UX/UI FOR GAMING
ON DESIGNING A FUN
AND ENGAGING
GAME EXPERIENCE
2 NOVEMBER - 21 DECEMBER 2022
Duration:
7 WEEKS
MONDAYS & WEDNESDAYS
5 PM PST / 8 PM EST
Learn the secrets to designing a great player experience, craft a diverse portfolio of work, and get ready for the gaming career you really want with Ivy Sang, head UX & UI designer for some of the most renowned AAA games of the last decade.
THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU, IFâŠ
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You want to tailor your design skills to the gaming industry
Is designing games your dream job? Increase your chances of entering the industry by preparing a UX/UI portfolio showcasing an engaging and intuitive game interface. Learn how to create wireframes, mockups, and vital UI elements.
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You want to design games that keep players engaged
Dive into player behaviors and thinking processes to improve the interaction between players and the game. Learn to conduct usability tests, ensure designs are accessible and approachable, gain valuable insights, and create attractive interfaces that put the player first.
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You want to kick-start your career as a UX/UI game designer
Donât have enough illustration or coding experience? Not to worry! Ivy will open the door for you by teaching the practical skills gaming companies actually look for when hiring UX/UI designers. And if thatâs not enough, instantly get ahead of other applicants with the help of crucial career advice from a true industry expert.
Focus your UX/UI learning on the gaming industry
When it comes to UX/UI design, every industry is unique.. Learn interface design principles specific to gaming.
This comprehensive course will help you understand the full UX/UI design workflow, from prototyping to mockups. Get your hands dirty with industry tools such as Figma and Adobe Photoshop, all with expert guidance from a seasoned gaming industry pro.
Capture the attention of hiring managers
Map out your future career path while gaining hands-on UX/UI experience. By the end of this course, youâll have a recruiter-ready UX/UI portfolio to support your job applications.
PROJECTS
4 LABS
2 TOOLS
WORKSHOP
Land a job in your dream game studio. Benefit from pro tips on how to prepare an application package, perform great during a job interview, and strategically shape your own career journey in UX/UI game design.
SANG LinkedIn Profile
- UX Lead at Electronic Arts and Hothead Games
- Over 14 years of experience in UX/UI, including leadership positions at Electronic Arts and Hothead Games
- Developed, supported, and launched AAA franchises such as FIFA, NHL, UFC, Battlefield, Dragon Age, and Skate
- Boasts a full spectrum of UX skills, including UX design, UI visual design, UX research, and UX engineering and strategy
- Passionate instructor and mentor â winner of the Vancouver Film School Award for Excellence in Instruction and Best Course Award
Discover the role that UX/UI designers play in game development and identify the skills needed to build a career in the field.
- Roles of UX/UI designers in game production
- Differences between UX/UI design and game design
- Skills needed to be a great UX/UI designer in gaming
Learn to apply cognitive science principles together with creativity and imagination to communicate with players in games. Craft and develop player journeys to model playersâ in-game experiences.
- Communicating through game languages
- Cognitive knowledge in games: attention, perception, and memory
- The learning loop
- Demo: Player journeys
Assignment #1: Watch a playthrough of a game and complete a player journey.
This class looks at the key stages of the UX/UI process in gaming. Practice using game languages by translating your experience design into a fun paper prototype.
- The UX/UI pipeline in gaming
- Behavior-driven flowcharts
- Workshop: Creating a âpaperâ prototype
Evaluate the pros & cons of available UX tools and software to find what works for you. Dive into Figma, one of the most popular UX tools, to learn how to develop your player experience in digital form.
- UX software overview
- Tips and tricks for building flowcharts in Figma
- Demo: Figma introduction
- Workshop: Transfering flowchart sketches to Figma
Assignment #2:
Part 1.
Complete the paper prototype.
Part 2.
Complete your iterated flowchart design in Figma.
Learn how to build wireframes that capture the skeleton of the experience you want your players to have on every screen. Continue to advance your Figma skills with more complex graphic creations.
- Interactive vs. non-interactive information
- Organization systems: Gestalt Principles of Design
- Information and navigation design
- Demo: Creating wireframes in Figma
Research how players would feel about the experience you crafted for them. Learn how to prepare and plan a usability test in a scientific and objective way to gain insights to inform the next UX/UI design phase.
- Intro to user research in gaming
- Usability tests
- Preparing a usability test plan and scripts
- Asking the right questions
Assignment #3:
Part 1.
Complete the first iteration of your home screen and gameplay screen wireframes in Figma.
