What We Can Learn from Video Game Design
What is UI/UX
A 2019 study by the Entertainment Software Association showed around 65% percent of American adults play video games. Part of this uptick in popularity is due to smartphones, which have literally placed games into the palms of our hands – anywhere, anytime. And undoubtedly, aspects of plot, characters, graphics, and game mechanics all contribute to a game’s success, too, but the unsung hero of gaming (and, really, software in generally) is User Interface (UI). In the simplest of terms, UI in gaming includes, basically, every way you as a player interact with that game. Weapons loadout screens, health bars, menus, dashboards, et cetera all are a part of UI.
image from theesa.com
All of this plays into User Experience (UX), which defines how good (or bad) the user perceives their interactions with the software. One of the quickest ways to lose your player’s interest is to have clunky, difficult-to-navigate tools and menus within your game. Gamers want intuitive controls, and it could be said that other users want the same experience out of the software or website they are using.
Applying UI/UX Outside of Gaming
Understanding how UI/UX applies to the larger technical world is a valuable asset for a designer to possess. It comes down to knowing and understanding your audience – their wants and needs from your product – and designing with them in mind. This general rule of thumb can apply to a variety of different types of software and websites. Users are looking to achieve their goal with the least amount of effort and clicks. Creating content that is easy to navigate and providing the user with the experience/information they are looking for is the quickest way to provide positive UX to your consumers.
In a May 2020 article, one game and UI designer, Alex Harbuzinski, offered three questions he poses when considering design choices. While he refers to game design, these same ideas can easily be extrapolated into other design fields.
- Will all players be able to interpret the information correctly?
- Does the solution fit with the established game design intentions?
- Is there a more appropriate option to consider?
He goes on to describe his experience designing VR (virtual reality) mechanics, “I had to make them easy to learn, engaging, intuitive…” In general, you should be applying these same design choices to your content to maximize UX.
Finally, he offers the following design tip, “That’s why you should keep in mind that it’s a good practice to design your game from the players’ perspective, their culture, feelings and needs.”
One 2018 article from Syndicode.com provides the below graphic describing the breakdown of what traits create a positive user experience.
The same article goes on to offer four tips on creating convenient and usable UX:
- Eliminate the physical and cognitive barriers that make using a product or service difficult.
- Improve the user flow by placing the content exactly where it is needed.
- Make the perception of experience and expectations clear and smooth.
- Give your users the control to manage their own experiences.
Some game designers have even found that their experience creating game UIs have led to opportunities in seemingly disparate fields. Harlan Elam, for example, is an ex-Blizzard employee. Originally, he worked on website and app design for World of Warcraft, but he now uses his design skills to create complex analysis dashboards for Jask, a cybersecurity company. Below is an example of Jask’s ASOC cybersecurity UI. There are elements that should look familiar to most gamers. Symbols, colors, the division of menus and submenus, it all ties into enhancing (or diminishing) UX.
And it’s not just Mr. Elam. In fact, a survey conducted by McAfee suggests that gamers and game designers may be a good fit for cybersecurity jobs due to common traits like logic, perseverance, and critical thinking.
Take-Aways
Humans are visual creatures and can, frankly, be kind of lazy. An article from 2017 says this on the matter, “During thousands of years of evolution our brains have become hardwired to do the least amount of work possible to get a certain task done; meaning that we’re more result than process-driven.” It goes on to say, “User-centric design is the pinnacle of good UX as it mitigates potential arrogance and adjusts the elements according to the needs and preferences of your target audience.” Whether you’re creating a video game, some other software, or a website, it’s imperative to know and understand your audience’s needs.
- Keep it simple. People want your content to be self-explanatory. Don’t make the learning curve too steep or people may become bored or frustrated.
- Design for both form and function. Simple doesn’t have to mean simplistic; you can provide both a user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing, original experience. One does not automatically negate the other.
- Understand your audience. Know who your audience is and try to anticipate their needs. Try to look at your content through their eyes. Or, better yet, conduct surveys or research panels to gather feedback from other people.
One UI designer, Akhil Dakinedi, offered this advice to those just starting out, “It’s fine to not know and just experiment for a bit.” He suggests doing your research and looking at other successful models to compare your design choices to. Consider what works (or doesn’t) for them. However, he cautions, “There is a fine line, though, between straight up copying the tried-and-true methods, as opposed to being inspired by them to come up with your own variation on it.”
Very interesting post! I appreciate how your take-aways so much. I think that keeping things simple, design choices, and knowing your audience are very critical things to keep in mind when you are creating anything. I’m pretty sure you mentioned this in your post somewhere as well. Also, I can’t believe that 65% of American adults play video games. I don’t know why I didn’t think of games on my phone as a gaming platform. I guess I’m just old school and when I see “gaming,” I think of video game systems (Playstation, Xbox, etc.) and computer systems, but yes, phones count too! Anyway… I am proud to say that I am apart of the 65%! 🙂
Hi, your post is very informational. I don’t know many things about gaming or how to design one but after reading your post I understand how it works. It is very important to know your audience whether you design a website or game. I didn’t know that UI/UX applies on games as well I used to think that it is only when you design a site, but gaming does falls into the category. I think when you are creating a site/game it is important to make it simple to the point where your audience does not get bored or exit out from there. Because the more simple it is the more people will use it.
I like the idea of your post. I don’t design video games. I do play them. I do play and design table top board games. There is a lot of shared UI between these two genres. A lot of video game design and concepts originated in table top games.
A game board or game manual that is cluttered can ruin a game, even a simple game. Yet, a complicated game with a well organized manual can thrive.
I love this post! I think that the amount of coordination and skill involved in video game design is completely astonishing. I can’t imagine a more complicated piece of entertainment to create than a video game. A game like Last of Us has top tier talent from so many different arenas. That game has expert writing, music, and design. All that makes that game great is tied together by the UI.