Combining the worlds of gaming and user experience

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The video game world is a constantly growing sector with more sophisticated experiences every year and new ways of interacting in the game world. In the past, it was all around pad or joystick. Nowadays, we have tactile experiences—VR, body movement (such as Dual Sense or Wii/Switch joycons), and more traditional experiences with pad, keyboard or mouse. The interaction of the game and the interface it has are directly related, so it makes sense that the interface design should create an experience that is intuitive, unique, immersive and accesible.

At Farco, our team of interaction design experts have been crafting digital experiences for multiple markets and products at a global scale for over two decades. We are also video game lovers who play on the daily! We work with global game makers—like 2K Games or Digital Sun—and apply our interface best practices to create exciting, unique and intuitive video game interfaces that enhance the game experience.

Interfaces that complement the game experience

Each universe is unique

Each video game has a different environment, a different world and a different context. It is extremely important that the UI doesn't creare a barrier between the user and the game universe, but rather compliments it. A science fiction universe might require minimal UI elements. A futuristic one could be more san serif fonts and bright neons in small details. A medieval fantasy world might need a classic serif font, ornamental decoration in UI elements and a flash of arcane magic on interactions. The same exercise can be done with a fighting experience, a racing experience, or a retro game world—all are unique. Finding the exact tone is key so that the interface is an integrated element that supports the narrative and not an element that breaks it.

Sometimes the best UI is less UI

When we talk about immersive experiences—getting into a fictional world and believing it is real—it is common for users to feel that more UI is less immersive and distracts from the fictional sensation. The key to gaming UI is to think about what is shown, as well as when and how it is shown in order to abstract the user from the fact that they are in a digital environment. For example, keeping the HUD as simple and minimal and possible, or only showing more UI elements when the player needs them (for instance displaying the weapon info only when the user draws the gun), hiding NPC names until the player is close to them, etc. Thinking in depth in all of these decisions makes a big impact on the overall experience of the video game.

Brand and UI go hand-in-hand

Each video game needs a unique brand that represent its world and personality. Brand should not be just the logo but also color, image tone, visual assets, illustrations, and typography. Players should feel the brand—in every menu, in every screen—and it should be strongly connected with the video game universe. Our expertise infusing brand into UI elevates the video game personality and creates a more immersive experience.

UI experts and game fanatics know how important context is

Design patterns in videogame UI

When thinking about the most common patterns in digital design for any kind of video game experience—ring menus for weapons and inventory, life meters, level map design on the HUD, selection auras, racing lines for indicating a path—its important to understand when to use them and when to break them.

Digital vs analogic

One of the biggest context issues is how user will interact with the experience we create. A tactile interface has its own particularities—some interactions disappear like hovers, others are more intuitive like scrolling on an inventory, and others can be more complex like clicking on a small piece of information. Those interactions are completely different from the ones a VR experience has—how to show/hide the interface, how to select an item moving your hands. And also different from a more tradicional gamepad one—ie. the nightmare trying to move the cursor from an item in one side of the screen to the other. It's important to have all of these factors in mind while conceptualizing, designing and validating an interface solution.

Accesibility is extremely important

Accessibility features on video games have rapidly grown more common, particularly over the past years. For example, how important is sound in the experience? For users with hearing problems, subtitles, visual indicators when an enemy is making noise or combat and vibration cues could make a big difference. What about people with visual problems? Then, HUD scale, high contrast displays and sound indicators will be extremely important. Applying empathy and diversity to this environment is critical, and something we have been doing for more than a decade.

Each audience requires a different approach

Interfaces should adapt to the video game target, whether that be a young or adult audience. It is important to understand the UX patterns (complexity of flows, layout, behaviour of components…) and perceptual patterns (color, sound, typography, motion…) that works best with each audience. Kids require big elements, simple UX architecture, vibrant colors, less clicks to do an action, bolder animations. Adults expect more refined, sophisticated layouts with smaller sizes, legible fonts and UI that drives immersion.

The future is even more immersive

From refined VR experiences to voice interfaces, new sensorial ways of user interaction will create an exciting future for the gaming world. These innovations will allow game designers to create more impactful and immersive experiences, breaking the wall between game and reality, and making the link between the game and the use of the game even more important.

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Written by Fer Báez, Partner and Head Product Designer at Farco

For more information, please reach him at fer.baez@farcostudio.com

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