Home Screen
Designing an iconic and accessible home screen to navigate between game features.
Design Inspiration
Hungry Shark Primal Home Screen
In Hungry Shark Primal, the Home Screen acts as the central nervous system of the game, connecting core gameplay with meta-features while maintaining the casual arcade spirit. Our key challenge was integrating competitive features, social systems, and monetization without compromising the pick-up-and-play nature that defines the genre. This case study explores how we achieved a 48% increase in daily active users through an intuitive interface that both guides new players and rewards deeper engagement. We'll break down our iterative design process, user testing insights, and the specific solutions that helped us create a home screen that players actually enjoy using.
Design Inspiration
Competitive Analysis
Mobile game home screens have evolved through years of industry testing, optimizing for both usability and thematic immersion. While developing Hungry Shark Primal, we studied successful mobile titles to understand how they balance accessibility with rich feature sets - particularly how they handle the increasing complexity of modern live service games without overwhelming players.
Clash of Clans
Call of Duty: Mobile
Brawl Stars
Asphalt 9: Legends
The Home Screen Basic Structure
Navigating core & meta components of the game
As part of the information architecture, I designed the layout of Hungry Shark Primal to accommodate different meta-game systems, with heavier emphasis on easy access to core-gameplay and monetization features. Screen real estate is precious and long term thinking was very important. The screen need
Core Progression
Meta layer
Character
Monetization
Shark Centerpiece
Energy System
Soft Currency
Hard Currency
Meta layer
Play
Information Architecture
How the different feature modules interact with each other
The feature modules in Hungry Shark Primal operate through a centralized Main Screen hub that coordinates all interactions. Players access character selection through the Shark/Pet Select module, which connects to an Upgrades system for progression. A Mode Select module offers gameplay variations, while the Shop system integrates with iOS/GGP Purchasing for transactions. The Hungry Book provides game information, and post-game features are managed through an IAP popup that connects to a rating system. All these components maintain direct connections to the Main Screen, ensuring seamless navigation between features and a cohesive gameplay experience.
Information Architecture
How the different feature modules interact with each other
UI Optimized for thumb placement
Where is the best place to put the most important buttons?
In the design of the Hungry Shark Primal Home Screen, the ‘Play’ and ‘Shop’ buttons are placed within the natural thumb zones to encourage efficient navigation between core gameplay and monetization features. This UI arrangement anticipates, and reinforces the behavior of players who frequently switch between the core-game loop, shop, and meta layers. This ergonomic placement leverages the natural range of motion, reducing strain and making interactions more intuitive.
Determining the UI Genre
What UI material theme do players like?
In the design of the Hungry Shark Primal Home Screen, the ‘Play’ and ‘Shop’ buttons are placed within the natural thumb zones to encourage efficient navigation between core gameplay and monetization features. This UI arrangement anticipates, and reinforces the behavior of players who frequently switch between the core-game loop, shop, and meta layers. This ergonomic placement leverages the natural range of motion, reducing strain and making interactions more intuitive.
Determining the UI Genre
What UI material theme do players like?
In the design of the Hungry Shark Primal Home Screen, the ‘Play’ and ‘Shop’ buttons are placed within the natural thumb zones to encourage efficient navigation between core gameplay and monetization features. This UI arrangement anticipates, and reinforces the behavior of players who frequently switch between the core-game loop, shop, and meta layers. This ergonomic placement leverages the natural range of motion, reducing strain and making interactions more intuitive.
User Research
Gauging user preferences through surveys
We sent out an in-game survey and engaged with the discord community to identify what user preferences were regarding UI themes. These UI themes were quickly mocked up to get a general sense of the genre it represents. We took these results into consideration when determining the general direction of HSP's art style.
User Research
Gauging user preferences through surveys
Modern/Sci-Fi
351 Votes
Classic Arcade
Classic Arcade
272 Votes
Pre-historic Rocky V1
221 Votes
Flat Design
Pre-historic Rocky V1
189 Votes
Pre-historic Patterned
Pre-historic Rocky V1
159 Votes
Pre-historic Rocky V2
Pre-historic Rocky V1
118 Votes
Iterations through time
Evolution of the Home Screen
Among many candidates for the UI theme, the team chose to balance modern and playful elements. Departing from skeuomorphic ocean and rock textures, we aimed to create a more bubbly/toy-ish and modern design that sets itself apart from the previous game.
