10 User Interface Design Fundamentals

 10 User Interface Design Fundamentals

 By Kyle Sollenberger

It's no great mystery that truly great user interfaces are the ones that are engineered to stay out of the way.
'Staying out of the way' means not distracting your users. Rather, good UIs let your users complete goals. The result? A reduction in training and support costs, and happier, satisfied and highly engaged users.
When getting started on a new interface, make sure to remember these fundamentals ...
Editor's Note: Kyle will be talking about User Interface Design at The Future of Web Design NYC.

1. Know your user

“Obsess over customers: when given the choice between obsessing over competitors or customers, always obsess over customers. Start with customers and work backward.” – Jeff Bezos

Your user’s goals are your goals, so learn them. Restate them, repeat them. Then, learn about your user’s skills and experience, and what they need. Find out what interfaces they like and sit down and watch how they use them. Do not get carried away trying to keep up with the competition by mimicking trendy design styles or adding new features. By focusing on your user first, you will be able to create an interface that lets them achieve their goals.

2. Pay attention to patterns

Users spend the majority of their time on interfaces other than your own (Facebook, MySpace, Blogger, Bank of America, school/university, news websites, etc). There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Those interfaces may solve some of the same problems that users perceive within the one you are creating. By using familiar UI patterns, you will help your users feel at home.

CoTweet uses a familiar UI pattern found in email applications.

3. Stay consistent

“The more users’ expectations prove right, the more they will feel in control of the system and the more they will like it.” – Jakob Nielson

Your users need consistency. They need to know that once they learn to do something, they will be able to do it again. Language, layout, and design are just a few interface elements that need consistency. A consistent interface enables your users to have a better understanding of how things will work, increasing their efficiency.

4. Use visual hierarchy

“Designers can create normalcy out of chaos; they can clearly communicate ideas through the organizing and manipulating of words and pictures.” – Jeffery Veen, The Art and Science of Web Design

Design your interface in a way that allows the user to focus on what is most important. The size, color, and placement of each element work together, creating a clear path to understanding your interface. A clear hierarchy will go great lengths in reducing the appearance of complexity (even when the actions themselves are complex).

5. Provide feedback

Your interface should at all times speak to your user, when his/her actions are both right and wrong or misunderstood. Always inform your users of actions, changes in state and errors, or exceptions that occur. Visual cues or simple messaging can show the user whether his or her actions have led to the expected result.

BantamLive provides inline loading indicators for most actions within their interface.

6. Be forgiving

No matter how clear your design is, people will make mistakes. Your UI should allow for and tolerate user error. Design ways for users to undo actions, and be forgiving with varied inputs (no one likes to start over because he/she put in the wrong birth date format). Also, if the user does cause an error, use your messaging as a teachable situation by showing what action was wrong, and ensure that she/he knows how to prevent the error from occurring again.
A great example can be seen in How to increase signups with easier captchas.

7. Empower your user

Once a user has become experienced with your interface, reward him/her and take off the training wheels. The breakdown of complex tasks into simple steps will become cumbersome and distracting. Providing more abstract ways, like keyboard shortcuts, to accomplish tasks will allow your design to get out of the way.

8. Speak their language

“If you think every pixel, every icon, every typeface matters, then you also need to believe every letter matters. ” – Getting Real

All interfaces require some level of copywriting. Keep things conversational, not sensational. Provide clear and concise labels for actions and keep your messaging simple. Your users will appreciate it, because they won’t hear you – they will hear themselves and/or their peers.

9. Keep it simple

“A modern paradox is that it’s simpler to create complex interfaces because it’s so complex to simplify them.” – Pär Almqvist

The best interface designs are invisible. They do not contain UI-bling or unnecessary elements. Instead, the necessary elements are succinct and make sense. Whenever you are thinking about adding a new feature or element to your interface, ask the question, “Does the user really need this?” or “Why does the user want this very clever animated gif?” Are you adding things because you like or want them? Never let your UI ego steal the show.

