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Game Design vs UX Design
I am very interested in seeing how skills in the UX world apply to board game design. I recently discovered Raph Koster’s article titled Game Design vs UX Design and it obviously rung a bell for me. His intro about the role of design in UX vs game design is super interesting: UX design is about removing…
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Elements are repeated in the appropriate context to aid the player.
In the field of Information Architecture (IA for short), there is a frequently used principle that says content should be repeated in all of the appropriate contexts. This means that rather than finding the one exact spot that content should go, it’s available from all the places people might expect it to be. This sounds…
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Aesthetic-Usability Effect
The field of UX is research-based. That is to say, the basic idea is we don’t know what users want; we have to go talk to them to find out. On top of this, all the methods and guiding principles of UX are based on research. From that research various principles and laws have emerged.…
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Game pieces are easy to handle and tell apart
The degree to which your game is accessible can have a very significant impact on the player experience. One factor that can contribute to this is the game pieces themselves. In order to be accessible, they should be easy to handle and tell apart. The easier it is for people with physical limitations to play…
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Usability Heuristics Applied to Board Games
The Nielsen Norman Group is a well-known research-based firm in the UX world. One thing they are well known for is their list of 10 usability heuristics. In case you’re not familiar, a heuristic is like a shortcut. Instead of doing user research to discover these things, these heuristics are well-known principles that result in…
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Players can easily reach and see what they need
A fundamental aspect of game design is that players can easily reach and see what they need. If it is too hard to reach or see the content, it will be very challenging to engage with it. This basic ability can have a very large impact on the player experience. Things that are too far…
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Theme first, mechanic first … or … experience first?
It is a common question among designers if they design theme or mechanic first. I understand why this is the case, as it really is two different ways to approach game design. But I believe the reality is that most people are a mix of these two. I know that personally I sometimes have a…
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The game makes good use of typographic principles
Typography is the practice of arranging letters and text in such a way that the text is legible, clear, and visually appealing to the reader. This skill set is typically a part of graphic design. Strong typography can elevate a design in ways that most people don’t see or understand. It is also one of…
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Design elements that remind players of how the game’s systems work
This idea that game elements can remind players how their systems work is pulled directly from the world of Usability. The concept is that the elements of the game (components, boards, etc) contain design features that remind players of how the game’s systems work. That is to say that a game should be built using…
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What Game Design taught me about being a UX Architect
Before I can dive into this topic I must first make sure that everyone understands what I mean by these two terms. First, what is a UX Architect? UX stands for “User Experience” and is the study of how users feel about using a digital interface like a phone or a website. As a UX…
