{"id":1277,"date":"2023-12-11T02:48:48","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T02:48:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/international.binus.ac.id\/graphic-design\/?p=1277"},"modified":"2023-12-13T02:54:33","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T02:54:33","slug":"play-is-the-point-how-ux-designers-can-break-into-the-gaming-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/international.binus.ac.id\/graphic-design\/2023\/12\/11\/play-is-the-point-how-ux-designers-can-break-into-the-gaming-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Play Is the Point: How UX Designers Can Break Into the Gaming Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by Pam Nicholls<\/h3>\n

There are many ways for game UX designers to break into this multibillion-dollar industry. Using her 14 years of video game UX expertise, designer Pam Nicholls shares\u00a0how.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This article was originally published on the\u00a0Toptal Design Blog.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today, the\u00a0multibillion-dollar video game industry\u00a0comprises more than\u00a0three billion players. With the industry growing and games becoming increasingly sophisticated thanks to advances in\u00a0artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality technology, more game studios are incorporating UX specialists into the development process.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0game UX designer\u00a0plays a pivotal role in creating player-centric experiences, from streamlining game onboarding to ensuring UI flows and game mechanics are logical.\u00a0As a UX designer\u00a0who has been making video games for 14 years, I\u2019ll share insights into what designers need to get into the industry and what to expect when you get there.<\/p>\n

The Game UX Designer: Roles and Skills<\/h3>\n

A typical career path for UX designers entering the gaming industry starts with a foundation in industrial design. Gaming developers also favor job candidates with an undergraduate or graduate degree in a design field, particularly UX design. However, you may also be able to transition from\u00a0UI art to UX design. Regardless of your particular path, you will need a\u00a0portfolio\u00a0of work that showcases your designs and process.<\/p>\n

Whether you work for an\u00a0independent, midsize, or major game developer, your role as a UX designer will largely depend on the gaming platform:\u00a0console, mobile, or PC. In 2022, US digital gamers comprised\u00a0162.9 million mobile users, followed by 97.8 million console users, and 94.2 million PC users. Each platform requires a different design approach, and you could work on several platform-specific components, such as gameplay, UI controls, and storyline.<\/p>\n

Designing for PC and Console Platforms<\/h4>\n

Big-studio titles or\u00a0AAA games, like Fortnite and Call of Duty, are usually played on PCs or consoles that provide more complex gameplay and require more powerful 3D graphics than mobile games. For this reason, AAA games can take hundreds of people and\u00a0years of work to develop.<\/p>\n

Game UX designers are responsible for various PC and console game components, including character design,\u00a0UI design\u00a0and flow, and game mechanics. PC and console game designers collaborate with\u00a0several stakeholders, from audio producers to level designers, to leverage the full capabilities of these high-powered platforms.<\/p>\n

An engaging character can improve a game\u2019s\u00a0immersive quality, progression, and emotional connection. To ensure that players can identify with their characters, UX designers create\u00a0character setup screens\u00a0where players can choose their avatar\u2019s physical attributes, including skin tone, hair and eye color, body shape, age, and wardrobe. When working on Army of Two: The Devil\u2019s Cartel, I created setup screens that enabled users to personalize their\u00a0masks, either from preset decals\u2014artist-made graphics that you can select and apply to your mask\u2014or by using layers to create\u00a0custom masks.<\/p>\n

In Army of Two: The Devil\u2019s Cartel, players can personalize their masks with pre-made assets or by creating custom masks with different skin tones, eye color, and more.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UX designers also help users navigate\u00a0game UI elements, such as the\u00a0heads-up display (HUD). With the HUD, a transparent display placed at eye level, players stay informed of key UI information such as maps and player health without losing focus on gameplay. HUDs in games with reward systems, such as\u00a0Zwift, a virtual training game for running and cycling, also display player\u00a0experience points. Another UI element you may work on is the hit zone, the areas that can inflict damage or other effects on a game character. When designing the Ubisoft game For Honor, an action-fighting game, our team designed the look and feel of the hit zone under the characters\u2019 feet to ensure it could move but didn\u2019t overlap with other HUD elements or in-game objects.<\/p>\n

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Video game UX involves user interface elements, such as this heads-up display in Ubisoft\u2019s action-fighting game For Honor.<\/em><\/p>\n

Additionally, UX designers may work on AAA\u00a0game mechanics, the interaction system between the player and the game. To do this, you should be familiar with\u00a0crafting systems, which provide players with resources for creating virtual objects like blocks in Minecraft or a city in SimCity. When crafting is well integrated into game mechanics, it gives players a feeling of control and autonomy, and the chance to strategize and customize. For example, in the racing game Need for Speed, some players will spend most of their time\u00a0customizing their car\u00a0so they can\u00a0sell it online; playing the game is secondary for them. UX designers conduct brainstorming sessions with the game design team to make a crafting system, starting with\u00a0wireframes\u00a0and\u00a0flows.<\/p>\n

Designing for Mobile Devices<\/h4>\n

In\u00a0mobile game design, UX teams tend to be smaller and work directly with developers and game designers. The timelines for these games are usually tighter than those for AAA games, about three to six months. While console UX design mostly takes place outside gameplay and is focused on menus and flows, mobile UX design\u00a0takes place\u00a0in the interface itself, so you\u2019ll have a more hands-on role in creating the game.<\/p>\n

