[game_edu] Game interface design class?

[Adam Parker]

Hi all,

I was an interaction designer focusing on UI for web and kiosks in a past
life. I don't lecture in this area at present, but when asked about my
professional practice by students designing game UIs I tend to start them
with two clear spines...

   - From a human-computer interaction (HCI) perspective - Ben
Shneiderman, Designing
   the User Interface<http://www.amazon.com/Designing-User-Interface-Human-Computer-Interaction/dp/0321537351/ref=dp_ob_title_bk>,
   fifth edition. The 8 Golden Rules of HCI, and 50 years of progress along
   computer science, cognitive science and ergonomic principles.


   - From an interaction design (IxD) perspective, I agree with Kim -
   Preece, Rogers and Sharp, Interaction design: Beyond Human-Computer
   Interaction<http://www.amazon.com/Interaction-Design-Beyond-Human-Computer/dp/0470665769/ref=dp_ob_title_bk>,
   now in its third editon. This book has changed markedly over the years since
   the edition Kim is talking about, so get a recent one at all costs. A
   condensation of the more recent trend in the last 2 decades towards
   investigation based on qualitative social science methods.

The UI field can be seen as being structured by the tectonics of these two
major disciplinary tendencies - one tending towards engineering, the other
tending towards "product" design.

For those who have to teach this area to non-designers, an oldie but goodie

   - Mullet and Sano, Designing Visual
Interfaces<http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Visual-Interfaces-Communication-Techniques/dp/0133033899>.
   Back in 1994 this saved my professional bacon when thrown in the deep end
   designing UI on a major project with no experience. I owe them beer. many
   examples out of date (MacOS 6!!!), but the principles are timeless.

Also consider:

   - Krug, Don't make me
think!<http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758/ref=pd_sim_b_4>.
   Web oriented, but witty and readable.

Now, some thoughts for gratuitous effect ;^)  (Gets on his old feller
soapbox...)

I'd issue a word of caution that we should not assume that HCI and IxD
knowledges are immediately transferrable to game design in general.
Assessment is required. Practitioners in those disciplines often operate
under ideologies of efficiency and productivity that often run counter to
notions of play.

There is also much to be said for knowledges and practices devised in light
of the opportunities arising from the area's unique processes, some of which
could better inform UI as practiced in traditional HCI and IxD.

I really like the look of David Farrell's curriculum, as it puts emphasis on
pragmatic user evaluation techniques and analysis methods.

All that being said, I've a personal interest in the effectiveness of
transferring traditional IxD knowledge to game design in general where
appropriate, so please let me know how things are going for you if you are
trying to do this as well.

Cheers
Adam

On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 8:12 PM, Kim Blake <kblake at blitzgamesstudios.com>wrote:


> Hi,

>

>

>

> One of our designers is super-keen on the importance of UI design and he

> recommends this from his (not very distant) uni days:

>

>

>

> Preece, Rogers and Sharp (2002) – Interaction Design

>

>

>

> It’s got some great stuff in it, but I guess if you were buying it

> specifically I’d probably say get a cheapo copy since it has enormous

> swathes dedicated to various different ways of identifying your users needs,

> the principal of which is great, but the long long explanations of how to do

> them are not worth your up-to-date pennies.

>

>

>

> Kim

>

>

>

>

>

> *From:* game_edu-bounces at igda.org [mailto:game_edu-bounces at igda.org] *On

> Behalf Of *David Farrell

> *Sent:* 15 June 2011 10:38

>

> *To:* IGDA Game Education Listserv

> *Subject:* Re: [game_edu] Game interface design class?

>

>

>

> Hi,

>

> Here at Glasgow Caledonian, I teach a class on game UI.  I put all my

> slides up on slideshare <http://www.slideshare.net/unthank/presentations>(anything tagged comu346) and you can download my coursework specification

> somewhere on the course blog ( http://comu346.com )

>

> We had a similar problem in finding good resources online.  We ended up

> mixing in some non-game-specific UI stuff (traditional UI + some design

> focus from Norman's Design of Everyday Things<http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/dp/0385267746>,

> Duarte's Slideology<http://www.amazon.co.uk/slide-Science-Creating-Presentations-Presentation/dp/0596522347>and Tufte's

> work<http://www.amazon.com/Envisioning-Information-Edward-R-Tufte/dp/0961392118/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308130427&sr=1-2>amongst other stuff) alongside the gamey stuff.  I couldn't find a single

> great resource for the game stuff and so ended up using traditional UI

> teachings and hunting for examples from games myself that used the technique

> in question.

