Animal Crossing New Horizons Companion App
2025
My rendition of an Animal Crossing New Horizons Companion App was born out of determination to learn UX design theory. It was used as the primary companion project for the Google UX Design Certificate I completed in May 2025.
The App's primary function is to help the player with task completion, and documenting their island information. The design aesthetic of the app was born out of the cozy atmosphere Animal Crossing so frequently provides.
Work in Progress
Research Phase
The research phase of this project began with downloading and analyzing existing companion apps, both for New Horizons, and previous games. Previous games saw fewer apps than New Horizons, as Nintendo released canon companion guides.
There were several key components each app for New Horizons had:
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Task Checklists
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Visitor Tracking
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User Profile
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Current Available Catches
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Turnip Prices
Other components such as the entire item catalogue and "critterpedia" were found in both official guides and companion apps.
There were several key features some apps possessed that others did not, such as:
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Villager Catalogue
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Calendar
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General Guides
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Tour/Mystery Island Probabilities and Layouts
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Weather (Questionable accuracy)
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Store Hours
User research was also conducted in the form of interviews. Several (9) participants between the ages of 15 to 25 were interviewed. All were familiar with New Horizons, 4 were familiar with previous titles. The following board was constructed with key takeaway points.
Using the above research, conclusions were drawn about what should be included in the app, along with inferences on desirable features.
Site Architecture Framework
Wireframe