10. Keep moving forward

Grandpa Bud: If I gave up every time I failed, I would never have invented my fireproof pants!
[Pants burn up, revealing his underwear]
Grandpa Bud: Still working the kinks out a bit.
from Meet the Robinsons

Meet the Robinsons is one of my all time favorite movies. Throughout the movie Lewis, the protagonist, is challenged to “keep moving forward.” This is a key principle in UI design.
It is often said when developing interfaces that you need to fail fast, and iterate often. When creating a UI, you will make mistakes. Just keep moving forward, and remember to keep your UI out of the way.

Creating immersive experiences with diegetic interfaces

Link: http://www.cooper.com/journal/2010/08/diagetic_interfaces.html/

Creating immersive experiences with diegetic interfaces

by Imon Deshmukh on August 14, 2010 | Comments (4)

I like to think of Interaction Design in its purest form as being about shaping the perception of an environment of any kind. Yes, today the discipline is so closely tied to visual displays and software that it almost seems to revolve around that medium alone, but that’s only because as of now, that’s pretty much the only part of our environment over which we have complete control.
The one field that has come closest to overcoming this limitation is the video game industry whose 3D games are the most vivid and complete alternate realities technology has been able to achieve. Game designers have control over more aspects of an environment, albeit a virtual one, than anyone else.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea that interfaces can be more closely integrated with the environment in which they operate. I’d like to share some of what I’ve learned from the universe of video games and how it might be applicable to other kinds of designed experiences.
In Designing for the Digital Age, Kim Goodwin criticizes the term “Experience design” as being too presumptuous because we don’t really have the power to determine exactly what kind of experience each person with their own beliefs and perceptions has. Even when we work across an entire event from start (e.g. booking a flight) to finish (arriving at the door), there are still countless factors outside our control that can significantly impact how a person will experience it.
Video game designers on the other hand can orchestrate a precise scenario since almost every detail in their virtual world is for them to determine. They can arrange exactly what kind of person sits next to you on a flight no matter who you are or how many times you take that flight.
That isn’t to say that videogames don't have their limitations. Of course, it isn’t completely true that game designers can determine who sits next to you. They can only determine who your avatar sits next to. The most significant weakness of videogames is the inability to truly inhabit a designed environment or narrative. As much control as we may have over a virtual world, as long as we are confined to experiencing it through television screens and speakers, it won’t be anywhere near comparable to our real world.
Fortunately, there’s a growing effort to address this lack of immersion.
A key area of the problem lies in how we’re presented and interact with complex information diegetically, that is, interfaces that actually exist within the game world itself.

Before continuing, it helps to be familiar with some basic concepts and terminology around diegesis in computer graphics, the different spaces of representation between the actual player and their avatar. The diagram above illustrates the four main types of information representation in games.

Non-diegetic representations remain the most common type of interface in games. In first person shooters, arguably the most immersive type of game since we usually see the scenery through our avatar’s view, the head-up display has remained an expected element since Wolfenstein 3D first created the genre.
While we’re mainly talking about the diegetic space here, spatial representations are worth touching on. While not truly diegetic, spatial representations nonetheless manage to embed interface elements in a less disruptive way by integrating them more seamlessly into the 3D world. Mirror’s Edge uses this to great effect by highlighting objects visually as a navigation aid for the player as they move through complex urban settings using creative ways besides plain running.
If we’re aiming for immersion though, the interface will usually have to be at least partially diegetic (and Mirror’s Edge actually does make use of them as well; that is, the interface is visible to the character in the game and exists “physically”, so to say, in that world. There has been some discussion recently on the merits of diegetic representations of information versus the more traditional non-diegetic type (typically HUDs). The fact that there is a debate on this issue alone reflects the progress graphics technology has made recently. For most of the history of video games, diegetic interfaces were impractical or plain impossible because of computing or hardware limitations.

Here is a fairly recent example of a diegetic interface in the Need For Speed series that illustrates a common problem with in-game interfaces. Even though I initially liked the realistic cockpit view, I eventually switched over to the HUD mode most of the time because it was just easier to follow than the digitized instrument panels.

In comparison, it's worth noting the more effective use of the actual rear view mirrors for their intended purpose. Traditionally, these types of auxiliary views were usually featured in a non-diegetic window overlay, presumably because of the difficulty of displaying real-time scenes at non-orthogonal angles and in an amorphous frame.

