Adapt
How it Started
The Context
AT A GLANCE:
Role: Product Designer | Timeline: 3 months | Team: Solo project
Arcade bars operate successful entertainment businesses but rely on outdated coin-based payment systems in an increasingly cashless world.
Customer reviews across Colorado arcade bars identify payment frustration as the #1 complaint. Patrons experience 2-4 interruptions per visit to withdraw cash, purchase coins, and manage physical currency, often paying ATM fees and buying more coins than needed.
I designed a venue-branded app that eliminates physical coins while preserving the authentic arcade experience.
Market Research
Competitive Analysis
User Research
Usability Testing
Wireframe
Prototyping
UI Design
#1 Complaint Payment frustration in arcade bar reviews
2-4 Interruptions Per typical arcade visit for coins
Colorado-wide Issue Problem across multiple venues
Was There Ever a Problem?
The Challenge
Arcade bars today face a fundamental disconnect, they operate on coin-based systems in an increasingly cashless world. At Akihabara, customers were repeatedly forced to interrupt their social experience to withdraw cash and purchase coins, often incurring ATM fees and frustration.
Through customer reviews analysis, I discovered this wasn't just my personal frustration, it was the #1 complaint across multiple arcade bar venues.
The core question became:
How might we eliminate physical coins while preserving the authentic arcade experience?
UX Process
Finding the Friction
To identify the most impactful solution, I needed to understand both user pain points and market opportunities for arcade bar experiences.
Market Analysis
Competitive audit examining both direct and indirect competitors in the digital payment space for entertainment venues.
Empathy Map
I created an empathy map from my customer review analysis to better understand the arcade bar patron's perspective and emotional journey.
User Journey Map
I created detailed journey maps to visualize the current arcade bar experience, focusing on pain points and emotional states throughout the customer journey.
User Journey Map
Discovery: Payment frustration was just the symptom. The real problem was multiple interruptions destroying the social experience.
Strategic insight: Digital intervention needed to address the entire experience from arrival to departure, not just payments.
Payment frustration was the #1 complaint in reviews of arcade bars across Colorado
The typical arcade bar visit involved 2-4 interruptions to get more coins
Reviews indicated customers were highly receptive to digital payment solutions
The opportunity gap I identified was for a venue-branded app that offered a complete experience beyond just payments
From UX to UI
Data to Design
Research insights informed three strategic design priorities:
Friction-Free Payments: Create a digital wallet that eliminates the need for physical coins and ATM visits, addressing the #1 pain point identified in review analysis
Integrated Experience: Combine game activation, drink orders, and tab management into a single interface, eliminating the disjointed experience revealed in the journey mapping
Enhanced Gaming: Add value through leaderboards, game information, and social features to transform the app from a utility into an essential part of the arcade experience
Where to begin transforming these insights into an interface? I started with sketches, exploring multiple approaches before committing to digital wireframes.
Iterate, Iterate, Iterate
Maybe you’ve noticed, but I use this phrase often. I always start with paper wireframes first so I can get the gist of the key components in my design.
I’m really trying to focus on structure here and getting a feel of the layout. Usually, I make multiple versions of the same page and pick out key areas that I like and then add them to a final paper wireframe.
Strategic implementation: Customer profile directly executes 'Enhanced Gaming' principle.
Key features: Coin balance, reward points, game access in one dashboard.
Business impact: Transforms payment utility into core arcade experience.
Design approach: Balanced innovation with familiar e-commerce patterns to reduce cognitive load.
Strategic decision: Streamlined checkout with saved payment methods for purchase ease.
Oh Behave…
Test Early & Refine
I tested my low fidelity prototype through a moderated usability test with 5 participants with tasks matching the key function for the business: Use the app to purchase coins for the arcade game.
After the studies, I used an affinity diagram to reveal a couple of patterns, those being:
The Tap-to-Play screen needed a clear indicator that a physical action was needed to start the arcade game.
The game overview page needed to indicate to users when their coins would be deducted and when the game would actually start.
