The Full Spectrum Warrior

Every designer has a different idea of what a UI designer actually is. The roles vary in almost every studio. There are many different combinations of skills, so I’m going to talk about what it takes to be a UI designer here at Space Ape Games!

The role of a UI Designer is a fine balance between graphic design and interaction design. The keyword there is ‘balance’ as one should not be sacrificed for the other.

When designing videogames, we aim to make seamless and enjoyable experiences. We want the players to have fun, get the appropriate feedback to ensure their actions have been acknowledged, and never feel frustrated by struggling to navigate or to find information.

Here are the areas that we practice every day in order to have satisfied players who enjoy playing our games!

Graphic design

The art of graphic design is a visual means of communication. It differs from traditional ‘art’ as it serves a specific purpose. Graphic design in videogames is used to set the visual language across the entire game. This includes aiding the player with the use of specific colour and shape, which are associated with help systems. The graphics and layout help the player to know where to click and guide them though the designed order of play.
The logo, iconography, buttons, typography and layout are key areas of graphic design that are essential to a cohesive well-designed interface.

User Experience Design

User experience design ranges from sketches and wire-frames to the psychology of design. There are many factors involved in this specialized part of the role:

Research

Understanding the target audience. What are their needs and requirements? What are their habits when using the apps in question? Research and knowing these facts will help to create the appropriate technology that the target audience will understand and find desirable.

Testing

To improve the way interactive technology works, we carry out user test sessions. These tests can identify usability issues, discover problems, identify patterns and areas of frustration within the product. Reports are generated with suggestions and recommendations. Improvements will be carried out from the results of these tests.

Interaction Design

Interaction design is the study of how people interact with systems. The goal is to enhance peoples understanding of how the application works, and to provide a memorable experience that will keep them coming back. A successful design comprises of psychology, design, art, and emotion.
The device in question plays a huge part in interaction design, i.e. how do you switch it on and off? How do you zoom in and out? How do you navigate it?
Deliverable for this part of the process are sketches, flow diagrams and interactive prototypes.

Usability

A product is designed with its intended users in mind at all times. Usability is the study of how easy products are to use. Without careful research and design, it can lead to frustrated players who, in many cases, will not give the product a second chance. Usability is the key, and it can be broken down into areas such as:

Learnability
How easy is it for users to understand the basics the first time they encounter the design?
Efficiency
How fit for purpose is it? how quickly can they perform an action?
Memorability
How well is the system taught to the player?
Errors
How many errors to users make? Does the feedback express errors? Has the system been designed to eliminate errors or recover from errors?
Satisfaction
How pleasurable is it?

Technical skills

Design takes up a lot of the role, but there is a lot of technicalities involved as well. Understanding the tools which you work with will aid your designs too. There will be technical limitations and requirements that have to be considered early on in the process. These can enhance creativity, as you manipulate available tools in order to create something new.
The technical process deals with two areas, the in house software and external software. In house software can include the content editors source control, creation software and game engines. External technical tasks include requirements from publishers.

Animation

An important part of the experience is the behaviour, and not just for aesthetic reasons. Functional animation serves an extremely important purpose: to inform the user that something is happening. The feedback is vital, it distinguishes a fully functioning screen from one that has crashed, it lets the user know they have done something correctly and it shows errors. Feedback is used to encourage the player to continue further in the game/app. The transitions, opening/closing/collapsing of menus and all button states all benefit from functional animation.
Animation and motion graphics are also used to set the tone of the game/app. Having a beautifully designed product with user friendly navigation is enhanced greatly by the use of animation, this should not be underestimated.

T-shaped

We follow the concept of being T-shaped, which means members of the team tend to be strong in one area, and also skilled in a couple of other areas within game development. For example, one can be super skilled as a UI Designer, but practice good skills in anything from 3D modelling, illustration, video editing, programming or anything relevant to the game-making process.

And finally…

So there you have it, the role of a UI Designer here at Space Ape Games. But it doesn’t end there, we are constantly learning. Learning from each other, attending courses and lectures, reading, making personal projects outside of work, paying attention to new development and software, and the most important part — playing loads of videogames!