In the early 1990s, LucasArts’ X-Wing series used an in-game cockpit that was effective enough that most of the instrumentation did not have an alternative non-diegetic representation as an option. There is a tradeoff though. Unlike some driving games in which the view pans horizontally when the car takes a turn, the instruments here are on a static background that we never see from any other angle.

One of the most graphically impressive (and demanding of computer hardware) games is Crytek’s Far Cry 2 where several types of information are presented through their actual medium diegetically (map, watch, GPS, etc.).

As Marcus Andrews points out in Gamasutra, Far Cry 2 does use a traditional HUD sometimes to complement the diegetic elements. He views this as a failure on the designers’ part to express all information in the diegetic manner, but others have argued that it may have been merely the case that they determined the combination of the two was the most effective way to balance immersion and clarity of information.

There are games that have a fully diegetic interface. The most notable recent example of this is Dead Space which set an explicit direction from the start of its development to have all interactions take place within the fictional world.

This led to clever but logical ways to represent game mechanics traditionally displayed in HUDs. For example, a tube filled with a luminous liquid on the avatar’s back acts as a health indicator while the hints for the player are displayed as messages from other characters in the game.

Interestingly, this has been partially facilitated by not using the standard first person perspective used in First Person Shooters (hence the name). Instead it has a third person tracking view where the player’s character is visible from behind and the game is played mainly by seeing over the character’s shoulder. Unlike a straight first person view where the hologram screen would take up most of our field of view, this perspective allows the use of the interface while still being able to watch the area in front of them. (This can be critical because the monsters in Dead Space won’t wait around while you’re busy saving your game.)

Finally, there’s Aliens: Colonial Marines. As the in-game still shows, there are no non-diegetic elements present in the first person view. The avatar is holding a device instead that will be immediately familiar to anyone who has seen Aliens. Even in the film, the motion tracker served as an effective diegetic interface since the audience could clearly understand what the moving dots on the display meant.
While it’s a little odd that it took a quarter century until someone made a true video game adaptation of a film that has more or less served as a template for the First Person Shooter genre, it’s just as well since even ten years ago, it would have been impossible to render a motion tracker so realistically and effectively in a game.
Technology seems to be finally overcoming the restrictions that have kept diegetic interfaces limited to gimmickry until now. While still in its infancy, the push to duplicate more of our natural interactions with our environment seems to be gaining momentum as evidenced by new products using non-traditional interaction models. Most of them, like the popular Nintendo Wii, have yet to deal with immersion in terms of interfaces. On the other hand, Microsoft’s, whose controller-free gaming technology Kinect is about to enter the market, has stated its intention to eliminate what it calls the “barrier” between the player and the game world.
While researching this article, I was really interested to find how other professions are making use of this technology. To my surprise, I struggled to find examples. While 3D has been widely adopted by fields like architecture and medicine in other ways, the value placed on presenting complex information in more immersive ways still seems to be largely limited to entertainment media.
How can this technology be applied outside gaming and what value would it be providing that other alternatives cannot?

In a way, diegetic interfaces have been used for training purposes since the first flight simulators were created to teach pilots to fly by instruments. The instruments may not have been represented on a digital display, but they were complex interfaces in an immersive simulated environment, which fits the definition of a truly diegetic interface at least as much the in world devices in Dead Space.

Modern professional flight simulators still use physical interfaces. Unfortunately, while it may be cost less than using a real airplane, the price of these devices still remained out of the reach of most people. This all changed when PC based flight simulation software brought the experience, complete with diegetic instrumentation, to the mass market.
Why not extend this to other types of complex products as well? At Cooper, we're currently working on a life-supporting medical device that’s used on critical patients in operating rooms and intensive care units. Not surprisingly, training people to use this device is not a simple task. Let’s say there are 3 components required to create an effective training scenario for this type of product.

1. The user interface, which in this case is likely to be a touchscreen plus separate hardware buttons.
2. Basic hardware parts like storage compartments, cables and other tasks that require physical interaction.
3. An environment that is frequently unpredictable and chaotic including other people who have different personalities.