I iterated the low fidelity designs by adding clear signposting ("Insert Coins", "Tap-to-Play") to eliminate conversion friction
Before
After
Visual Design
Channeling Retro-Futurism
Design direction: 90's Japanese retro-futurism to align with arcade culture.
Color palette: Electric blues, hot magentas, cyber yellows - bridging nostalgic arcade and modern mobile interface.
Typography:
Oxygen: Primary serif for exceptional legibility
Roboto Mono: Monospaced font evoking early computer interfaces
Iconography: 8-bit/16-bit gaming heritage with deliberately pixelated elements.
Impact: Cohesive visual language transforms payment utility into authentic arcade experience extension.
Retro-Futurism Meets Modern UX
Feature Explanation
App transforms traditional arcade payment friction into an immersive digital experience using 90's Japanese aesthetic combined with contemporary mobile interface patterns.
The "Why" Behind the Design
Electric blues, hot magentas, and cyber yellows create authentic arcade atmosphere while maintaining mobile usability standards and modern interface expectations.
Oxygen serif ensures legibility while Roboto Mono adds retro-tech character, balancing accessibility with thematic authenticity for optimal user experience.
Customer Dashboard
Feature Explanation
Dashboard consolidates coin balance, reward progress, and game access into unified interface that positions the app as essential arcade experience rather than simple payment utility.
The "Why" Behind the Design
Customer profile directly executes "Enhanced Gaming" principle by displaying app features in one central hub.
Transforms payment utility into core arcade experience through gamified progress tracking and social elements that encourage repeat visits and extended engagement.
Game Overview & Selection
Feature Explanation
Game detail page provides complete cost transparency and clear action prompts before users commit coins, addressing the core friction point of unexpected charges in arcade environments.
The "Why" Behind the Design
Evolution Digitized
From Retro to Brutalist
Several months after the initial launch, I revisited the app's design with fresh perspective gained from real-world experience. My work as a co-founder at Ziva Energy had sharpened my understanding of user-centered design principles, while continued education expanded my design methodology toolkit.
This growth prompted a bold design pivot: I embraced brutalist design principles that felt more authentic to the raw, unpolished energy of classic arcade culture.
Raw Arcade Authenticity
Feature Explanation
Interface prioritizes stark visibility and immediate recognition over aesthetic refinement, mirroring the functional-first approach of arcade machine interfaces.
The "Why" Behind the Design
Replaced soft gradients and translucent overlays with solid color blocks and harsh edges, reflecting the raw, unpolished energy of classic arcade hardware.
Stripped decorative elements to focus purely on functional communication, reflecting how arcade machines prioritize clear, immediate information over visual sophistication.
Home Dashboard Restructure
Feature Explanation
Homepage redesign eliminates visual clutter through stark content organization and symbolic navigation, creating more efficient user flow within the brutalist aesthetic framework.
The "Why" Behind the Design
Pixelated navigation symbols replace text labels, reducing cognitive load while reinforcing retro-gaming authenticity through deliberate low-resolution aesthetic choices.
Scrollable layout eliminates cramped feeling of previous design while clear dashboard segmentation provides immediate access to core functions without interface hunting.
Games Page Consolidation
Feature Explanation
Games page restructure eliminates navigation friction through horizontal browsing patterns and consolidated content access, reducing the need for multiple page visits.
The "Why" Behind the Design
Let Me Cook
Moving Forward
Project Challenges
Recognizing that arcade gaming is inherently spontaneous, I identified the tension between necessary business data collection and user convenience early in the design process, prompting consideration of progressive engagement models like guest modes and social authentication (Google, Apple ID) to maximize conversion rates.
Project Changes
Several months post-launch, I completely redesigned the visual direction from retro-futurism to brutalist design principles. This major aesthetic pivot, informed by professional growth and expanded design education, required rebuilding the entire interface hierarchy and visual system to better capture the raw, utilitarian energy of authentic arcade culture.
