DESTINY 2
Improving player engagement with a new character home feature.
PROJECT TYPE
Feature ideation & proposal
TIMELINE
3 weeks
ROLE
UX Strategy
UX/UI Design
PROJECT INTRO
As part of ELVTR’s Advanced UX/UI for Gaming course, I proposed a new character customization feature to improve player engagement for Destiny 2 — a critically acclaimed multiplayer first-person shooter developed by Bungie.
The Challenge
The core challenge I set out to solve was:
How can I deepen player engagement by making the gameplay experience more customizable, rewarding, and socially connected?
The Process
EVALUATING THE EXISTING EXPERIENCE
I started by conducting a full gameplay flow evaluation, mapping the player journey and evaluating it against the four player experience pillars: usability, desirability, discoverability, and feasibility. This helped me uncover opportunities for the new customization feature.
Mapped the gameplay
flow
I mapped out the existing pre-game, gameplay, and post-game experience in a flow chart.
Audited gameplay
screens
I evaluated the screens within each part of the gameplay flow for experience gaps.
Identified improvement
goals
For every experience gap, I laid out improvement goals to enhance player engagement.
INTRODUCING A NEW FEATURE: CHARACTER HOME (A.K.A “BASE”)
Through that evaluation, the concept that stood out most was a character home — an immersive, customizable space for players to showcase gear and connect with friends.
Why this feature?
What made this idea compelling was how naturally it aligned with the three core player engagement drivers: time spent in-game, social connection, and monetization potential.
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Character home customization is an immersive gameplay experience that’s fun and enables players to continue exploring their character’s identity.
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Giving players an area to display armor, weapons, and other rare items complements the game’s existing gear reward system and incentivizes players more.
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Allowing players to host and visit friends in their customized homes engages players socially and provides an avenue to explore more social features in the future.
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Home themes and decor could be monetized, engaging players an additional way while creating another revenue stream.
DEFINING THE VISION & EXPERIENCE GOALS
With the concept of a character home in place, I defined the feature vision, mapping it back to the experience pillars. This helped me craft goal-oriented player stories and success metrics for the feature, keeping both player value and business outcomes in focus.
NAMING EXPLORATION
Next, I explored naming by using a tone and style matrix to balance and align the feature name with Destiny 2’s creative style and lore. The name that fit the most organically within the Destiny universe was “Base.”
FLOW MAPPING &
KEY SCREENS
I then mapped out the player flow for how the Base would integrate into the existing gameplay flow:
Where would it live in the in-game world?
How would players access it, both on first-time and returning visits?
What would the onboarding and setup flow look like?
From there, I wireframed key UI moments, including:
A map-based option to travel to your Base within the Director view
A low-fidelity HUD exploration of what it looks like to walk around your space, display gear, and interact with items
GOING TO BASE
Players can navigate to their base from the director screen like they would any other destination for a more immersive experience.
DISPLAYING GEAR
Display areas are provided to let players customize their space and show off character gear, weapons, or other collectible items
FINAL PROTOTYPE & PROJECT THOUGHTS
Final thoughts
The Base concept creates new gameplay opportunities to deepen player engagement with identity expression, social play, and ongoing customization, all while aligning and integrating seamlessly with Destiny 2’s existing systems.