The two last points are fairly easy to simulate with 3D simulations and advanced AI and in fact are in use already. Interactions with more complex interfaces, often screen-based, however are still divorced from these and exist as separate recreations of the screen only. Embedding this last component into the virtual space would finally create an immersive learning environment that is the next best thing to using the real thing but far more affordable.
I’m interested if anyone else is aware of other applications of diegetic user interfaces. How else might these ideas be applied?

Video Game Interface Elements

Video Game Interface Elements

Link: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VideoGameInterfaceElements

It's like "Game Over" man, Game Over!

— Corporal Hudson, Aliens

Unlike noninteractive media, video games often require that incidental information be immediately available. Video games use a variety of mechanisms to present this information. Likewise, they have many kinds of commands, and different ways of accepting them. See also Interface Screw and Interface Spoiler for some metafictional uses of the interface.
These elements include:

• Action Bar
  A UI element consisting of a box or strip of icons (or menu items) corresponding to actions which can be performed.
• Attract Mode
  Animation that plays when no one is actively playing the game.
• Boss Subtitles
  Where the boss is introduced with a big show of its name and a title or descriptive line.
• Break Meter
  A usually graphical display that shows how close a character or enemy is to being "broken", a state where they will be more vulnerable to attacks.
• Character Name Limits
  The player's name can be only so many letters long.
• Color-Coded Elements
  Every magical effect has a color associated with it, allowing the player to tell at a glance which element a given ability is.
• Diegetic Interface
  When the game interface exists in-universe, rather than being strictly for the player's benefit.
• Dramatic Disappearing Display
  During a climactic Boss Battle or event, the game's display (showing Score, the Life Meter and such) vanishes, leaving a completely unobstructed view of the game area.
• Emote Command
  A command in a multi-user game that depicts an emotion or personal action.
  • Emote Animation
    An animation that triggers during an Emote Command.
• General Gaming Gamepads
  The usual types of controllers used with video game systems over the years.
• Holler Button
  Pressing a button to call NPCs over.
• Hot Bar
  A row of user-configurable buttons, usually located near the bottom or top of the screen.
• Heads Up Display
  Heads-Up Display: A device which projects supplemental information onto the surface reflection of a transparent panel.
• Idle Animation
  The animation that is displayed when a character, especially a player-controlled character, is just standing around.
• Interface Screw
  When the game unexpectedly changes the interface to mess with the player.
• Interface Spoiler
  When the way an in-game menu is constructed gives away details about the rest of the game.
• Level Map Display
• Light Gun
  A video game controller shaped like a gun.
• Main Window
  The place where the action of the game takes place.
• My Name Is ???
  When the name of something - be it a character, object or menu item - is unknown, it will often be represented by a string of question marks.
• Ominous Save Prompt
  An unusual-looking save prompt which comes just before something really nasty goes down.
• The Pennyfarthing Effect
  What happens when an early version of a mechanic or interface is more complicated than a more recent one.
• Pet Interface
  An interface in which you are given a sidekick, usually a pet, that acts as a guide/virtual pet of sorts in the world.
• Playable Menu
  Fully interactivized main menu sequence.
• Point-and-Click Map
  A game world map containing active areas, clicking on which instantly transports the character to the corresponding level.
• Ring Menu
  An interface element where a list of possible actions are displayed in a ring or circle, often around a character.
• Score Screen
  A screen that comes up after a level is beaten, tallying stuff like collectibles and your rating.
• Scrolling Text
  When characters talk, it doesn't just appear instantly, it goes letter by letter.
• Shows Damage
  Where the character or enemy graphically is shown with damaged clothing or body parts.
• Slash Command
  A text command, beginning with a "/", usually found in MMORPGs.
• Spinventory
  The inventory screen uses the actual in-game 3D model of the item, and lets you see it by spinning it around.
• Squad Controls
  The player is given limited control over their NPC allies through a handful of predefined commands.
• Start Screen
  A static screen, or else an Attract Mode, which usually contains the title and a pulsating "PRESS START" prompt.
• Stat Meters
  Graphical depictions of a statistical quantity, most often the player-character's current status.
  • Life Meter
    A meter, usually a coloured bar, that displays the Hit Points of a character.
    • Multiple Life Bars
      It's more complex than a single pile of Hit Points.
    • Critical Annoyance
      A warning sound that plays over and over again when you are low on health or some other bad thing is imminent.
  • Mana Meter
    A meter that describes the amount of power a character has remaining for his special abilities.
    • Charge Meter
      An indicator of how long you've held down a particular button in order to build up to the capability to perform a special, powerful action.
  • Sprint Meter
    A graphical depiction of some aspect of a character's condition other than his remaining health, e.g. his ability to run at high speed.
    • Oxygen Meter
      A meter indicating the breath or oxygen left while underwater.
    • Sanity Meter
      A meter showing how much (or how little) sanity a character has.
  • Experience Meter
    A meter that shows the current experience of a character, usually showing progress between two levels.
  • Karma Meter
    A meter that indicates how "good" or "bad" you are acting at that point. May be invisible.
    • Evil Is Petty
      The tendency of "evil" meaning just being really mean to people.
    • Wanted Meter
      A meter that represents how much of the local authority's ire you've drawn.
• Stat-O-Vision
  A display that shows all sorts of information about the target or enemy being scanned.
• Status Line
  A display element showing the current disposition of the player, e.g. score, health, ammo etc.
• Stock Control Settings
  The common standards in button layout.
• Symbol Drawing Interface
  You have to draw symbols on the screen to perform certain actions.
• Taunt Button
  A button that activates an Emote Animation of a character taunting others.
• Text Parser
  A form of input that takes commands from the player and simplifies this to commands that the game engine can understand.
  • Hello, Insert Name Here
    Games let you name your characters. Renaming your hero to "POOP" can result in hours of fun.
• Themed Cursor
  Your cursor is based from some in-game element.
• Vanity Window
  Part of the screen filled with a logo or other static image, leaving the Main Window to be smaller, to save on processing power.
• World Map
  A map drawn to much smaller scale than the main areas of the game, used to allow the player to travel between areas faster than "real time", as well as (sometimes) explore.
• Zip Mode
  A shortcut so that you don't have to watch your character walk all the way across the screen. 

