Designing for Specific Users (aka Design)
During early design development, UX researchers delve deep into creating detailed user personas. We gather insights about potential players' demographics, behaviors, and preferences. This understanding is crucial in guiding the development of game mechanics and features that align with user expectations. UX designers need to collaborate closely with game designers to ensure that the game's mechanics are not only innovative in impactful ways, but also accessible and engaging for the intended user base.
Common Collaborators
In my roles at ArenaNet, including Creative Director on Project Quicksilver, I worked closely with our Game Designers to ensure we thoughtfully and deliberately integrated UX insights into game mechanics. I established routine collaboration between UX Designers and System Architects who ensured that technical frameworks supported the intended user experience. I also led several Interaction Designers who were focused on the practical aspects of operating and interacting with the game.
Methods and Artifacts
Understanding your players involves conducting demographic studies to understand the age, gender, location, and other relevant aspects of the target audience, behavioral analytics to track how potential users interact with similar games, and user interviews to gather direct feedback and insights.
Demographic Analysis shapes the creation of user personas and early design decisions, ensuring the game appeals to the specific preferences and behaviors of its target audience.
User Personas guide the creation of user-centered design decisions, ensuring the game mechanics, narrative, and aesthetics are aligned with the expectations and behaviors of the target audience.
User Stories translate the needs and goals derived from user personas into actionable design and development priorities, ensuring the game aligns with player expectations.
User Flows map out the player's journey through the game, based on personas and stories, to optimize navigation and interaction, enhancing the overall gameplay experience.
Related Work