Over a decade leading UX across AAA games like Call of Duty & Star Wars and apps. UX isn't designing screens; it's designing behaviour at scale.
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Many games allow you to customise your HUD experience via the settings, to turn off or change your HUD elements. They may even have presets such as hardcore (No HUD) settings or streamer modes. In this post, I will be looking at some console and PC games that have at good notable HUD designs, as well as some innovative ways of incorporating it into your game design itself.
Read MoreDesigning the social backbone of a cross-platform multiplayer shooter. Turning solo players into connected ones, without letting voice chat become a liability. The complete friend-to-party journey, side by side on Switch and mobile. One mental model; two input layers.
Read MoreEvery Studio Head’s biggest fear is "The Pause Menu Exit." Every time a player hits "Options" and sees a generic, sterile list of text, their brain is reminded that they are sitting on a couch. While an invisible UI is immersive and a flamboyant, delightful UI is memorable
Read MoreWhen you drag a file into the "Trash," nothing actually is being destroyed. It’s an abstract dance of pixels. Your folders are not really folders. Your computer is gaslighting you. The digital world is entirely an illusion. Computers don’t actually have files they have logic gates, binary code, and shifting electrical charges.
UX design is essentially the art of Human computer translation. A hidden art of Smoke and Mirrors that takes the cold mathematics and translates it into a language humans can naturally comprehend. Without this translation layer, computing would remain trapped in the hands of engineers and academics.
Read MoreDetroit: Become Human is the perfect example of emotional engineering through narrative choice. You're negotiating with a hostage-taking android as Connor, you have a ticking countdown. Every choice has a time limit. Miss a clue? Fail to ask the right question? Your options narrow. The girl dies
Now imagine negotiating that hostage situation with a NPC that has access to LLM and live input from a Smart Watch.
Read MoreIn this Apex Legends UX breakdown analysis, we dive into the seamless integration of its core game loop and the intricate design of every screen, widget, and UI element.
This detailed UX design not only promotes fluid gameplay but also ensures that players can react quickly in high-stakes situations, fostering an immersive and competitive experience.
There's a moment in Silent Hill 2 that perfectly captures the genius of horror game design. You're fumbling through your inventory, desperately searching for a health drink while something unspeakable lurks just outside your flashlight's reach. But here's the brilliant part—the inventory screen doesn't pause the game. Time keeps ticking. Danger keeps approaching. What should be a safe space, a moment of respite, becomes another source of terror.
Read MoreIn the world of luxury products, inconvenience often masquerades as exclusivity. This counterintuitive approach to design has been embraced by several high-end brands, with Apple leading the charge. By creating products that sometimes defy conventional usability, these companies have managed to turn potential flaws into talking points, reinforcing their brand identity and fostering a sense of exclusivity among their customers.
Read MoreAs impressive as Ghost of Tsushima is with it’s innovative UX design, it’s thematic beauty and art direction, the heart of any samurai game lies in its combat system and luckily Ghost of Tsushima's combat system is a masterful blend of simplicity and depth delivers a visceral and immersive samurai experience. Let’s break it down.
Read MoreThe harder something is the more people seem to love it. Sounds counterintuitive but here's why. The best reward isn't a badge; it's the feeling of Mastery. Don't reward the user for opening the game but reward them for getting better at the skill the app provides. 🏆
Read MoreMotivation is commonly separated into two different types, Intrinsic and extrinsic and these are important for designers to understand. Motivation can also be linked to the self-determination theory. Users can be motivated to use your product through rewards and incentives but also can be motivated by the internal personal satisfaction of using it.
Read MoreIn a 2004 interview with Rolling Stone, Steve Jobs famously said that "a lot of technology is in search of a customer." He explained that many companies create new technologies because they can, not because anyone actually wants or needs them. This sentiment is especially relevant today as companies like Facebook plan for the Metaverse, a virtual world that connects multiple platforms, devices, and applications. While the Metaverse has been touted as the future of online interaction, there are concerns that it may be a solution looking for a problem.
Read MoreAt its core, UX design is about solving problems. And yet, when it comes to designing user interfaces, we often face a dilemma: too many choices can paralyze us, but too few can leave us feeling unfulfilled. How do we find the right balance?
Read MoreThe MDA framework is an important framework for thinking about games from both a designer’s and the players’ point of view and was developed by Marc LeBlanc and Robert Zubek. It’s a helpful framework to understand when developing and designing games or even introducing gamification elements to your product.
Read MoreDead Space is a sci-fi horror game, where you play as Isaac Clark an engineer stuck on The Ishimuram, a ship infested with space zombies. Your job is to fix that vessel and find your girlfriend. To maximize the playing horror experience the designers crafted a fully diegetic UI that has become very influential in the gaming industry.
Read MoreWith millions of gamers facing difficulties and barriers, whether temporary or long term. Developers are seeking better ways to provide ways remove these barriers. Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II has been praised for its industry-defining accessibility features. So what can we learn from it?
Read MoreSmartphones have become indispensable in our daily lives. But they are not just smart companion devices, they are also tactile playthings that we use as extensions of ourselves. Although now a mature platform there are still billions of people who are still to experience life with a smartphone. So it is important for mobile designers to understand the intricacies and ergonomics of designing for that many thumbs.
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