Key Skills to get Hired as a UX Designer in Video Games
If this is your first UX Design job, you wish to transition into video games from another industry or you have work experience in another role but want to jump into a Game UX Design role; there are some things you should know about to have the biggest chance of succeeding!
Who am I? I’m a Senior UX Designer working onvideo games such as Star Wars Battlefront 2, Battefield V and Hyenas. As of January 2024 I’m starting at Hangar 13.
I will try to give you my best insight into the skills game studios are looking for in a new candidate, what skills you should practice and how you can show your best side to give yourself the best chance to be hired.
PS, I’ll tell you now… It can be difficult, take many attempts and you need to sharpen up your skills and rewrite your CV and Cover Letter. But in the end it’s worth it!
Bonus, check out my other articles about how to apply for the job you want:
LET’S GET STARTED!
1. Know if you want to do UX Design or UI Art
There are many roles and titles out there with UX and UI in different combinations. But when you apply for jobs you should know if you want to work more in UX Design or UI Art, or if you want to do both. So make sure you read the job description to see what skills the studio are really hiring for.
But what IS the difference between UX and UI in the gaming industry? Good that you asked because I made a video on just this topic:
2. Fluent in UX design basics
You need to have a solid understanding of UX, Mockups, UI design, information hierarchy, understand basics in color & shapes and some behavior psychology.
Also, make sure you are show off your knowledge and skills in your portfolio so the employeer can see your skills.
UX basics you should know:
Here is a huge list of more study materials:
3. Passion for games
It sounds like it no-brainer, but not every person that are passionate about the role or the company they applied for. This goes for working on video games as well. So showing that you are passionate and happy about games is a HUGE plus in your application and when talking to the recruiters.
- Being passionate about games (and all types of games) is sometimes put higher than experience (yes really!)
- How can you show that you are passionate about games?
You can: Do a game-focused project for your portfolio, write about your passion for games in your Cover Letter and show it in the interview! No “stone-faced professional” persona in the interviews please. Game studios want to see and feel that you are passionate about games!
4. Good problem solving skills
Making good UX solutions in videogames are not as easy as appyling one solution to a problem and calling it a day. You will have to inspect the game or user problem from multiple angles, ask questions to the team and create several options to solve the problem to present.
- Sometimes a good UX solution doesn’t fit the game content or style, it might feel too heavy handed or too light, or other things that are happening in the game is distracting the player from noticing the things you are trying to communicate. One solution does not fit all games or problems.
- Or sometimes other departments at the studio (Art, Audio, Enviroment Art, Gameplay) doesn’t like the solution you propose and they want you see something else. Having good problem solving skills and a holistic view on the game, is super helpful.
5. Good communication skills
It’s not always easy to talk to different types of people. Something I’ve learned is that you need to be flexible how you talk with different people. An Enviroment or UI Artist is focused on different things than a Programmer or a Game Designer.
- As a UX designer you need to talk to a lot of different people across the studio to ask questions, collect feedback, explain your designs and learn what the goals are for new features they want you to make Wireframes or give suggestions for.
- You need both good written and spoken skills in English because studios are often multi-nationel where English is the common language spoken.
6. Know basic UX/UI design in Video Games
To be able to make good design suggestions on the game you are working on, you need to have an eye (and ear) for what are common UX, UI, audio, gameplay features, icons/color/shapes and text solutions in games. You do not need to be a pro, but having a base of the most common solutions in games will help you get started and talking with the team about different solutions. You can do this by studying some of your favourite games and try to find common pattern in other popular games you don’t usually play.
My UX reviews of games: (more coming soon)
7. Flexible to change
The process of making a game can be quite stressful and frustrating at times when change happens fast.
I constantly have to jump between topics, different levels of unfinished and more complete designs, playtests with new and old features, designs we thought were done but they no longer fit the gameplay or the leads want to take the game in a different direction. Being a Game UX Designer means you need to be agile with the quick changes and flexible to always help out with new designs or ideas!
8. Juggling multiple designs
Creating games is NOT a Waterfall. It’s more like juggling a bunch of colorful balls, or jumping between different sizes of boxes all day. (Did I lose you with these references?)
- Working on UX in a game is a mix between working with a Agile team structure with Milestones and using Lean UX thinking with multiple iterations, playtest feedback changing the designs. The things you thought were done needs constant updating with small changes to fit an constant evolving game.
- One moment you work on simple Wireframes to show the player flow between different screens, the next moment you are creating the detailes for a new feature idea together with a UI artist, or maybe VFX, to present before the day is over.
Thank you for reading! ✌️
Please give some claps 👏🏻 if you enjoyed this read. It helps a lot and tells me what topics I should write more about :)
