Summary of UI Part 2

Previously, I have gone through the various user interface (UI) for the game “Baby Rush”. Today, I will further go into detail on each individual UI.

The first UI I will talk about is the energy bar for the baby. As seen right here, the UI is just a simple design with blue bar representing baby’s current energy level. There is also an image icon on the left of the baby depicting a baby’s face. Based on the design of this UI, audience will be able to learn and understand it after playing the game for a while, but not immediate as the UI still lacks information. Once they have learnt it, it will be easy for them to remember it and use it efficiently. The UI also provides satisfaction to the audience in a certain degree, largely due to the use of the image icon. Overall, I would say that the UI is not error free, since it requires some time for the player to understand it. Below contains more information on this UI:

The UI itself is not that affordance, due to the lack of information to represent that it’s the energy level of the baby.

The UI is largely constraint to actions given to the baby during the game.

The UI is visible to the audience as it appears directly on top of the screen.

The UI is interdependent with actions performed by the player during the game.

The UI tracks the baby’s current energy level. If a correct action is given to the baby, the energy level will be reduced. As the goal of the game is to take care of the baby till he is tired, the bar actually motivates the player to work towards the goal.

The UI itself is consistent along with the happiness bar due to similar design.

The second UI which I will talk about is the happiness bar which can be found right beside the energy bar. The UI design is quite similar to the energy bar. The bar itself is yellow in colour and there’s an image icon on the right side of the bar depicting a happy baby. Based on the design of this UI, audience will be able to learn and understand it after playing the game for a while, but not immediate as the UI still lacks information. At least, they will understand that it has something to do with a happy baby. Once they have learnt it, it will be easy for them to remember it and use it efficiently. The UI also provides satisfaction to the audience in a certain degree, largely due to the use of the image icon for a simple casual game like this. Overall, I would say that the UI is not error free, since it requires some time for the player to understand it. Below contains more information on this UI:

The UI itself is more affordance as compared to the energy bar, due to the lack of information to represent that it’s the happiness level of the baby (since it is much clearer due to the use of icons and colour scheme).

The UI is largely constraint to actions given to the baby during the game, as baby gains happiness for each completed action.

The UI is visible to the audience as it appears directly on top of the screen.

The UI is interdependent with actions performed by the player during the game.

The UI tracks the baby’s current happiness level. If a correct action is given to the baby without him crying, the happiness level will increase. Higher happiness means higher rate of energy loss.

The UI itself is consistent along with the energy bar due to similar design.

The third UI which I will talk about is the game timer. It is located at the top right hand corner of the screen. As seen right here, the UI design is a cartoonish digital alarm clock in order to fit the theme of the game and it is a good representation of a timer. Based on the design of this UI, audience will be able to learn and recognize the purpose of the UI instantly due to the design. Because of that, the UI is easy for them to remember it and use it efficiently. Depending on the audience preferences, the UI might or might not provide satisfaction to the audience as the artwork of the UI can blend into the game environment. Overall, I would say that the UI is not error free, largely due to the art design. Below contains more information on this UI:

The UI itself is largely affordance due to the design and placement of the UI.

The UI has no constraint as it does not affect the gameplay whatsoever.

The UI is visible to the audience as it appears directly on the top right hand corner of the screen.

The UI is independent to itself.

The UI tracks the game time for the level.

The UI itself is inconsistent when compared to the other UIs.

The fourth UI present in the game is the baby’s patience bar which is located above the baby. The UI design is just a simple bar that represents the baby’s current patience level. The bar itself is red in colour. Based on the design of this UI, audience will be able to learn and understand once the baby is crying, since the bar will only begin increasing when the baby is crying. Once they have learnt it, it will be easy for them to remember it and use it efficiently. The UI also provides satisfaction to the audience as the UI design is simple and does not occupy large amount of spaces. Overall, I would say that the UI is largely error free. Below contains more information on this UI:

The UI itself is affordance due to the design and placement of the UI, but only when the baby starts to cry for the first time.