Go Deeper: Create a wireframe for the inventory screen.
Part 2.
Submit a finalized usability test plan and script. Conduct the usability test and collect feedback from coursemates or other volunteers. Apply the feedback to your wireframes in Figma and describe how you applied the feedback.
Today, youâll focus on creating a fun and appealing game experience for different types of players. Learn how to build player profiles and start your UI design journey by developing a game art âbibleâ.
- Understanding player motivations and constraints
- Crafting player profiles
- Communicating playersâ perspectives to the rest of the team
- Workshop: Creating player profiles and a game art bible
Understand the skills you need for a career in UI design. Add to your toolkit by learning to use Adobe Photoshop to add key UI elements to your wireframes.
- Game UI skills
- The different elements of UI design
- UI software options: pros & cons
In this class, youâll learn how to convert wireframes into UI mockups. Youâll also learn how to set up a holistic UI style guide to present your experience ideas in an engaging and appealing way.
- Portfolio for UI Skills
- The importance of UI style guides
- Demo: Adding graphic design elements in Adobe Photoshop
- Demo: Creating a style guide and UI screen mockups
Assignment #4: Using Adobe Photoshop (or alternative software), create UI mockups for each of your different wireframes. With a help of a color blind simulator, evaluate the accessibility of your UI mockup. Make adjustments as necessary.
Go Deeper: Develop your own UI style guide.
Discover what makes a game experience accessible and approachable â and why itâs important â to create game experiences that are fun for everyone.
- Accessibility vs. approachability
- Having empathy for players
- Implementing accessibility guidelines
Consider what goes through a playerâs mind when they start a new game â what drives them to continue playing or to drop out? In this class, youâll learn how to create an engaging onboarding experience for all types of players.
- The first-time user experience (FTUE) framework
- Walkthrough vs. hands-on approaches
- The forgetting curve and learning loop in action
- FTUE tools: cinematics, storytelling, UI, gameplay, meta game
- Case study
What does it take to make UX/UI for XR games (VR, AR, MR, and beyond)? Learn how XR differs from the traditional gaming UX/UI for both players and game developers.
- Game industry XR trends
- Working with a 360-degree canvas
- Workshop: XR Gameplay Player Journey
Explore the general gaming interview process for UX/UI designers. Benefit from pro tips on how to prepare an application package, perform great during job hunting, and plan your own career growth as a UX/UI designer in game development.
- Different career paths
- The general interview process
- The importance of resumes & portfolios
- Creating a winning portfolio
Assignment #5: Turn your game UX/UI course project into a portfolio using the provided portfolio template.
In this bonus session, youâll have the opportunity to practice interviewing for a UX/UI designer position in your dream company. Ivy will provide feedback and improvement suggestions to help you feel more confident about handling an interview.
What our students say
"Ivy is a fantastic instructor and willing to stay and answer all questions until everyone is clear on the lessons, and is willing to give individual consult on-demand."
"Ivy is a very engaging instructor. She makes the material very entertaining to learn and easy to digest."
"I most appreciated the instructor's ability to effectively teach the subject matter and answer questions with great answers. She's very relatable, experienced and knowledgeable."
"I love the comparisons Ivy makes to make concepts more understandable. Ex: Comparing player journeys to an experience of ordering a drink"
"Ivy is a great teacher and her courses are really easy to follow. She breaks down complex concepts into digestible bits of knowledge that make them more manageable, all while understanding UI UX design better!"
"The simple and clear way of the classes. The classes dynamic, and Ivy's attention to detail. The course resources."
"The lectures are communicated clearly, structured well and easy to digest. They touch on just the right amount of information to learn, but not too much."
"I really appreciate the breadth of the course and the structure. I think Ivy has done a great job of making sure the content of each lecture builds on previous ones. The subject matter is really interesting and I admire Ivy as an instructor for always answering questions and trying to accommodate different needs."
"The course is structured in a way that each new subject we learn adds on to the previous one."
"Ivy makes the class work fun, and useful, rather than going into a bunch of detail and things we wonât use, she keeps it engaging and is quick to answer questions."
"The teacher does a good job of keeping us engaged. I like how she refers to many different games in her examples."
"Ivy's deep industry knowledge and her ability to teach UX concepts to an audience with varied experience in UX design."
"Ivy takes her time to go through the whole process and the nitty gritties, but is also very welcoming of diverse ways of approaching UX, so as someone who hasn't had any experience in this field, the course is really helpful."