Mobile Game Menu UI - Design Sprint

WHAT

Game Menu UI

”Little Forest” is the UI for a mobile game menu that provides the user with additional options for avatar customization.

WHY

Addressing inclusivity

The prompt was to perform a design sprint with a team for the theme “inclusive”. We could interpret “inclusivity” however we liked, and ideate a solution in whichever medium we chose. We were asked to consider unique perspectives, diverse audiences, and edge cases. Our team chose to address diversity in game character creation.

HOW

How might we...

design a more inclusive character customization system within a game menu?

WHO

The Team

Brian (Information Architecture)

Cassidy (Game Research)

Cole (Project Documentation)

Taylor/Me (User Interface Designer)

Credit for the forest background here!

IDEATION

Simplicity is key.

We began to ideate the interface layout by designing a “new game” menu with simplified tools in mind.Although we started with a wide screen format such as 16:9, in the end we thought it would be best to go with a menu for a mobile game. This decision would better lean into our project topic, “inclusivity”. Our thoughts were, “not everyone has a gaming console, but almost everyone has a cell phone.” 

INTERFACE TOOLS

Stepping away from “swatches”

In our team’s research, we discovered the best option(s) for customization weren’t dozens of swatches, but rather tools in some of the software that we use daily— sliders and color pickers! Utilizing tools like this in a game menu’s interface would not only allow for a wider spectrum of customization options, but would also simplify the interface for developers!