The UI has no constraints when the baby is not crying. The UI is largely constraint to player’s action when the baby is crying.

The UI is visible to the audience as it appears directly on top of the baby.

The UI is independent to itself when the baby is not crying. It becomes interdependent to player’s action when the baby is crying.

The UI tracks the current level of baby’s patience. When a task is completed while the baby is crying, the bar resets.

The UI itself is largely consistent together with the happiness bar and the energy bar.

The fifth UI present in the game is the baby event pop up. It is located around the top part of the baby when an event is generated. The UI design is just the icon of a specific event at the center of the speech bubble like pop up. Based on the design of this UI, audience will be able to learn and understand when the baby needs something, since after all; this is a casual strategy game. So when the pop up appears, it sends a message to the audience that this is what the baby wants. Once they have learnt it, it will be easy for them to remember it and use it efficiently. The UI also provides a certain degree of satisfaction to the audience as the UI design is simple and does not occupy large amount of spaces. The only downside of the UI is the colour scheme, which might blend into the game itself. Overall, I would say that the UI is not 100% error free due to the current colour scheme. Below contains more information on this UI:

The UI itself is affordance due to the design and placement of the UI, but only when the baby wants something.

The UI is largely constraint to player’s decision when the baby wants something.

The UI is visible to the audience as it appears directly on top of the baby.

The UI is interdependent to player’s decision when the baby is crying.

The UI shows what the baby wants. It remains there until a specific task is completed.

The UI itself is largely consistent together with the player status pop up.

The sixth UI in the game is the player status pop up. It is located at the top portion of the player, and will only shows up when the player is holding onto something. Based on the design of this UI, audience will take quite some time to completely understand the function of this UI as it looks similar to the UI of the baby event pop up. Once they have learnt it, it will be easy for them to remember it and use it efficiently. The UI might not be able to satisfy the audience as the design is almost completely similar to the event pop up, and they might get confused. Also, based on the UI colour scheme, it may blend into the game environment itself. Overall, I would say that the UI is not error free and may cause confusion to the audience. Below contains more information on this UI:

The UI itself is affordance due to the design and placement of the UI, but only when the player is holding onto something

The UI is largely constraint to player’s actions.

The UI is visible to the audience as it appears directly on top of the player.

The UI is interdependent to player’s actions.

The UI shows what the player is currently holding. It will only disappear when the object is given to the baby.

The UI itself is largely consistent together with the baby event pop up.

The seventh UI element in the game is the visual feedback given off whenever the player pushes the interact button. Based on the design of this UI, audience will be able to understand whether they have hit the button without looking directly at their keyboard. It is very easy to notice and does not consume too much space. The UI is able to satisfy the audience based on their own personal preferences as the effect might be distracting. Furthermore, the UI is small and does not consume a lot of spaces, and has a nice colour scheme that will not affect the gameplay visually. Overall, I would say that the UI is largely error free. Below contains more information on this UI:

The UI itself is affordance once the player pushes the interact button.

The UI is largely constraint to player’s hitting onto a specific button.

The UI is visible to the audience as it appears near the player.

The UI is interdependent to player’s keyboard actions.

The UI shows up when the player pushes the interact button.

The UI itself is largely consistent along with the 2 pop ups.

The final UI element in the game is the tutorial pop ups that appear during the tutorial. Based on the design of this UI, audience will be able to understand the purpose of the UI once they look at it, as it provides essential information on the game itself, which they must learn. Because it contains useful information on the game, audiences are able to follow it efficiently and complete the tutorial. The UI may or may not satisfy the audience as it takes out too much space on the screen, but at the end of the say, these instructions are short and simple. Overall, I would say that the UI is largely error free. Below contains more information on this UI:

The UI itself is affordance due to it contains relevant information on the game itself.

The UI is largely constraint to the progression of the tutorial.

The UI is visible to the audience.

The UI is interdependent to the tutorial progression. Different sets of instructions will only pop up at a specific point of the tutorial.

The UI guides the player through the tutorial. It will disappear/changes to a new one once a specific action is completed by the player.