Opinion: Grim Fandango And Diegesis In Games

Opinion: Grim Fandango And Diegesis In Games

Link:http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/21172/Opinion_Grim_Fandango_And_Diegesis_In_Games.php

Like the radio playing 'Still Alive' in Portal, "diegesis" means music, titles and other effects seen both by the audience and the fictional characters in films -- Gregory Weir examines the concept in LucasArts' Grim Fandango, suggesting it has fascinating applications for games.]

In video games, there is a division between the world inhabited by the game's characters and the representation of that world to the player. The game environment, world objects, and most sound effects and dialogue exist in the game world; that is, they can be perceived by characters.

Other elements, such as most background music, loading screens, and subtitles, exist outside of the game world. They are part of the narration of the game, and help to provide the player with information or emotion that is not necessarily apparent to the characters of the game.

The film world calls this concept "diegesis." This is most easily explained in relation to music. If a film's music comes from a source inside the world of the film, like Casablanca's piano-playing Sam, it is said to be diegetic.

The dramatic music that plays over a James Bond action scene, however, cannot be heard by Bond; it is non-diegetic. Video game music can be looked at in the same way; Super Mario Bros.'s earworm background music is decidedly non-diegetic, but when the player comes across a radio in Portal playing a Latin version of "Still Alive," that music is diegetic. The player character Chell can hear it just like the player can.

Diegesis In Games

The concept of diegesis applies to more than just music, of course. HUD elements can be non-diegetic or, as in Metroid Prime or Star Wars: Republic Commando, incorporated into the player character's helmet and therefore diegetic.

Metroid Prime, in fact, plays with diegesis via the game's very interface. By using the X-Ray Visor, it becomes clear that while the player selects Samus's weapons with the C Stick, Samus herself chooses weapons by moving her fingers into various positions.

