Deck from a recent talk @ VGMU! in Austin. * Talk * Video of "combat UX" * Interactive Board Game Exercise

1. BLOOD, SWEAT,
ANDTEARS
Driving “Good Enough” UX into your Games
Jason Schklar // Mar 8, 2017
VGMU! Chat – Capital Factory

2. Who Jason is:
UX Research
• Studied Judge & Jury Decision Making
• Worked atVarious Devs, Publishers
• Consults with various Devs, Publishers
on UX, Game Design, and Product
• UnifyingTheme: User Experience
Research & Direction
Initial Experience
Consulting
Jason Schklar
Consults!
UXDirection

3. What Jason does:
• Studies human behavior
• Identifies UX issues and recommends
prioritization and fixes
• Collaborates with teams to drive best
UX practices into development
• Mentors Game Designers, PMs, and
UX Designers (and Researchers)
• Provides UX Strategy advice to studio
leadership

4. Why Jason does it:
• Loves games
• Loves watching people play games
• Loves working with people who make
games

5. Agenda
• UX: My Holistic Approach
• Break & Board Game Exercise
• UX Process
• UX Culture
• UX Resources

6. WHAT IS UX?
My take…

7. UX is UI: Helps the Decision Maker: Easy to Consume, Clear CTA

8. LAUNCH UX
FTUE, Home Screen, Core Loop, LongTerm Retention

9. FTUE: Follow the Arrows + “Land of No!”, Minimal Intervention, Passive Intervention Only

10. Home Screen: Core Loop, Progression, Appointments, “What to do Next?” CTA

11. Teach & Reinforce Core Loop: Drive engagement with key systems (for fun & profit!)

12. Drive Interest & Motivation: Move Player “Around the Box”, LTR, Premium Currency Faucet

13. LIVE UX
Scalability, New Player Experience Curation

14. Live Home Screen: Scalability, Add One / Drop One Design, “Invested” Players vs. Newbs

15. Live Session UX: Easing New Players into Game

16. Live Progression: Content Curation for New Players

17. Launch Market
3 Months In…
6 Months In…
Live Progression: Content Curation for New Players

18. UX > UI
Core Game Play, Social Features, Performance,Tech Issues…

19. Core Game Play: Camera, Controls, in-game Feedback, HUD elements

20. Core Game Play: Camera, Controls, in-game Feedback, HUD elements

21. Social Features: Socializing in game, social sharing of gameplay, virality

22. SRSLY: EVERYTHING!
“But I’m not a designer or UX person…”

23. Tech Issues: Load times, Perf, Bugs

24. Multiplayer: Latency, Matchmaking

25. UX is… Everything!
• Flows of Core Loop (UI, IA, IxD)
• Core Game Play Mechanics & Feedback
• Onboarding, Balance & Progression
• LoadTimes & Stability
• Performance & Responsiveness
Core
Gameplay
&
Feedback
Onboarding
&
Progression
Perf &
Resp.
Load
Times &
Stability
UI
IA
IxD

26. 10 MIN BREAK &
BOARD GAME EXERCISE
Designing for an audience that doesn’t read…

27. The Exercise
• Free Play. No Instructions.
• Debrief

28. Takeaways

29. Takeaways
• Board and pieces can help or hinder
learning of the game.
• Better UX means less boring reading.
• Test your game BEFORE you have
your tutorial built!

30. UX PROCESS
Great UX doesn’t “just happen…”

31. Game ImprovementVia PainTransference
• Identify users’ pain and transfer that
pain to your development team
• Ideally this is an iterative process that
involves testing with users

32. Embarrassment &WorryStep 1. Measure pain by studying users

33. Step 2: Discuss causes and potential solutions Angst & Fear

34. Resentment
Step 3. Make fixes. Lots and lots of fixes.
Motivation?

35. Step 4: Validate fixes, find new issues. Repeat.

36. TheVirtuous Cycle of Game UX

37. UX Research
• Doesn’t have to be 1:1 Usability
• Match research with product life cycle
• Internal & friends and family testing
• Analysis of community data
• Remote observational studies
• Playtesting with externals
• Beta testing
• Analytics
• What vs.Why

38. Keys to Success
• Stakeholders bought in and trust the process
• Iterate on working features as soon as possible
• Allocate time to collect dataAND fix & validate
• User-test earlier and more often
• Find a neutral, trusted expert to keep you honest

39. UX CULTURE
Strategy, Leadership, and “UX Champions”

40. UX is… $$$
• Drives KPI (Reach, Funnel,
Engagement, Retention,
Virality, Monetization)
• Builds trust in your brand as a
developer or publisher
• (psst… it’s also a UA force
multiplier)

41. UX Strategy
• Identify and empower
internal UX Champions
• Publisher deal? Ask for it!
• Retain outside expertise
• Independent feedback
• Mentor UI and UX team members

42. * Or help you redefine these rhythms if your UX problem IS your current development rhythm!
• You might already have one at your studio 
• Fall in love with the PROBLEM not the solution
• Are passionate about games
• How they’re made
• Platforms, Genres & Competitors
• Adapt toYOUR development rhythms*
Effective UX Champions

43. UX RESOURCES
Talks, Books, Professional Organizations

44. Game UX Resources
• GDCVault: Search for “UX”
• http://www.gdcvault.com/
• GDC: UX Summit
• http://www.gdconf.com/conference/ux.html
• IGDA Games User Research SIG
• http://gamesuserresearchsig.org/
• Your local game dev community!
• I’m happy to help!
• Email: jschklar@gmail.com

45. CLOSEYOUR EYES!
• UX resources for “actual UX professionals” ;)

46. Game UX Community
• Games UX Slack Channel
• http://bit.ly/2p1zicP
• Games UX FB Page
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/gameux/
• Austin Games UX FB Page
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/AustinGUX/
• IGDA Games User Research Discord
• https://discord.gg/VRPn3xM
• Contact me 
• Email: jschklar@gmail.com

47. TAKEAWAYS
• UX is… Everything!
• Great UX is a result of UX Process
• Identify and grow your UXChampions
• Check out some great Game UX Resources

48. QUESTIONS?
e: jschklar@gmail.com
Or find me in the Games UX Slack or FB channels