For instance, mobile UX designers ensure that\u00a0player gestures, such as swiping up and down, are intuitive and that the information displayed during gameplay is sufficient while not taking up too much screen space. You might also design the\u00a0moments of delight that appear throughout the game, such as the confetti shower or treasure chest that appears when a player completes a level. Mobile games also offer in-game purchases, and UX designers create the interactions that incentivize players to purchase extra lives or weapons.<\/p>\n

Honing Your AR and VR Design Skills<\/h4>\n

The AR and VR gaming market is exploding, with\u00a0VR gaming\u00a0expected to\u00a0grow\u00a0to more than $53 billion in 2028. UX designers who work in this space determine how players can best interact with virtual game elements, such as character skins, weapons, and supplies, and their placement in the 3D environment. To tap into the opportunity this market creates, UX designers must be comfortable creating these 3D experiences, which are markedly different from traditional 2D gaming.<\/p>\n

A beginner\u2019s guide to augmented reality, including mapping, tracking, and placement of AR content.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An example of a challenge you won\u2019t find in traditional gaming comes from my experience as the UX director of\u00a0tagSpace. TagSpace is a mobile app for enhancing large-scale events through\u00a0immersive AR experiences. Users can add interactive digital content like video, text, audio, and 3D objects to real-world locations using the app\u2019s creation portal,\u00a0tagStorm. This content can then be used to guide and entertain attendees. Because hundreds of\u00a0AR tags can appear simultaneously on a mobile screen, we had to determine how to display and filter the most relevant information to avoid overwhelming the attendees. My team tested the app outdoors to replicate how the hardware and software would be used at events. We then decided to filter in two ways: by destination type (such as by caf\u00e9 or restaurant) and by distance (as users walked, only things within a 500m range would be displayed on the screen).<\/p>\n

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As augmented reality grows in popularity, interactive experiences like AR tagging play an essential role in real-life integration.<\/em><\/p>\n

There are many other considerations when\u00a0working with AR and VR. For instance, you should know how to design for multiple inputs, since players can control AR and VR games with a head shake, hand motion, or speech command.\u00a0Ergonomics\u00a0are also crucial; because virtual games often operate with\u00a0body motion, UX designers should opt for movements that don\u2019t\u00a0cause motion sickness. You might also be involved in determining a game\u2019s\u00a0haptic feedback. When the player\u2019s headset or controller vibrates, it sends an immediate physical signal to the player that something has happened, such as a gun being fired in a shooting game. Above all, designers working on AR and VR games should focus on giving players as much feedback as possible on core gameplay actions.<\/p>\n

Gaming Challenges That UX Designers Can Tackle<\/h3>\n

In addition to the perfect game UX skill set, there are several ways that a UX designer can bring value to a player-centric development process and help create a positive user experience that will lead to more robust engagement.<\/p>\n

Introduce Players to the Game<\/h4>\n

UX designers are responsible for keeping\u00a0the user moving seamlessly through the game\u00a0by creating compelling, repeatable learning experiences. This starts with crafting an intuitive\u00a0onboarding tutorial\u00a0that introduces users to the game and encourages them to keep playing. The\u00a0best onboarding tutorials\u00a0include short, clear instructions. They allow players to master the\u00a0core game loop\u00a0before being taught about the next level, even rewarding them with points for completing a tutorial action.<\/p>\n

Engaging learning experiences are crucial to player retention. I once audited the onboarding flow for\u00a0Boov Pop\u2014a puzzle game where players match bubbles to make them pop\u2014after the company discovered that players were dropping out at level three. During the audit, we found that level one and two instructions were clear: The player would drag a finger in a horizontal or vertical direction on the screen to connect the balls. However, level three required a circular finger motion, which needed to be better communicated because players continued to make horizontal and vertical motions with their fingers and abandoned play when they couldn\u2019t master the level. By updating the tutorial instructions, player retention improved by 80%.<\/p>\n

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Onboarding requires UX design to guide the user and keep them engaged. Boov Pop\u2019s onboarding flow explains the circular motion needed in level three.<\/em><\/p>\n

Push the Industry Toward More Inclusive Design<\/h4>\n

Two-thirds of disabled gamers\u00a0have faced limitations in their hobby, such as poor accessibility and lack of affordability of suitable assistive or adapted technology, according to a large 2020 survey of UK players. While the industry is beginning to\u00a0address the concerns\u00a0of disability advocates (Xbox, for instance, recently created a\u00a0copilot mode\u00a0that allows gamers to hand off control of some features to a fellow player), this leaves room for UX designers to improve video game inclusivity.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there are no global inclusivity standards for video games, and UX designers rely on reviewing competitors\u2019 titles and adapting\u00a0universal web standards\u00a0to games when it makes sense. From my perspective, this is an ongoing process that starts with defining key terms, as people may have different ideas about what makes a game inclusive. For example, inclusivity could involve making games accessible to people with certain visual impairments by including colorblind modes, or it could involve games that depict gender-neutral characters.<\/p>\n

Our profession charges us to\u00a0advocate\u00a0for our users and to practice\u00a0empathy\u00a0when creating products. Here are a few actions\u00a0UX designers\u00a0can take now to make games more accessible:<\/p>\n