The UI itself is inconsistent as compared to the other UIs.

UI report

This is a brief summary of the game “Baby Rush”, for those who do not know about it. Baby Rush is a casual strategy game that mainly focus on taking care of babies by giving what they want, all the way until they feel sleepy (when their energy is low, they will feel tired).  Today, we will summarise on the in-game user interface (UI) elements in the game.

The first of the UI that is noticeable is the baby energy bar. It is located at the top left hand corner of the screen. It is a non-diegetic UI as it contains information of the game, but exists outside the game itself. The only good design of the UI was the use of the colour. Blue was chosen as it is something that is neutral, and does not show any sense of alert to the player themselves.

However, the main flaw of the UI design is basically on the lack of indicators. Without any instructions, player will not know that it represents the energy level for the baby. The positioning of the UI could also be in a more prominent position such that the players are able to notice it immediately. One of the prominent positions would probably be on the top middle portion of the screen.

            

The second UI that I want to go onto is the happiness status of the baby, located right beside the energy bar. It is also a non-diegetic UI as it contains information of the game, but exists outside the game itself. Similar to the energy level, I personally think that the only good thing of the UI was the use of the colour, but only to a certain extent. When the bar is empty, it’s grey, and grey does not really symbolize neutral feeling of the baby, as it’s a dull looking colour. On the other hand, when the bar starts to fill, it is yellow in colour, which I think it is a right thing to do.

Similar to the energy bar, the main flaw of the bar is the lack of indicators. It has no information regarding about the bar, and people will not know about it unless they go through tutorial. The only thing that is used in representing the bar is a small icon of baby looking happy. Also, as this is less important than the energy bar (the purpose of the happiness bar is to indicate the mood of the baby, which is interdependent to the rate of the energy loss), it can be placed at the position where the energy bar is.

The third UI that is noticeable immediately on sight is the game timer. It is also a non-diegetic UI as it tracks the amount of time taken to complete a level, but exists outside the game itself. It’s only there for achievement purposes. I personally think that the UI placement of the game timer is correct, as it does not contain any important information of the game.

The only flaw of this UI is that being a graphical and vibrant coloured game, the UI design is a bit distracting to the audience. They may think that the UI is part of the game itself.

The fourth UI of the game is actually the tutorial pop-up. It is also a non-diegetic UI as it is just a piece of instruction that guides the player along, and it appears outside the game. The good thing about the UI is that it contains short and detailed information of the game.

However, the UI placement of the pop-ups is too random, due to the game environment itself. This means that the player must change their focus from time to time.

The fifth UI of the game is the baby’s patience bar. It is a non-diegetic UI as it contains information of baby patience, but exists outside the game itself. I feel that this is by far the best UI in the game. It is located right above the baby and it’s small in size. It has also a simple design and uses red as indicator. This indicator only increases when the baby is crying, and tracks the amount of time left for the player to complete a task, or they will lose the game.

I personally think that the UI can be improved by using segments of small bars instead of a regular bar.

The sixth UI element in the game is the event icon, which determines what the baby need. This is a spatial UI as it exists together with the game environment and is not immersive. The good thing about this UI is that it is simple and appears on top of the baby. Players will know what to do from looking at it.

However, I feel that the UI can be improvised by changing to colour scheme a bit so that it does not cause confusion between the game environment and the UI itself.

The seventh UI element in the game is the player icon, which shows what the player is currently holding. This is a spatial UI as it exists together with the game environment and is not immersive. The good thing about this UI is that it is simple and appears on top of the player when they have grabbed something.

However, the main flaw of the UI lies on the design itself. It uses the same artwork as the event icon, with background colour difference. This may confuse the players. Also, I personally feel that the colour scheme can be improved by making it less contrasting.

Finally, the eighth UI element in the game is an effect given off whenever the player pushes the interact button. This is a Meta UI as it is a special effect given off that is not part of the game environment. The positive thing of the UI is that it does not take up a lot of space and appears on the direction which the player is facing (it appears in front of the player).

However, the UI is relatively transparent and player may find it distracting.