Designing interactive family experiences for a real hospitality client
During my internship at Dutch Rose Media, I was assigned to design two interactive mini-games for Center Parcs' app update. This was my first experience designing game interfaces for a real client, working within strict brand guidelines while creating engaging family-friendly experiences.
Center Parcs needed digital games for their app that would appeal to families with children. Multiple stakeholders had different visions, and I had to balance creative freedom with strict brand requirements while designing my first-ever game interface.
I analyzed the existing Center Parcs game designs to understand their preferred taste.
Since these two assignments were relatively small, they wanted me to start with Figma immediately since their styles already exist: I've received examples too so that I could work. Later on, I created interactive prototypes that simulated actual gameplay with animations.
A classic memory card game featuring Center Parcs animal icons and nature-themed visuals
Interactive card-matching gameplay
I would for example create versions of the design, I'd show it to colleagues in the company and once we were all satisfied, we'd show them to the client and in this case Center Parcs.
A creative canvas where guests could draw over custom seasonal backgrounds
Digital canvas with seasonal backgrounds
Making digital drawing feel natural was harder than expected. I had to use the right canvas size, brush settings and colors to avoid inconsistencies. Creating multiple background scenes in Photoshop and putting them into the Figma prototype took some time since I had to match it with the other seasons.
A valuable moment: I created an animation where the sky darkened but the sun stayed bright. The client immediately called this out. It taught me to think through the logic of every design element, not just make things look visually appealing: This was fixed at the end luckily.
Different canvas backgrounds and UI states
One of my colleagues coded this into a working Android app demo. Seeing my Figma prototype become a real, functional application was incredibly rewarding. It reinforced why I love working on projects that move beyond static mockups and actually get built.
Game design is different from web design. The interactions need to feel responsive and rewarding. I learned to think about timing, feedback, animations.
Working with multiple stakeholders taught me to handle feedback constructively. When the Center Parcs team critiqued my work, I learned to see it as an opportunity to improve rather than a personal criticism. That mindset shift is needed to become a professional designer.
Strict brand guidelines initially felt limiting, but they actually helped me focus. Learning to be creative within constraints—and understanding why those constraints exist—is a crucial professional skill I developed through this project.
Seeing my designs coded into a working Android demo was very nice to see. It showed me the importance of designing with implementation in mind.