From Concept to Experience:
My Journey in Co-Founding an Escape Room
Escape together, your accessible getaway
My role
Co-founder and lead designer: shaped the player experience by optimising touchpoints and refining storylines and hints based on research and feedback, while managing operations and staff training.
Project
Commercial project
Timeline
35 months, 2019-2022
Tools used
Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Social media, Excel
Introduction
Project overview
This escape room project, Shanling Club Escape Room, was a real-world application of service design in China. Co-founded by our team, it aimed to create an affordable and accessible experience for young people, allowing them to escape pressure and enjoy immersive challenges.
After two months of planning and setup, we launched a four-month trial run before officially opening in 2019. The business operated for nearly four years and closed in 2023. I was actively involved for three of those years, overseeing design, customer experience, and staff training, while continuously refining the experience based on player feedback.
Escape Room Operation Overview
(2019–2023)
An immersive, story-driven escape room designed to balance challenge and accessibility for all player levels.
*Note: Shanling Club Escape Room (Store name)
Hosted
10,000+
games over four years
Reached
#2
in regional ratings
Maintained an average customer score of
4.79 / 5
Theme room introduction
Morita Hospital
After a mass killing, the abandoned hospital is rumored to be haunted. Lured by a social media challenge, players explore—only to find someone is guiding them to their doom.
The Serial Cases
Players, as detectives, investigate a string of murders in a forest cabin, uncovering the truth while evading a lurking killer.
Highlights from Player Insights
Story-Driven Puzzles
By naturally blending clue searches with puzzles, we created an immersive experience that remains affordable through controlled costs.
For All Skill Levels
Difficulty rises with the storyline—from scattered clues to integrating all evidence into the full narrative—allowing players of different skill levels to participate fully and feel both challenge and accomplishment.
Adaptive Team Play
A “hidden role” gap in the plot allows for adaptation based on team size—this role can be voiced off-screen or assigned as an undercover player, boosting engagement.
Brand story
Inspired by the gap:
Bridging entry-level and high-end escape rooms with affordability
In 2019, the escape room industry in China saw rapid growth, with Beijing leading the country with over 180,000 bookings in 2018.
The popularity of the TV show “Great Escape”, which claimed the top spot in viewership ratings, further fuelled the trend, leading escape rooms to overtake traditional entertainment such as films and karaoke.
Identifying market gaps and opportunities through field research
Overpriced immersive escape rooms
High prices make immersive escape rooms inaccessible to many, creating an opportunity for more affordable options.
High entry barrier for beginners
Newcomers, often inspired by reality shows, struggle with complex storylines and challenging tasks, presenting a chance to design accessible experiences for all levels.
Cheap escape rooms lack quality
Affordable options often have outdated equipment and simplistic puzzles, resulting in a poor experience, which creates room for better-quality, competitively priced alternatives.
Team requirements add pressure
Strict player minimums force group-matching, making it hard for those who prefer to play with friends, allowing for more flexible gameplay options.
Our brand
Vision
Creating an affordable escape room where anyone can relax, connect, and be immersed.
Concept
Bridging the gap between entry-level and advanced experiences by balancing complexity and affordability.
Our name, Shanling Club Escape Room, inspired by The Shining, captures cinematic thrill while positioning itself as a hub for immersive escape experiences.
Trapped
Breakthrough
Bold
The logo symbolises how people are wrapped in pressure, while the axe represents the urge to break free.
#
FFD
140
The colour signals energy and alertness, with a hint of rebellion and hope.
The cute and lively font that contrasts the heavy imagery to highlight youth and playfulness.
Our team
Our story
We’re five friends from different backgrounds, united by our love for escape rooms. Though our tastes and skill levels varied, we spent countless weekends exploring different stories. The more we played, the more gaps we noticed—too expensive, too hard, or missing that immersive spark.
So we asked ourselves: why not build our own? Something fun, accessible, and welcoming to all kinds of players. That’s how Shanling Club Escape Room was born.
Our roles
While each of us had defined roles, we collaborated closely throughout—refining scripts, tweaking puzzles, and managing daily operations together.
Bin Wang
Led venue planning and renovation
Yuxuan Wei
Manage puzzle mechanisms and prop setup
Wen Zhang
Creat the storyline and manage online platforms
Yue Zhao (me)
Design visual materials
and experience flow
Chang Yuan
Marketing and business operations
Research
Designing fun for players by understanding the audience
By creating and sharing the personas on the right, we focused on three key dimensions: emotional, game structure, and service. The overlapping areas in the diagram highlight shared needs that emerge when these dimensions interact.
Based on the personas, the service blueprint emphasises strong front-stage guidance before the game and supportive follow-up afterward to meet player needs and emotional expectations. At the same time, it ensures smooth and immersive gameplay by maintaining efficient backstage operations.
Build audience engagement at every touchpoint through visual design and interactions
Online Presence
Build a brand identity.
Respond promptly to customer inquiries.
On-Site
Maintain a cohesive visual.
Provide friendly and guided service.
During Gameplay
Ensure responsive puzzle feedback.
Respond quickly to issues.
Post-Game
Set up a photo area.
Offer patient and engaging game recap with players.
Feedback
Adjustments were made based on player feedback and observed behaviours during operation
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Reflection
Insights from practice:
Design thinking in a real-world escape room project
In real-world application, design thinking is an iterative process—often looping from deliver back to discover.
For example, when designing an escape room for both beginners and experts, we introduced a gradually increasing difficulty. But during playtests, many teams got stuck early and never reached the advanced challenges, leaving experienced players unsatisfied.
In response, we refined the hint system and story logic, helping all skill levels progress and enjoy the full experience.
Balancing design and operations in practice
In real-world operations, it’s essential to balance user-centered design with cost control and revenue efficiency. The goal is to enhance user experience while improving operational effectiveness and profitability.
Effective teamwork also requires clear role definition and collaboration across design, operations, marketing, and construction—ensuring smooth communication and aligned efforts toward continuous improvement.