Right Int'er Face!

Interface design is an area which is often given too little thought. So many programs are released with absolutely shocking interfaces, yet we still use them simply because we require the program and the task(s) it performs. With games, however, a good interface design is much more important. Games are all about player interaction, and the interface is the means for that interaction. So crap interface = no players = no money = no moving out of mum’s basement.

The key, according to Norman, is to minimise the size of the Gulf of Execution and the Gulf of Evaluation. However, there’s more to it than that. Within a game, the developer has to be able to allow the user to accurately interpret the goals, accurately interpret the appropriate actions to achieve the goals, and finally be able to carry out those actions in a natural and intuitive manner. It is this final element that can often be quite difficult.

In the case of a console game, all player interaction needs to be confined to the limitations of whatever control system is employed, generally a game controller with a handful of buttons and joysticks. Without thinking too deeply about it, Gears of War jumps to mind as being a game which makes brilliant use of the limited controller ‘real-estate’ available. The interface for GoW is very intuitive, and was easy to pick up through the duration of the short tutorial. It allowed for the very efficient and fast-paced control style needed to match the pace of the game. Furthermore, the visual interface was just as intuitive and uncluttered as the control system, allowing a player to very quickly gain all relevant information to the goals at hand. Other than learning the basic controls (like which button I should avoid pressing if I don’t want to blow up a team-mate), I don’t remember finding a single element of the UI difficult to interpret or follow.

This simple yet intuitive display should be the aim of every game, in my opinion. However, creation of such a simple interface becomes significantly more difficult when the complexity of the game moves beyond simply blowing up underground mutant creatures.