filters owned access and disables offers once every reef is open.
More useful Settings
Accessibility preferences, review and feedback routes, version information, copyright, artwork context and map credits are organised into distinct panels.
Cleaner safe and globe
The globe's visa action moved clear of map labels, while the safe shed redundant exit controls and adopted the same navigation hierarchy as Settings.
Pain points
Friction, constraints and open edges.
Resolved problems are separated from constraints and work that remains open.
The initial shimmer mockup could not be opened automatically
Local-file browser policy blocked the concept's automated preview, so that first animation was delivered without a visual browser check. The later native implementation was verified in the simulator.
Desktop interaction assumptions did not suit mobile
Hover states and confirmation cards added friction to a touch interface. Direct navigation and optional shimmer guidance replaced them.
Artwork had drifted out of sync
The dive log and reef information cards still referenced older backgrounds after the Field Atlas refresh. Both now use the current image sources.
The Settings back control was not exposed correctly
The first full-screen simulator run revealed an accessibility problem with the new back control. It was corrected before the navigation pass was accepted.
The visa action overlapped a reef label
Screenshot review exposed competition between the new travel action and the globe's content. Moving it into the marked lower area restored visual separation.
Travel purchases still depend on availability configuration
The new purchase screens were exercised with test data, but production purchasing remains governed by the existing availability setup and should stay unavailable until valid storefront data is supplied.
Outputs & proof
What was delivered and verified.
The refinements were checked through focused unit coverage, complete interface journeys and repeated simulator screenshot review, including persistence, navigation, entitlement states and final placement corrections.
Verification record
- Seven focused checks passed for direct room navigation, guide presentation and saved shimmer preference.
- Simulator screenshots confirmed the Help Wanted sign placement, readable guide content and matching dive-mode icons.
- A build and simulator journey verified that the dive-log banner uses the completed site's current Field Atlas image.
- Full-screen Settings and Help passed back-navigation checks, including the corrected accessibility exposure and persisted shimmer setting.
- The larger guidance and travel pass completed 14 unit checks and seven interface journeys.
- Travel verification covered reef filtering, complete-access disabling and removal of the globe prompt after passport ownership.
- Final simulator reviews confirmed the lowered visa action and the safe's matching header, back control and navigation behaviour.
Key decisions
Use a soft sequential shimmer as optional guidance instead of hover states or permanent hotspot labels.
Open room destinations directly on tap and reserve explanatory content for the Help Wanted guide.
Describe Messages availability in terms of stickers the player owns, rather than merely revealed wildlife.
Respect Reduced Motion and pause non-essential room animation while another screen is presented.
Use the collection screen's tab pattern to organise the gameplay guide.
Share one entitlement-aware visa and passport shop between the safe and globe.
Remove travel offers when all reefs are open rather than leaving inactive prompts in the globe.
Standardise the round equipment-room back control across globe, Settings, Help and safe screens.
Visual checkpoints
Generated and edited images.
No new generated or edited images were created during this interval. User-supplied screenshots and simulator captures were used as review evidence rather than added to the public visual gallery.
No images were generated in this interval.
Next moves & open questions
Current position.
The equipment room now teaches and routes the player more effectively, with persistent shimmer control, a tabbed guide, consistent full-screen navigation, current reef imagery and shared travel purchasing entry points. The implementation has been checked locally. Actual purchase availability remains gated by valid production storefront configuration.