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Any true UI / UX unicorn worth their sparkle knows the magic only works if they have support. The industry is still a tad mixed about where disciplines begin and end, it’s different from studio to studio. In my experience the following is the best way to categorize UI / UX disciplines in game dev. On smaller scale projects, like mobile, a solo-unicorn could handle two of these but not all 4 full time unless they work OT the entire project.
This pillar of UI / UX specialist juggles a multitude of detailed factors. UX design collects data, competitive analysis and are keenly aware of industry trends. They focus on parsing the data, weighing it against the scope, industry norms that reinforce the game’s design. This hat’s contribution throughout the project is defining information and iconography needs between departments and clarifying info. This makes sure we don’t go too far in the wrong direction, and if we do we fail fast and reevaluate. UX design meshes out the sand box to work within, they set factors that UI design needs. They are aware of scope and what the industry expects to see.
Personally I think this might be the one place where you can tie two sub-disciplines together with great results! If you know how something will work then your initial framework and design system will not only work well, but be flexible and dynamic to changes. If you know your min-max needs and engine / proprietary tools at your disposal the initial UI framework will be sound throughout production. Working with engineers and tool makers, UI Designers define how something will tangibly exist, working with UX design’s factors. Both pillars are the peanut butter and jelly of laying out the ‘where’ ‘how’ and ‘when’.
They spend a ton of time with the artist and engineer.
If you can, full-time focused talent on the visual aspect of the UI is IDEAL. When trying to be a solo unicorn, this pillar suffered the most for me. If given proper attention, the two former disciplines suffered. I was constantly saying “if I had an artist I could send throw these things to I wouldn’t be stretched so thin!” before making the plunge into leadership…which leads me to the final discipline within the UI / UX field.
the UI Artist can ensure the interface will feel like an extension of the world, it compounds the tone and setting, they can also call out opportunities to visually convey information rather than text fields. They are the maestros to the visuals. Speaking from experience, the more time spent on design and UX the less quality can go into the art.
If you’ve spoken to me at all about UI / UX specialists, you definitely know how passionate I am about championing for the end user - but also how that bleeds into wanting the same attention to your team. Someone in that mindset can’t help but want to smooth issues, clarify information or find approaches to make something a little more fulfilling. I’ve had success doing this in my most recent studio role when I took a task someone did not enjoy and made it something they looked forward to with ready-to-use assets, setup documentation and font kits. That was a major ah-ha moment for me.
I believe in a flat management system, all contributors should be safe to offer ideas. Even if an idea isn’t the resolution, it could lead us into developing the best path forward. I’ve growing my leader skills, learning how to empower all contributors to share ideas, finding ways to compromise, or advocating for someone’s awesome workflow suggestion.
Going back to the ‘overlap