1. User Interface Design and Development
Usability of Games
Jeff Offutt
SWE 632
User Interface Design and Development
Sources:
Gaming Usability 101, Blake Snow, October 2007,
Game Usability: Advancing the Player Experience, Isbister and Schaffer, 2008
List of articles at:

2. Don’t Make Me Think! A great book by Steve Krug
New Riders Publishing
2006 (2nd edition)
Users are happy to think about their tasks
But not about how to use your UI !
UIs should be
Self-evident
Obvious
Self-explanatory
When users think “what is this?” the UI has failed
18-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

3. Doesn’t apply to multi-player synchronous games
Always Save Games
Never ask players if they want to save their games
Of course they do!
No pop-ups or dialogue boxes are needed
Just display “saving …” on screen
Don’t overwrite level data … keep tabs on their progress and give them access to previously visited areas
Remember: Games have “players,” not “users”
Doesn’t apply to multi-player synchronous games
18-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

4. Starting Games Always say “press any button” to start a game
If you say “press start,” the player will have to think … “where is the start button?”
And is already intimidated
Players want to think about game strategy, not the UI
Semantic knowledge, not syntax
18-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

5. Customize Controller Buttons
Always let players remap controller buttons to suit their preferences
Some players like the mouse on the left, not the right
Some like to use the buttons in a particular way, similar to another game they play
Make button customization visible … for example, in the pause menu
18-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

6. Always Let Players Skip Stories
Some players love the story aspect of the game
Some find it annoying barriers between them and real interactive aspects
Just like some students hate lectures but enjoy projects
Stories decrease speed of use
And nobody wants to go through a 5 minute story the 10th time they play the game …
Encourage repeat customers
Make it easy to skip or speed up story scenes, tutorials, and credits
18-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

7. Use Only Needed Controller Buttons
Some game systems have lots of controller buttons
Players can remember … about 7 !
And as few as 3 when under stress (action games)
If you use all buttons, players will constantly have to think “which button?”
Use the buttons you need, and ignore the rest
Decreases time to learn
Increases speed of use
Decreases the rate of user errors
18-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

8. Players Need to Control Accessibility
Subtitles can be great … if the players have trouble understanding English
Or need to mute sound
But they are annoying if the player’s English is good
Let the players turn off the subtitles and other accessibility options
18-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

9. No “Kobayashi Marus”!
The Kobayashi Maru is a test in Star Trek that had no solution
That is, a no-win solution
Game attacks where the players cannot escape are unfair and frustrating
They will often be the last scenario many players ever see because they quit the game and do not come back
18-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

10. Make Tutorials and Help Available in Game
Where else can newbies start?
Inexperienced players need help
What do to next ?
How to find something ?
What medium-range goals should I set ?
A “click here if you’re not sure what to do” option is very comforting
But make sure these do not interfere with experienced players
18-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

11. Let Players Quit at Anytime
and save when they do!!!
Players need to stop and start at anytime
Only letting them save at pre-defined checkpoints forces them to think :
“should I lose my current progress or be late to my date?”
Don’t punish players for quitting … don’t treat it as a loss
Also, if they die, give them an option to continue
Multi-player games are different—an individual who quits hurts the entire team
Let social forces work—game rules do not need to enforce behavior
18-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

12. Provide a Free Trial
Few players will buy a game unless they can try it first
Common techniques :
Reduced functionality is free (fewer levels, single-player, easy mode, …)
Ad version is free; pay to remove ads
In-game purchases with real cash
Automatically deletes after N plays
Limited number of games per day, week, or month
18-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

13. This is just a beginning,
Summary
All the principles we have learned through the semester can be “instantiated” for games
Most of this list follows directly from these principles
Learning strategy is fun … learning syntax is not
Consider why Go and Chess are so incredibly popular
Compare 2048 with threes
This article is interesting :
This is just a beginning,
not all there is to know
18-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt