1. Game as an Interactive Interface
Gameplay Usability
Taras Korol, Ubisoft Kiev

2. Ubisoft approach
Ubisoft Game Usability Criteria
Avoid confusion
 Signs
Make playing comfortable
 Minimum workload
Cues to provoke action. Provide information
about the state of the system
 Feedback
A response to a player’s actions. Provides
information about the consequences of
these actions
 Perceptibility
To be useful, information has to
be seen / felt or heard, ie perceived.
 Consistency
Actions outside the gameplay loop should
require minimum efforts from the player
 Error management
For actions not related to the game loop,
help the players to prevent fatal errors and
solve errors when they occur
 Flexibility
Each player is unique. Players should be
able to customize the game to suit their
needs and preferences.
Similar things have similar meanings & similar
behaviors
Taken from U-Learn Accessibility Training presentation

3. Introduction to UI and Cognetics
 Interface is a set of means for interaction between human and system
 Cognetics is an ergonomy of human mind and perception
 People are limited in their memory and processing resources

4. Attention and Memory

5. Attention limitations
 Locus of attention can only be allocated at one spot at a time
Most of illusionist tricks are about manipulations with locus of attention. Multitasking
in fact is an illusion that derives from the ability of rapidly switching the attention.
Note that word “attention” does not have plural form in any of the languages. Simply
because multiple attentions do not exist. Most commonly, locus of attention is
allocated where the action is about to be applied, so it is likely to be where mouse
cursor or crosshair is. Note that the cursor or crosshair itself is not the subject of
attention.
 Switching between complex tasks takes about 10-20 seconds
Experiments proved that performing two tasks one after another is significantly more
effective than while constantly switching between them. This fact is especially
important in real time strategy design where frequent switching of attention is very
common thing.

6. Attention limitations
 Automaticity is a workaround to attention limitations
Automated reflectory actions do not require attention which allows for example
driving and talking at the same time. In game design, forming of reflexes plays a huge
part in learning curve design. A game “This is the only level” is wholly based on tricks
with automaticity
“This is the only level” gameplay is wholly based
around automaticity
Nothing changed on stage 20 except the level is
invisible. This is one of the easiest stages though
 Pitfalls of automaticity
Automated actions are poorly manageable. Switch pedals in a car, warn the driver,
place reminders before his eyes, but in critical situations reflexes will still take over.

7. Long-term memory
 People are unable to memorize random data
The ability to memorize random data is in fact an ability to provide sense to
meaningless patterns
 Memorizing via contextual connections
The most common way to memorize things is to associate them with something
previously known
 Memorizing via explanatory mechanisms – the power of constrains
There may be no need to memorize what can be recalled by applying logic. Thus a
rhyme allowed bards of the past to remember very long poems by limiting or
eliminating alternatives.
 Memorizing via repetition
People can miss up to 60 % of spoken or written information. Repetition is another
chance to create different association. If repetition involves physical actions it
addresses a whole different layer of memory

8. Short-term and procedural memory
 Short-term memory is limited to average 7 entities
5-9 entities is all we can grasp at a time. This explains “Less is more” statement.
People deal with this limitation by grouping entities. For example a car is a huge
conglomerate of details, but is represented as a single entity in human mind
 Procedural memory
Procedural memory is the type of memory responsible for remembering how to
perform actions. A whole different part of the brain is used. In numerous brain-injury
caused amnesia cases people didn’t remember their life but remembered perfectly
how to dress or how to eat. Mixing theory with practice is very effective because
procedural memory can act as a reminder – that’s why tutorial missions are better
than briefings.
 Muscle memory
Muscles have their own memory, so the hands “know” the movement they should
perform. This is a type of procedural memory. Musician can forget how the melody
sounds, but his finger still remember how to play it. Be careful with automatic
adjustment of mouse sensitivity and screen resolution – hands get used to it.

9. Designing for memory
 Do not rely on human memory!!!
If your design suggests that player has to remember something to complete the game,
it is a bad design. There always should be clues and reminders. Keep all gameimportant information stored in one place (journal, Civilopedia, diary, whatever)
 Limit the load on memory
Give no more than 5-7 entities to remember at a time. The less is the better.
 Exploit associations
Give you characters meaningful names (Max Payne, Blood Rayne, Alan Wake), give
landmarks recognizable shapes, make them visible.

10. Designing for memory
 Merge entities into groups
Grouping significantly reduces load on memory and attention. A car is an extremely
complex conglomerate of elements but mind addresses to it as to one thing.
This is how Mass Effect 2 HUD would look without grouping. Try to remember where is what.

11. Designing for memory
 Merge entities into groups
Make groups clearly separated both visually and spatially
And this is the magic good grouping can do

12. Designing for memory
 Repeat
It may be a good idea to build important dialogue using repetitive key words. This is a
basic trick of NLP and rhetoric. Repetitive actions are a key to mastering the game and
the amount of repetitions is directly related to learning curve
 Hide the unimportant
Progressive disclosure allows showing less important things only when they are
needed.
 Provide context where possible
Information is interpreted depending on context. Context is a perfect reminder

13. Designing for memory
 Repeat
It may be a good idea to build important dialogue using repetitive key words. This is a
basic trick of NLP and rhetoric. Repetitive actions are a key to mastering the game and
the amount of repetitions is directly related to learning curve
 Hide the unimportant
Progressive disclosure or context awareness allows showing less important things only
when they are needed.
 Provide context where possible
Information is interpreted depending on context. Context is a perfect reminder

14. Visibility

15. Visibility
 Image Recognition
Image recognition occurs in several stages each in a separate part of the brain. Reptilian brain is
responsible for recognizing shapes, movement and basic colors such as red, green, blue and
yellow. This happens much faster than recognition of a complex image.
Team Fortress 2 developers consciously designed their characters for reptile brain perception.
Simple shapes recognizable from any perspective and use of basic colors make sure that
characters and their team alignement can be instantly recognized

16. Visibility
 Hick’s Law
Hick’s law states that time of making a decision is exponentially dependent on amount of
available choices
3 options at a time are enough to
make a great game
Homeworld would never be playable
without a tactical pause
 Grouping
Grouping splits decision making process in several stages thus decreasing time necessary to
make a decision

17. Visibility
 Fitts’s Law
Fitts’s Law states that time necessary to point an object is exponentially dependent on distance
to the object and it’s size
Enemy proportions in Gears of War are designed for gameplay purpose .
Shooting exaggerated bodies is easy even with gamepad and headshots are difficult but rewarding

18. Visibility
 Affordance
Affordance is a self-explanatory purpose of an object. This is an important property that
interactive game elements should possess.
How many types of items in your pockets will fit that slot?
Flat road surface is a natural choice for driving without
additional explanations

19. Visibility
 Natural Mappings
natural arrangements for the relations between controls and their movements to the outcome
from such action into the world.
Guess which knob is responsible for which burner
And what about this case?

20. Signs & Feedback
 Stages of action
There is a distinctive pattern in how human beings act. In order to ensure successful
interaction, this pattern should always be kept in mind
Forming
Goals
Execution
Evaluation
Intention to act
Evaluation of
interpretations
Sequence of actions
Interpreting the
perception
Execution of the
action sequence
Perceiving the state
of the world
The World
Stages of action by Donald Norman
Stages of action: a simple model

21. Signs & Feedback
 Gulf of evaluation
Evaluation of system state before and after the action is crucial for successful interaction.
Gulf of evaluation is amount of time spent on such evaluation. If the system fails to
provide clear signs of its state and clear feedback on user action, the gulf of evaluation
may be increased up to infinity causing frustration and anger.

22. Signs & Feedback
 Signs
Sign is a display of system status. Rendering the design legible and underlining the rules of
the game, the signs orientate the player in his actions.


The display of this state is called Sign.

Signs must be clear so the player knows
what he can do.

Signs can come from visuals, sounds or
vibrations.

Sign gives information about the system:
The green cone is enemy’s sight
The system is always in a specific state.
It should stress the “good” actions, so
the player can learn from deduction and
not from trial and error
Taken from U-Learn Signs & Feedback presentation

23. Signs & Feedback
 Feedback
Feedbacks are the direct answers of the game to the player’s actions. By providing
information related to his performance, they help the player to play better.


Feedbacks must be immediate so player
could recognize the relation between his
action and feedback.

Feedbacks can come from visuals,
sounds or vibrations.

Sign gives information about the system:
The green cone is enemy’s sight
Feedbacks must be clear so the player
knows what he has accomplished.
It should stress not only that the action
took place but also the consequences
(positive or negative), thus showing the
player the “good” path.
Taken from U-Learn Signs & Feedback presentation

24. Mental Models

25. Mental Models
 Mental model is an image of the system in human mind.
Mental models define our approach to solving problems
Power Horse tractor was designed to comply with mental models of early industrial era farmers
 Understanding mental models of your audience is a key to successful
design.

26. Consistency
 Things that look similar should behave similar
A very common design mistake is inconsistent behavior of similar objects.
In Splinter Cell players can climb on some pipes, but not on others
 Consistency and Occam's razor
Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity. By following this simple principle you will
avoid many frustrations caused by misinterpretation of similarity. If you have only few
artworks of locked doors, this may be enough for artistic diversity and easier for player to
remember. Another good example is a single “use” key that initiates different actions
depending on context.

27. Consistency applications
 User experience and expectations
It is important to keep in mind that users have previous experience and formed mental
models. Try to be consistent with existing game design trends and the real world in order to
meet user expectations.
 Terminology
Consistent terminology is vital for unambiguous design. Avoid referring to gameplaymeaningful entities using different words.
 Behavior
Consistency of behavior of different entities in dynamic environment makes sure that
interaction is predictable and easy to learn
 Visual appearance
Visual appearance is a key to recognizing things and their purpose. A fancy but ambiguous
appearance is worse than simple but clear one if it relies to gameplay meaningful things

28. Modes
 Modes as the main reason of user errors
Vast majority of user errors is caused by failure to recognize current mode of the system. Just
remember how many errors were caused by Caps Lock. The main reason is that locus of
attention is usually located on task, not on system state indicator.
 Examples of modes in games
Player stances, difficulty levels, user settings, camera modes
 Modes as a valuable gameplay tool
Disable shooting while running, allow healing while shooting, restrict movement while healing.
These are all design choices that define gameplay experience and have a huge balancing
potential. Make sure you are always conscious about modes in your game

29. Modes
 Stance and action table
A vital tool for tracking modes is a table of stances and actions, with duplicate axes.
By filling all the intersections of such a table you make sure that modes are under your
control
Mode checklist table for standard First Person Shooter actions. This example contains only
binary allow/restrict choices, but there are more relations to be considered like “interrupt”
and many conditions specific to your game

30. Further Read
 The Design of Everyday Things
This “bible” of design written by Donald Norman is for anyone who designs anything
(technical manuals, software interfaces, machinery, consumer goods, clothes) and it is also
for anyone who uses the items that are designed (that is, all of us). The purpose of the book
is to encourage everyone to look at design, and to see how it corresponds to how people
actually use things.
 The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive
Systems
Written by Jeff Raskin the designer of Apple and Apple II, this book puts forward a large
number of interface design suggestions, from obvious to radical ones. It gives a good insight
on how usability can actually be measured
 Human Information Processing
A cornerstone in cognitive psychology by Peter Lindsay and Donald Norman for those who
really want to dig the subject in depth.