Volunteer Simulation
Systems Design | Management Simulation | Unity
Core Focus:
Designing a financially and emotionally sustainable volunteer organization under unpredictable real-world events.
This project explores the challenge of managing a non-profit organization where resources are limited, and external crises constantly disrupt planning.
Players take on the role of a local volunteer coordinator, balancing:
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Budget management
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Volunteer engagement
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Emergency response events
The Design Problem
In early versions of the project, the game was technically functional—but players didn’t understand what was happening or why they were failing.
Key issues observed during testing:
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Players lost large amounts of money without understanding the cause
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Crisis events felt random rather than systemic
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The connection between player decisions and outcomes was unclear
Core Design Challenge
How do you make a complex, real-world system feel fair, readable, and controllable?
This became the central focus of iteration:
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Not adding more features
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But making existing systems visible and understandable
Problem, Process And Solution Timeline
Iteration 1:
Financial System Clarity
Iteration 2:
Event System Readability
Iteration 3:
UI & Information Hierarchy
Problem:
Players saw sudden drops in budget but couldn’t identify the source.
Observation:
Income and expenses were happening, but not clearly communicated
Players perceived the system as unfair
Design Change:
Structured income into predictable monthly updates
Separated event impacts from base economy
Result:
Players began to understand:
What was stable vs. what was reactive
How their decisions affected long-term survival
Problem:
Crisis events felt random and disconnected from player actions.
Observation:
Players couldn’t anticipate or prepare
Events felt like punishment instead of gameplay
Design Change:
Introduced clearer event triggers and presentation
Framed events as manageable disruptions, not chaos
Result:
Players shifted from reacting emotionally → responding strategically
Problem:
Too much information was present, but not structured.
Observation:
Players ignored important data
Key decisions were made blindly
Design Change:
Reorganized dashboard into clear categories
Prioritized critical information (budget, events, volunteers)
Result:
Players could:
Scan UI, understand and then act
Validating Solution
Before
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Players felt punished by random events
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Budget changes felt unfair
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Decisions lacked meaning
After
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Players could explain why they lost or gained money
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Events became part of strategy
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Players planned ahead instead of reacting
Evidence of Improvement
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Reduced confusion during testing sessions
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Faster decision making
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Players began forming strategies instead of guessing
Reflection
Design Insights Gained
Designing and prototyping Volunteer Simulation changed how I approach system design. I learned that no matter how complicated or "great" I design a game system to be, it won't mean anything if player can't understand it to engage with it. Clarity matters more than realism and the complexity that comes with it.