Project Exonaut: MMOG UX & In-Game Commerce.
Designing safe, engaging, COPPA-compliant game systems at scale.
Project Exonaut was Cartoon Network's browser-based MMOG for children ages 6–12 — a 3D arena shooter where players piloted Exosuits modeled after CN characters. As UX lead, I designed in-game commerce, character customization, onboarding, platform progression, and faction systems for 9M+ registered users.
The design challenge was to create an experience that felt fun, rewarding, and commercially sustainable while protecting a legally sensitive audience. Every decision balanced three needs: the child who wanted to play, the parent who needed to trust the experience, and the business that needed the platform to sustain itself.
A free-to-play MMOG that ran for three years and supported a responsible commerce model.
Extended Cartoon Network's audience engagement from viewing into active play — supporting a commerce model responsible enough for children and parents while sustaining three years of platform operations.
The three-year platform lifespan and 9M+ registered users show that the model had staying power: engaging enough for children, trustworthy enough for parents, and sustainable enough to support ongoing platform operations.
Browser-based, no download. Zero install friction drove rapid acquisition across CN's audience.
April 2011 through late 2014. Sustained through content updates, seasonal events, and IP-tied Exosuit releases.
Characters from Ben 10, Adventure Time, Powerpuff Girls, and Gumball — each with distinct stats, abilities, and monetization tiers.
Free core gameplay with premium in-game currency, plus ad inventory value driven by PVP engagement loops.
Six outcomes across safety, engagement, and commerce.
Monetization without manipulation
Designed a commerce flow that supported premium purchases while respecting COPPA's parental consent requirements — without dark patterns targeting a legally protected audience.
IP as progression driver
Character suits tied to faction identity, stat differentiation, and show loyalty — reinforcing CN's IP relationships through gameplay choices, not just cosmetics.
Safe social systems
Safe-chat phrase libraries, instant report/block tools, and mediated interaction enabled social play without exposing children to unmoderated contact.
Onboarding built for children
Animation-driven, hands-on learning sequences replaced text walls. Children reached their first successful combat encounter without reading a single instructional block.
Faction identity and return motivation
Banzai Squadron vs. Atlas Brigade created persistent identity and cross-session investment — players belonged to something, driving return visits and peer recruitment.
Sustained platform engagement
PVP loops and seasonal content extended time on the CN platform, increasing ad inventory value while keeping the experience genuinely rewarding for players.
Designing for children is the most precise UX problem you can have.
Children ages 6–12 have zero tolerance for ambiguity. Adults recover from unclear interfaces — children abandon them. Adults assume hidden features exist — children assume they don't. This shaped every decision.
Children don't debug. If they can't complete an action immediately, they assume it can't be done — and they leave. The experience had to be legible at first glance, responsive to every action, and forgiving of every mistake.
What child UX research tells us
- Motor precision — developing fine motor skills mean small targets consistently fail; all interactive elements required larger-than-standard tap areas
- Navigation expectations — features not immediately visible are assumed not to exist; no nested menus, nothing hidden
- Reading tolerance — dense text is abandoned immediately; every label short, literal, and supported by iconography
- Failure tolerance — punishing failure causes abandonment; every loss framed as a learning moment, not a setback
What this meant in practice
- All navigation flat and always visible — no sub-menus
- Every action confirmed with immediate visual and auditory feedback
- Tutorials delivered through guided gameplay, not instruction screens
- Loss screens energetic and humorous — consistent with CN's brand voice
- Commerce introduced through earned currency before real money surfaced
- Safe chat only — pre-selected phrases, no open text entry
Six principles that held across every surface.
Given the audience constraints, I established principles applicable across onboarding, gameplay, commerce, social, and account management — practical rules that resolved trade-offs when business goals and child UX principles conflicted.
Clear over clever
Abstract icons and nested menus consistently failed. Every label was literal. Every action labeled, not iconified. If a feature wasn't visible and obviously labeled, it didn't exist in the player's experience.
Instant feedback, always
Both visual and auditory. Coins dropped with sound. Level-ups triggered animations. Suit selection showed live stat changes. In a browser environment without haptics, every action needed to confirm itself immediately.
Learn through play, not text
Combat mechanics taught through a guided first-match sequence. Commerce introduced through earned currency before real money was ever surfaced — players had something to spend before they were asked to earn more.
Failure as reset, not punishment
Losing still earned XP. Performance stats shown as improvement indicators. The visual language of loss was energetic, keeping the experience motivating across skill levels.
Performance as a constraint
The audience played on older hardware. Slow loading is an abandonment trigger for children. Animation complexity was calibrated for lower frame rates — core loops felt responsive even at degraded performance.
Compliance built in, not bolted on
COPPA compliance embedded into account creation and commerce flows as a design feature. The parental consent process framed as safety and care — not a restriction the child encountered as a wall.
Making monetization and compliance work together, not against each other.
The commerce system was the most delicate design problem — the business needed revenue, the audience was children, and the law required parental consent for purchases. The design had to make premium content feel genuinely desirable without manufactured urgency or dark patterns.
Players earned in-game currency through gameplay before real money was ever surfaced. This created familiarity with the currency system and ensured the first commerce interaction wasn't a cold purchase — it was spending something already earned.
Premium content supported the business model, while parental consent protected a legally sensitive audience. The design challenge was making those needs work together — without dark patterns, accidental purchases, or unnecessary friction for legitimate parent-approved purchases.
Commerce principles
- Earned before spent — in-game currency earned through play before real money introduced
- Preview before purchase — any suit previewed fully before committing, reducing anxiety and returns
- Free tier meaningful — free suits competitive, premium offered variety not power advantage
- IP as natural urgency — new suits tied to CN programming calendar, not countdown timers
- Explicit confirmation — two-step confirm with full summary; no accidental purchases
Safety & compliance principles
- COPPA consent at the right moment — surfaced at point of purchase intent, not account creation
- Safe chat only — pre-selected phrase library, no open text, no personal info disclosure risk
- Report/block as first-class UI — always visible, same visual weight as gameplay actions
- No free-text usernames — pre-approved lists only, preventing personal information in display names
From game entry to purchase consent — the key UX flow.
The wireframes show how design principles translated into product flows: flat navigation, visible state, preview before purchase, explicit confirmation, and COPPA-aware payment consent.
Game Template & Home Screen
Template established flat, always-visible navigation. Home surfaced current suit, faction status, currency, and active events without scrolling — children should never have to search for their current state.
Exosuit Shop & Preview
Shop distinguished free and premium suits through clear visual hierarchy — stats alongside price so children could evaluate value, not just desirability. Preview let players see any suit animate and compare stats before committing.
Purchase Confirmation & Parental Consent
Two-step confirmation — item summary then final confirm, no hidden costs, no accidental purchases. COPPA consent surfaced at the point of payment intent, framed as care rather than a restriction.
Supporting wireframe artifacts
What This Shaped
The work established reusable interaction principles for child-facing commerce, safe social play, and COPPA-aware consent patterns across Cartoon Network game experiences.
The strategic challenge was balancing three needs at once: premium content that supported the business model, child-centered interaction patterns that avoided manipulation, and parental consent flows that protected a legally sensitive audience without creating unnecessary friction.
The best design constraint I ever had was an audience that would immediately tell me — through their behavior — exactly where I was wrong.