One work that pays particular attention to the concept of diegesis is LucasArts's 1998 game Grim Fandango. The game creates a very cinematic atmosphere by dispensing with many non-diegetic elements.

Playing the game feels very much like watching a film noir piece due in part to this decision. By looking at how Grim Fandango handles diegesis, we can see how this concept can be used in video games.

Grim Fandango's Design Decisions

Grim Fandango is the successor to a long line of adventure games put out by LucasArts. All of the company's previous titles use the SCUMM engine, where the player controls the game with a mouse cursor, choosing verbs for the player character from a list or a "verb coin." Clicking on the ground moves the character, and the character's inventory of held items either occupies a portion of the screen or is visible via a secondary screen.

Grim Fandango, however, is based on a new engine. The GrimE engine, as used in this game, has no visible verb list, no mouse cursor, no inventory screen, and no hover text for world objects. Instead of clicking to move the main character, Manny Calavera, the player steers him with the keyboard.

Interactive objects are indicated by Manny turning his head to look at them as he moves. The non-diegetic inventory screen is replaced by a close-up view of Manny's jacket, where he takes out various objects as the player flips through his collection, putting each item away before taking out the next.

This design decision has clear advantages. The lack of non-diegetic screen elements encourages player immersion by making the game world seem less artificial, and the inventory system does a similar thing by ensuring that every player action, even that of searching through the inventory, represents an action taken by Manny.

Additionally, the gameplay looks more cinematic, which reinforces the game's connection to its film noir inspirations. The game almost feels like playing a CGI noir film.

The Downsides Of Diegesis

However, the diegetic elements have their downsides. The movement system is often more awkward than the simple click-to-move approach, and Manny's gaze is a less useful indicator when he is near multiple interactive objects.

The one-item-at-a-time inventory system creates the most problems; at some points in the game, Manny is carrying a large number of things, and scrolling through them all can be annoying, with the amount of time it takes for Manny to remove each item from his jacket and describe what it is.

There are still several non-diegetic elements left in the game. The conversation system is a notable exception to the immersive interface. When Manny speaks to someone, Grim Fandango presents a rather standard conversation tree interface, with visible options that the player can scroll through and pick from. It's understandable why the developers made this choice.

A diegetic alternative could be created, maybe letting Manny think about various topics in his head and mumble the options to himself, but this would probably be even more awkward than the inventory system... and would make Manny's character much more tongue-tied and socially awkward.

The other major non-diegetic element is the music. Most of Grim Fandango's music is non-diegetic; generally, the wide array of jazzy tunes don't come from an in-game source. This is in keeping with the cinematic feel of the game.

While the music seems to work against the player's suspension of disbelief, it does support the illusion of the game as film. This is an aspect that would have been easy to make diegetic; there are ample opportunities in the world of the game for diegetic music. However, the developers' choice to make the music non-diegetic doesn't weaken the game.

The Fourth Wall

Diegesis is fundamentally a method of bringing the player closer to the game. Every non-diegetic element, whether it's a mouse cursor or a soundtrack, serves to reinforce the "fourth wall" between the player and the game world.

By removing non-diegetic elements, the developer can make it easier for the player to lose herself in the game via immersion. That isn't to say that immersion isn't possible in a heavily non-diegetic game, but all other things being equal, a diegetic game will be more immersive.

There's an important caveat, though. If an element of the gameplay experience is made diegetic at the cost of usability, the player is pulled out of the experience again. Consider Manny's coat-based inventory; using this system is actually more difficult than it would be for Manny to actually pull something out of his pocket.

In this case, immersion would probably be restored by using an easier but less diegetic inventory system. This would undermine Grim Fandango's goal of creating a cinematic experience, but it would make the game less frustrating and easier to use.

Grim Fandango is one of the most well-crafted video games of all time, and it has a lot to teach us about how video games can and should be made. Its use of diegesis is probably the way in which the game is most unique among games.

Diegesis is something that all developers should consider in the course of making a game: when is it better for an element of the game to be diegetic, and when is it best to make it separate from the game world? By considering this, developers can ensure that their game strikes the best balance between immersion and usability.

