9 TO 5
SURVIVE THE GRIND
How do we teach people to actually look out for each other, and themselves, when the workplace is already overwhelming?
Role
UX Designer/
CMF
Team Lead
Team
Dorelle Li, Ankia Gupta, Jeremey kim
Skills
UX, physical prototyping, Design Language
Timeline
6 Weeks
Role
UX Designer/
CMF
Team Lead
Team
Dorelle Li, Ankia Gupta, Jeremey kim
Skills
UX, physical prototyping, Design Language
Timeline
6 Weeks
9 TO 5
SURVIVE THE GRIND
How do we teach people to actually look out for each other, and themselves, when the workplace is already overwhelming?
Role
UX Designer/
CMF
Team Lead
Team
Dorelle Li, Ankia Gupta, Jeremey kim
Skills
UX, physical prototyping, Design Language
Timeline
6 Weeks
Role
UX Designer/
CMF
Team Lead
Team
Dorelle Li, Ankia Gupta, Jeremey kim
Skills
UX, physical prototyping, Design Language
Timeline
6 Weeks
9 TO 5
SURVIVE THE GRIND
How do we teach people to actually look out for each other, and themselves, when the workplace is already overwhelming?
Role
UX Designer/
CMF
Team Lead
Team
Dorelle Li, Ankia Gupta, Jeremey kim
Skills
UX, physical prototyping, Design Language
Timeline
6 Weeks
Role
UX Designer/
CMF
Team Lead
Team
Dorelle Li, Ankia Gupta, Jeremey kim
Skills
UX, physical prototyping, Design Language
Timeline
6 Weeks
9 TO 5
SURVIVE THE GRIND
How do we teach people to actually look out for each other, and themselves, when the workplace is already overwhelming?
Role
UX Designer/
CMF
Team Lead
Team
Dorelle Li, Ankia Gupta, Jeremey kim
Skills
UX, physical prototyping, Design Language
Timeline
6 Weeks
Role
UX Designer/
CMF
Team Lead
Team
Dorelle Li, Ankia Gupta, Jeremey kim
Skills
UX, physical prototyping, Design Language
Timeline
6 Weeks
We've all heard the advice, manage your stress, set boundaries, take breaks, but nobody teaches you how to do that while everything around you is on fire. I wanted to redesign the "every person for themselves" nature of games like Game of Life into something more honest: a semi-cooperative experience where the only way to survive is to actually look out for each other. Because burnout isn't just a personal problem. It's everyone's problem.
We've all heard the advice, manage your stress, set boundaries, take breaks, but nobody teaches you how to do that while everything around you is on fire. I wanted to redesign the "every person for themselves" nature of games like Game of Life into something more honest: a semi-cooperative experience where the only way to survive is to actually look out for each other. Because burnout isn't just a personal problem. It's everyone's problem.
We've all heard the advice, manage your stress, set boundaries, take breaks, but nobody teaches you how to do that while everything around you is on fire. I wanted to redesign the "every person for themselves" nature of games like Game of Life into something more honest: a semi-cooperative experience where the only way to survive is to actually look out for each other. Because burnout isn't just a personal problem. It's everyone's problem.
Wireframe Prototype
Wireframe Prototype
Wireframe Prototype
How do we make our game logic easy and intuitive for users to understand?
Using the same logos and icons that are represented on the physical board as well as the app
Having clear and concise instructions, let the images and visuals teach the player
How do we make the interface interactive and playful, just like our game?
Colorful elements match the colorful real-life board game elements
Jumping features
How do we make our game logic easy and intuitive for users to understand?
Using the same logos and icons that are represented on the physical board as well as the app
Having clear and concise instructions, let the images and visuals teach the player
How do we make the interface interactive and playful, just like our game?
Colorful elements match the colorful real-life board game elements
Jumping features
FONT AND COLORS
Source Code Pro is friendly and playful
Corporate environment colors mixed with a sense of play
ICONS
Playful chairs
intern gets the stool, employee gets a generic folding chair, the HR gets a comfy chair, and the boss gets the Eames chair
DIGITAL MANUAL
Making learning a new game intuitive
PHYSICAL MAKING
9 to 5
Collaborative game about surviving and sustaining care within corporate life
Reimagines the workplace as a living ecosystem, where everyone’s stress rises and falls together
Game of Life
A career-oriented game that focuses on making money to succeed
focus of individual play
9 to 5
Collaborative game about surviving and sustaining care within corporate life
Reimagines the workplace as a living ecosystem, where everyone’s stress rises and falls together
Game of Life
A career-oriented game that focuses on making money to succeed
focus of individual play
First Prototype: Redesigning the Game of Life
First Prototype: Redesigning the Game of Life
Final Board, spinner, meeples
Players emobody 4 roles: Boss, HR, Employee, and Intern
Each player gets TWO sets of cards representing real-world office events, decisions, and miscommunications
Every action impacts the player’s stress level, mirroring the delicate balance of shared tension that defines modern work culture
The goal is not to climb the ladder or crush competition, but to end the game with a low collective stress
Final Board, spinner, meeples
Players emobody 4 roles: Boss, HR, Employee, and Intern
Each player gets TWO sets of cards representing real-world office events, decisions, and miscommunications
Every action impacts the player’s stress level, mirroring the delicate balance of shared tension that defines modern work culture
The goal is not to climb the ladder or crush competition, but to end the game with a low collective stress
Success depends on empathy, humor, and timing. Designed for students, coworkers, and anyone who’s lived/ thought through the rhythms of corporate life, "9 - 5" turns burnout, bureaucracy, and small acts of care into a system you can finally laugh at. It’s a game about how we hold each other together inside systems that often wear us down and how shared stress can transform into shared understanding.
Success depends on empathy, humor, and timing. Designed for students, coworkers, and anyone who’s lived/ thought through the rhythms of corporate life, "9 - 5" turns burnout, bureaucracy, and small acts of care into a system you can finally laugh at. It’s a game about how we hold each other together inside systems that often wear us down and how shared stress can transform into shared understanding.
Board designed with architecture layout to mimic workplace floor plan
Colored tiles with icons for users to easily identify what player card they land on
Board designed with architecture layout to mimic workplace floor plan
Colored tiles with icons for users to easily identify what player card they land on
USER TESTING
USER TESTING
"Easy manual, figured out how to play the game in 15 minutes"
"very cute icons and meeples, makes the game easy to pick up
"Each round of the game felt a bit repetitive"
"Wish there was a little something more throughout the game so we were more engaged"
"cards could use less wording, maybe add some visuals"
"So far really strong game logic, but there's more opprtunity for the game to grow"
"Easy manual, figured out how to play the game in 15 minutes"
"very cute icons and meeples, makes the game easy to pick up
"Each round of the game felt a bit repetitive"
"Wish there was a little something more throughout the game so we were more engaged"
"cards could use less wording, maybe add some visuals"
"So far really strong game logic, but there's more opprtunity for the game to grow"
After user testing, we added a rule where unused cards affect the player they were drawn from, making players more strategic, engaged, and invested in each other's outcomes.
After user testing, we added a rule where unused cards affect the player they were drawn from, making players more strategic, engaged, and invested in each other's outcomes.
