Animal Crossing New Horizons
UX + UI Coursework | 2023
OVERVIEW
An analysis of Animal Crossing New Horizons' UX/UI fundamentals.
This project was completed as part of ELVTR's UX/UI in Gaming course.
"Blossom Trees" by Miranda Buechler, Illustrator
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Player experience
architecture -
User research + testing
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Illustrator: all 2D art
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Screen mockups
ROLES
8 weeks
DURATION
Figma
Illustrator
Photoshop
TOOLS
CHALLENGES
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Innovative heuristics for effective communication
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Limited timeline
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Uncharted territory: learning something new is fun!
IDEAL
PLAYER + JOURNEY
WIREFRAMES
+ USABILITY TEST
STYLE GUIDE
+ MOCK UP
CVD
ACCESSIBILITY
Let's face it, "What is UX/UI in gaming?" is not the easiest question to answer. Below is my study on what makes a fun experience, where I break down, recreate and improve usability in the immersive game,
Animal Crossing New Horizons.
Happy scrolling!
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This project was completed as part of ELVTR's UX/UI in Gaming course.
A special thanks to
UX | THE IDEAL PLAYER + JOURNEY
OUR
STAR
PLAYERS
Our target audience is looking for a chill, immersive experience.
The target age range is 16 - 45 years old.
Requirements include our players owning a Nintendo Switch.
Player journey maps, paper prototypes and flow charts allow designers to look at the methods through which info will be communicated to players (a.k.a. UX heuristics).
COLOR VISION DEFICIENCY (CVD) ACCESSIBILITY
GOOD RULES OF THUMB:
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If you can't play your game in grayscale, it's not accessible.
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Let players customize the UI colors.
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Make nothing in your game dependent on color alone.
HIGHLIGHTED CHANGES
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The Residents now have a coordinating texture to go with their home icon on map.
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The wave texture has been removed from the Resident pool to eliminate the clashing of texture-on-texture.
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The mid-level topographical terrain has its own texture to make it more distinguishable, while the rocks no longer have texture at all.
POST MORTEM
So, what is UX/UI in gaming?
When players know how to make the right decisions in a game, that is good UX/UI design.
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We UX/UI designers are the bridge between game developers' intentions and players' expectations. When players can perceive, understand + remember information, miscommunications are eliminated.
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Happy gaming!
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