>

> The class goes a bit beyond game UI in the traditional sense and talks

> about data visualisation with the aim of promoting better ways of presenting

> data to players.

>

> The course syllabus this year covered:

>

>    - Menus (using Brent Fox's book<http://www.amazon.co.uk/Interface-Design-Premier-Press-Development/dp/1592005934>'s

>    approach to flowcharts)

>    - UI components (including using Krystian Majewski's excellent Mass

>    Effect UI<http://gamedesignreviews.com/reviews/mass-effect-interface-fail/>breakdown alongside traditional 'here is what a radio button is good for'

>    stuff)

>    - Use of text (fonts etc)

>    - Use of Colour (mixing game examples, some colourblind stuff and

>    Tufte's work on this )

>    - Use of layering and separation (Tufte's techniques mapped onto games)

>    - Micro and Macro design (Tufte again)

>    - Immersion through UI (heavily based on Fagerhold's brilliant Masters

>    Thesis<http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CDIQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpublications.lib.chalmers.se%2Frecords%2Ffulltext%2F111921.pdf&ei=3nr4TbWlLIW2hAfYnqjyCw&usg=AFQjCNEX0-OnTKT_zHSML1z3MfuDaEwIkg>on diegetic UI - as mentioned in this gamasutra

>    article<http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4286/game_ui_discoveries_what_players_.php?print=1>

>    )

>    - Semiotics and Icon Design

>    - Prototyping Techniques (wireframes / card-sorting / digital

>    prototypes)

>    - UI evaluation techniques (heuristic evaluation / cognitive

>    walkthrough / think aloud protocol)

>    - Platform constraints (use the iPhone HIG document - I tried to get a

>    hold of the guideline docs for XBox and Playstation but couldn't)

>

> The coursework assignment last year was to redesign the Dwarf Fortress UI

> for XBox and this year the assignment was to redesign the UI for Solium

> Infernum for the iPad.  Both of these PC games have oodles of data and game

> verbs that the game struggles to present without resorting to endless

> menus.

>

> We use Flash for the technical component of the class and the student

> digital prototypes are a mixture of working Flash UI and static game

> screenshots.

>

> If Jose (or anyone else here) has any ideas on how to improve this (beyond

> the links already shared) please share them.

>

> HTH

>

> David

>

> On 14 June 2011 22:12, Ian Schreiber <ai864 at yahoo.com> wrote:

>

> Thanks for the callout! I also addressed the topic in my online course from

> 2009 based on the book:

>

> http://gamedesignconcepts.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/level-17-user-interfaces/

>

> The primary focus in that blog post is on the UI of nondigital games, not

> video games, but I think there are a number of overlapping concepts between

> the two.

>

> - Ian

>

>

> ------------------------------

>

> *From:* Dan <danc at narrativedesigns.com>

> *To:* IGDA Game Education Listserv <game_edu at igda.org>

> *Sent:* Tue, June 14, 2011 3:52:31 PM

> *Subject:* Re: [game_edu] Game interface design class?

>

>

> While not a book focused on UI, Brathwaite & Schreiber's "Challenges for

> Game Designers" has a chapter on it. They write some excellent exercises in

> their book and the ones on UI are definitely worth looking at.

>

> That's the only resource that sprang to mind.

>

> --Dan Carreker

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Jose P. Zagal [mailto:jzagal at cdm.depaul.edu]

> Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 12:30 PM

> To: IGDA Game Education Listserv

> Subject: [game_edu] Game interface design class?

>

> Hi,

>

> I'm currently developing a 10-week course on game interface design and I

> was wondering if anyone on the list wouldn't mind sharing

> resources/syllabi/assignments/etc. I'm surprised by the lack of

> resources I've found online...

>

> thanks,

>

>

> Jose

>

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-- 
Adam Parker
Senior Lecturer, Games Design
Qantm College

Qantm College Melbourne Campus
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South Melbourne VIC 3205 Australia

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