Portfolio
GUX | Sept 6 - Oct 20, 2022

Minecraft Dungeons

Expertise

UX Research, UI Design

Platforms

Nintendo Switch

Deliverables

High Fidelity Screens

Project Overview

View my Figma file here.
Analyzed Minecraft Dungeons’ current user experience and iterated upon its UI based on player input and testing.

Roles & Responsibilities

  • journey map
  • user flow chart / IA
  • usability tests
  • sketches
  • mockups + iterations
  • colorblind test

Challenges

  • Iterated upon the game's existing UI and kept it familiar to the original
  • Tried to interpret players’ responses during playtests
  • Branched out from the comforts of Figma and learned Affinity Designer to do the high fidelity mockups

Process

  • Player Journey
  • Paper Prototype
  • Flowchart
  • Wireframe
  • Usability Test
  • UI Style Guide
  • Check Accessibility
  • UI Mockups

Research

The Player's Journey

While observing a playthrough of Minecraft Dungeons, I took notes and mapped out the player's feelings and thoughts. I considered the game developers' intentions and came up with ideas to better translate their intentions to the player.

Paper Prototype

With my ideas for improvement in mind, I wrote down the player's options on each screen (sticky note). I kept the game developers' intentions handy and made sure all were translated well so that player's understood what the developers intended and weren't confused on what to do.

Flowchart

This flowchart shows the player's choices they have on each screen like my paper prototype, but it also shows how they are all connected.

Design

Sketches

Using my flowchart, I was able to sketch out some rough screen layouts.

Wireframes

Now that I had made the big decisions in my sketching phase, I was able to quickly make wireframes. I kept the screens close to the original Minecraft Dungeons here because I wanted to see exactly where players were having difficulty. However, I did change the Inventory screen's layout because I wanted to see if it would perform better vertically.

Usability Test

I conducted a usability test with three participants. I found out that the original layout of the inventory screen was preferable amongst player's because it was more controller friendly and the item stats area had more breathable negative space. Players also had trouble identifying the icons Minecraft Dungeons uses to represent power, souls, and lives. Another big frustration was the "switch hero" screen. Players couldn't navigate very well.

Style Guide

I really enjoy making style guides, it's so satisfying to see it all come together. I color tested every design to see if they passed color blind accessibility standards and made slight alterations to any low contrast areas.

Conclusion

Final Mockups

Outcomes

  • Based on user input, I modified the icons that represent the players’ level and power to make the meaning of the icons clearer. I referenced the original minecraft game so that players could utilize knowledge they have from that game to better understand what the icons represent.
  • Earlier in this project, I had changed the inventory screen’s layout to see whether or not it performed better than the current inventory screen. However, I tested this with players and they liked the original screen layout. The hierarchy of information seemed to not need improvement, so I left it as-is.
  • The biggest thing I had to change due to player feedback was the player hotbar. The players had trouble identifying what certain icons mean on the original hotbar and the hierarchy wasn’t the best. By moving things around and labeling certain elements, I was able to create a hotbar that players understood with ease.

Retrospective

  • Overall, I loved the challenge that this project provided. I have learned a new tool and have officially finished my first video game UX project. If I decide to devote more time to this project, I will test my final screens and iterate upon what I have to see how they can be further improved.
  • I want to keep recreating and building off of already existing video game UI so I can learn how different game aesthetics are made. I already have a few games in mind, such as Fall Guys, Fortnite, and The Sims 4, to name a few. I can’t wait to work with players to see how our favorite games can be improved.

Thank you for reading!