Exercise 1: Value of UXD

Project Type

UX Design

Timeline

September 2024

The goal of this exercise was to further our understanding of how UX relates to the gaming industry and my future career paths. My focus was on UX trends in the gaming and entertainment industry.

Link to documentation: Docs

Link to presentation: Slides

UX Trends in Games

Details

To accomplish the goal of discovering more about the importance and value of UX design with a focus in the gaming industry, three tasks were completed:

  1. Job Search Activity
  2. Secondary Research
  3. Presentation

Job Search Activity

The purpose of this task was to identify my ideal job posting, evaluate its requirements against my current skillset, and compare them with the requirements of my teammates’ dream jobs.

 

My Dream Job:

Game Analysis Team Craft Lead @ Riot Games

When searching for a dream job, I knew I wanted a role that allowed creative freedom while also requiring the use of technical tools. This role at Riot takes on a leadership position and combines the design and development aspects of game optimization with responsibilities such as playtesting and analyzing game data to create reports that provide guidance.
 
An skills categorization diagram was created to categorize the skills derived from our dream job listings.
 
Skills categorization diagram
Skill Categorization Diagram

Secondary Research

Next up was to conduct secondary research on UX trends in gaming. 

Here are the two articles I analyzed and summaried:

After we all conducted our secondary research, a comprehensive state of UX in gaming summary was written before capping off with a presentation.

State of UX in Gaming

The current state of UX in gaming has shifted toward building immersive, unique player experiences. Personalization is becoming increasingly important to give players more control and freedom. Customization interfaces, graphics, difficulty levels (including tutorials), and content recommendations based on preferences are just a few ways games are increasing personalization beyond cosmetics. 

Additionally, the integration of social features within and outside games is growing as studios aim to build communities. UX designers are focused on enhancing experiences by facilitating group play, content creation, and content sharing including direct integrations with third-party platforms such as Discord. Similarly, micro-interactions such as haptic feedback, animations, and VFX are gaining popularity to keep players engaged with instant feedback loops. 

Furthermore, AI-driven content is dramatically changing not only the way games are played but also the way they are developed. Designers can leverage AI to generate incredibly personalized content, dynamically adapt gameplay, and create unique challenges. These features can also be implemented in the growing VR and AR markets, offering immersive experiences that blend the physical and digital worlds. 

Finally, the growing cloud gaming market is significantly impacting the field of UX design by offering players instant access to various games across multiple devices. Pushing past the limitations of bandwidth and internet connectivity, cloud gaming allows designers to seamlessly release updates based on user feedback while challenging developers to explore additional accessibility and performance optimization strategies.

Reflection

Based on the activities completed for this exercise, I’ve determined that I need to gain skills in Unity, QA testing, and cloud architecture to be prepared for future roles. Moreover, I need to further my development skills while keeping UX principles in mind to balance function vs appearance. I’m really excited to see cloud gaming take off – I believe it provides tremendous benefits over traditional gaming in the long run (as long as game ownership still exists). Furthermore, advanced AI integration will also present new ideas and possibilities. That said, it’s important to not over-rely on utilizing AI as an excuse for lazy storytelling or gameplay mechanics and progression. Overall, I’m excited for the next few years as these technologies mature.

Credits