Ciaran Mooney - Specialist Portfolio Research

 

 

 

USER INTERFACE

RESEARCH AND RELEVENCE

 

 

 

UI DESIGN PRINCIPLES

We can go further and boil down the process of UI design to six fundamental questions:

  • Does this interface tell me what I need to know right now?
  • Is it easy to find the information I'm looking for, or do I have to look around for it? (Are the menus nested so deep that they hide information from the player?)
  • Can I use this interface without having to read instructions elsewhere?
  • Are the things I can do on this screen obvious?
  • Do I ever need to wait for the interface to load or play an animation?
  • Are there any tedious or repetitive tasks that I can shorten (with a shortcut key, for example) or remove entirely?

 

Ask these questions frequently as you design and play your game. The world of UI design is a world of endless nitpicking, and it's one of the few areas of game development where it's okay to obsess.

Personal Take From Research

The above principles are taken from: Game UI By Example: A Crash Course in the Good and the Bad (Quintans D, 2013).

The above was what I felt to be the most important and valuable information gained from my research. I have followed these principles from the start of the entire design process. I feel they have helped in many ways and deserved their own section as part of my portfolio. I personally felt this paper to be the most beneficial and well thought out User Interface paper I found. The principles listed above summed up what every other paper seemed to try and push. 

 

 

 

 

USER INTERFACE RESEARCH

Using search criteria and keywords "AR UI design, UI Design Principles, Unity UI Design" I was able to find a wealth of information on UI design and principles. I have taken 3 examples:

 

From researching and reading through articles I have already seen what type of UI component each of our current examples are. We have diegetic, non-diegetic and spatial representations already planned to be made out into concept art and then into our project. The non-diegetic components will be between Gus's inventory, Gus's menu system and any in game object contextual menu. The diegetic components currently are GUS's guiding lines and also highlighting functions, maybe even GUS's projections could be included to this list. Our spatial representations would be how we will highlight objects for user selection. 

 

diegesis_theory.png

 

"I believe that augmented reality should not replace the main ways of interacting with information, instead, it should complement. "

- [2] Problems with UI in AR. Tsanko, I (2017). blog.prototypr.io

 

From researching problems with UI in AR I have also found how important it is to not distract the user. UI should complement as much as possible and if it is on the users view plane it should be in their peripheral vision but preferably should be within the world. This is because AR as a whole is designed to add to the world around the user and not just an overlay. Keeping immersion is the most important design rule here. I  was looking at the Unity UI documentation and I could see how much there is to digest and learn about. Keeping UI smooth and polished willl be a big part of my role. Luckily Unity has all the tools I need for this.

 

RELEVANCE TO PROJECT

The examples I provided for my research shows how UI is an important aspect of game design. This is even more applicable in Augmented Reality as it is important for the player to be fully immersed and especially given our project, is not annoyed or distracted by UI. This is because the user will need to concentrate on the task at hand, such as fixing machines.

UI has a considerable amount of work behind it. I have experience designing UI with applications for phones and tablets and feel this role would suit me best. 

Our project will be using Unity beta 5 2017.3 and I have worked with Unity in my own time on small projects. I have been working with C# since 3rd year and I am confident when I say programming would suit as a role for me. 

 

REFERENCES

[1] - UI Research Diegsis Theory. Russel, D (2011). Devmag.org

[2] - Problems with UI in AR. Tsanko, I (2017). blog.prototypr.io

[3] - Unity UI Component Documentation

[4] - Game UI By Example: A Crash Course in the Good and the Bad. Quintans, D (2013).

 

APPENDIX

Definitions

AR - Augmented Reality; a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are "augmented" by computer-generated perceptual information

UI - User Interface; the space where interactions between humans and machines occur.

UX - User Experience; the process of enhancing user satisfaction with a product by improving the usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided in the interaction with the product

GUS - Guiding User System; the main character, a flying robot, which aids the user throughout the game with tools and by tracking process.

Updated on 01 May 2018, 2:53 PM; 133 page visits from 12 February 2018 to 24 December 2024