4 Week Diagnostic Project

Summary 

This is a short experiment to test the feasibility of my area of interest and to identify initial areas and sources of research. 

I will be finding a game with subjectively poorly designed UI. I will then carry out research as to whether other people find the same issues that I did and ways to improve the issues identified. 

I have laid out a week-by-week plan below in order to structure this project properly. 

Week 1 - UI Research 

To start off this project I will be researching what makes good UI design: 
- what works? 
- how does it work? 
- what doesn't work? 
- why is good design important? 

Once I have understood these concepts, I can begin to evaluate what makes poor UI design. 

Week 2 - Game Research 

I will review games that I have previously played from a more critical point of view - looking for issues that I found in UI during my time playing them. 

I will then research games that wider groups of players have had issues with. 

I will then check these against each other and hopefully I will find a game that, based on multiple opinions, has poorly designed UI. 

This game will be ideal to look into as I will have both primary research and secondary research to back up my opinions, evidence and conclusions. 

Week 3 - Prototypes 

Having found a game with poorly designed UI, I will create concepts for HUD layouts or menus that reflect and improve upon the issues found by the players. 

I am aiming to create my own version of the improved UI in order to explore potentially better layouts or colour schemes. 

Week 4 - Conclusion 

I will write a short (200 - 300 word) summary of the project and reflect on my findings. In my conclusion I will discuss: 
- what I found 
- what I need to research further going forward 
- how my understanding of UI has evolved