Written by Seetha Talluru
Welcome to an exciting event recap from the IterateUX blog series! In this event, we explore how UI/UX design plays a role in the video game industry. It’s not just about creating beautiful designs — it’s also about researching and designing for players’ needs. Our fantastic speaker, Victor Del Castillo, shares his experiences, insights, and advice on working as a UI/UX designer in video games.
About Victor
Victor has been living in Canada since 2012 but is originally from Mexico. His passion for UI/UX design in the video game industry began years ago while attending film school in Vancouver. With over 12 years of experience in the gaming world, he has worked as a UI/UX designer on games like WWE, Company of Heroes, and TechWarrior Mercenaries. One of his favorite parts of working on video game projects is collaborating with talented people from different design backgrounds, including graphic designers, animators, engineers, and UI artists.
Demonstration of UI/UX Design
Victor explained the difference between UI Design and UX Design. The easiest way to remember is that UI Design is execution, while UX Design is strategy. UI Design brings this approach to life by working on sketches, wireframes, and prototypes. UX Design, on the other hand, focuses on the planning, research, and thinking that goes into creating that strategy. When starting the UI Design process, Victor recommended using a sketchbook to jot down ideas– which helps visualize concepts– before moving to the computer. When it comes to UX Design, he mentioned 3 components to focus on:
· Comprehension: Understanding the device, website, and object
· Control: Once you understand the product, then you have control over it. For instance, if you understand how a game works and have played the game, you have control over it.
· Compulsion: Once people control the product they can be compelled to further engage with it through playing the game again, reviewing it, etc…
UI/UX Case Study of Battle Tech and Merchwarrior
Victor shared and demonstrated a case study he worked on for BattleTech and MechWarrior games. MechWarrior, first created in 1984 by Catalyst Games, is based on a universe of books, and the game was designed around those stories. The game aims to damage the opponent’s Mech (or robot) by targeting different parts. To redesign the game, Victor had to study the game’s universe, the cockpits’ design, and the robots’ fictional elements. He showcased his UI work, including the wireframing process. During his research, he discovered that 2 to 3% of players were colorblind. The event recording will go into more detail about Victor’s project.
Conclusion
Victor was an amazing speaker who provided insights from his experience and valuable UI/UX design work in the video gaming industry. He thoroughly demonstrated UI and UX design and how they function in the video game world. Victor shared one of his gaming UI/UX case studies: BattleTech and MechWarrior. A couple of key takeaways are:
- UI Design is execution, and UX Design is strategy.
- Video gaming isn’t just about beautiful designs, but also about researching and creating for players.
If you enjoyed this blog, please subscribe to IterateUX on Medium. Here is the event recording on UI/UX design in the video game industry.
Event Recording on Video Game Industry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz6xEX38fV0&t=956s
IterateUX Medium: https://iterateux.medium.com/
Join the IterateUX Discord community: https://www.iterateux.com/sign-up
Learn More about IterateUX at: https://www.iterateux.com/
