Stage 1. Usability Audit

Before refining the game design, I conducted a usability audit to identify pain points in the user experience and gameplay flow. The key areas of focus included:


1. Onboarding & First-Time User Experience

• Issue: The tutorial lacked clear guidance on game objectives and mechanics.

• Solution: Suggested a more interactive, step-by-step tutorial with visual cues and tooltips.

2. Navigation & UI Clarity

• Issue: Players found it difficult to locate key actions like customising planets or checking leaderboards.

• Solution: Recommended a more intuitive menu layout with clearer icons and labels.

3. Gameplay Mechanics & Feedback

• Issue: Some players struggled to understand how to “catch” the opponent’s planet or defend against attacks.

• Solution: Proposed clearer visual indicators and feedback animations for in-game actions.

4. Engagement & Progression

• Issue: Lack of clear rewards and incentives for winning matches.

• Solution: Suggested a more structured rewards system with progression-based unlocks.

Stage 2. Design Strategy

Based on insights from the usability audit, I developed a design strategy to enhance user experience, engagement, and retention. The strategy focused on four key areas:


1. Improving Onboarding & First-Time User Experience

• Designed an interactive tutorial with step-by-step guidance, tooltips, and visual cues to help new players quickly grasp game mechanics.

• Introduced progressive learning, where advanced mechanics are revealed gradually as players level up.

2. Enhancing Game Navigation & UI Clarity

• Streamlined the main menu to improve accessibility, ensuring that key features like customisation, leaderboards, and matchmaking were easy to find.

• Standardised UI elements with clearer icons, labels, and a more intuitive layout for smoother navigation.

3. Strengthening Gameplay & Feedback Loops

• Improved visual feedback for player actions, such as highlighting successful moves or defensive manoeuvres.

• Introduced a match summary screen with performance insights to encourage skill development.

4. Boosting Engagement & Monetisation

• Developed a more structured reward system, including daily challenges, achievement-based bonuses, and progression-driven unlocks.

Stage 3. Prototype Development

• Wire-framing: The first step in prototype development was wire-framing, where I created low-fidelity sketches and digital wireframes to map out the game’s core screens and user flows. These wireframes focused on optimising navigation, ensuring that key actions—such as starting a match, customising planets, and checking leaderboards—were easily accessible. By testing these early layouts, I identified friction points in the user journey and refined the structure before moving into visual design.
  
  

• High-Fidelity Prototyping: Once the wireframes were validated, I moved on to high-fidelity prototyping, where I introduced interactive elements to simulate real gameplay experiences. This phase allowed for usability testing, helping to assess how players interacted with the UI and whether the onboarding process was intuitive. The prototype also incorporated early animations and transitions to ensure smooth interactions, giving a more realistic sense of the final product. Through iterative testing, I refined button placements, menu hierarchy, and feedback mechanisms to enhance usability.
  
  

• User Interface Design: For the final user interface designs, I focused on creating a visually appealing yet functional aesthetic that matched the game’s theme. The planets and customisation elements were designed to feel immersive and rewarding, using dynamic colours and animations to enhance engagement. I also ensured that key UI components, such as match indicators and in-game actions, were clear and accessible. By maintaining consistency in typography, iconography, and color schemes, the design not only reinforced the game’s identity but also improved overall usability.