[Gregory Weir is a writer, game developer, and software programmer. He maintains Ludus Novus, a podcast and accompanying blog dedicated to the art of interaction. He can be reached at Gregory.Weir@gmail.com.]

The "Plane" Between Worlds: Diegesis In Games

The "Plane" Between Worlds: Diegesis In Games

Link:http://myportfolio.usc.edu/mgrattan/2010/02/the_plane_between_worlds_diegesis_in_games.html

There has been discussion lately regarding "diegetic" versus "non-diegetic" user interfaces, and in this entry I enter into the conversation with a response to Marcus Andrews' article entitled "Game UI Discoveries: What Players Want," asserting that immersion is sometimes but not always limited to a realistic connection between player and avatar.

As discussed in a previous post, exploring what motivates a player to participate in a game is essential to creating a satisfying experience; however, the interface through which the player translates themselves into the game and receives information is just as important a consideration. While a "good" user interface provides a user with an intuitive set of commands and necessary information, a poor one can easily leave a player frustrated, confused, or uninterested. Currently, one of the debates surrounding user interface design involves the concepts of "diegetic" and "non-diegetic" strategies and whether the player is more deeply immersed as a result of either. Some argue that a diegetic approach causes greater immersion because the player interacts directly within the context of the game, while others claim that diegetic interfaces are unable to provide the necessary volume of information that the player needs without becoming overly cryptic. Although the weight of each argument depends on the given game, there are many examples of each which demonstrate both their advantages and disadvantages, and consistency is key. Additionally, this debate is expected to gain additional attention with upcoming technologies such as 3D and Natal which will change the way some games are perceived and played. Therefore, this week I have chosen to address Marcus Andrews' recent article entitled "Game UI Discoveries: What Players Want," found at Gamasutra. In it, he describes some of the terminology used in user interface design and examines some of the pros and cons of diegetic and non-diegetic interfaces by looking at a few specific examples of games which implement them, including "Dead Space" (pictured above) -- a prime example of diegesis. My response to Andrews' article can be found below as well as on the article itself.
"Game UI Discoveries: What Players Want"
Comment
As a newer game designer interested in current design trends and exploring today's challenges in the field, I was drawn to your article analyzing the benefits and drawbacks of diegetic user interfaces in specific games. I appreciate the range of genres which are covered by your examples, which goes a long way to highlight how one method may shine in a particular genre and be much less useful in another. I also agree that although diegetic interfaces can create a more direct connection between the player and the respective "organism," the multitude of player commands and abilities in some cases (such as many "massively multiplayer" online games) outnumbers what you refer to as "real estate" within the game world. This idea of the organism is compelling, and although the concept itself is always at the center of decisions regarding a game's user interface, it seems extremely useful to encapsulate it with this metaphor. Furthermore, the comparison of the organism to a human prosthesis is similar to the "mental model" described by Tracy Fullerton and Chris Swain as an extension of the player's perception of their role within a game in their book, Game Design Workshop. According to Fullerton and Swain, this mental model "can either help players to understand your game, or it can cause them to misunderstand it." In relation to the article, I interpret this claim to resemble the patient's understanding of a new prosthesis with preserved functionality versus one which sacrifices such functionality for "authenticity."
The article mentions during the "Far Cry 2" example that the combination of both diegetic and non-diegetic interface elements makes the game feel "conflicted." Do you think that this property holds true as a general rule? For example, would you come to the same conclusion for a game such as "Grand Theft Auto 4" which contains diegetic elements such as the cell phone and non-diegetic elements such as the world map? I certainly agree with your statement which says that a compromise between the two methods is greatest "if a diegetic interface is the goal from the beginning." I believe the same to be true for a non-diegetic interface. However, was this not the goal in "Far Cry 2?" I think one of the main issues of its interface may have been in the non-diegetic elements being "forced in" rather than the diegetic ones as a result of the games "lack of real estate." Perhaps it is also useful to explore this question on a grander scale for upcoming technological advances that are expected to be seen in games such as 3D viewing and Microsoft's Natal. I'm curious about your thoughts on how these technologies will affect both the usefulness and importance of diegesis in game user interfaces.