USER INTERFACE RE-DESIGN
About the project
This project is the part of GAT399-Advance UX design midterm-assignment. Where I research and identify the problem with the Minecraft inventory system and created a solution for improving the Minecraft inventory system and taking care of design pivot.
Wireframe here: https://xd.adobe.com/redesigning/Minecraft
Problem Statement
What’s wrong with Minecraft Inventory?
Minecraft inventory has been something that has been modified a lot over the past few years. The left-hand slot has been added along with the crafting categories and search options. Even so, Minecraft inventory is still described as one of the complicated systems to understand by a new player since Minecraft didn’t offer a tutorial to the player at all.
1. Consumable item is all over the place
Minecraft has just been adding the category sorting for the crafting book. To help players finding the object they need. The problem with that is how the categories object. As I was researching the item in Minecraft, I found that Minecraft has a lot of consumable items due to the game mechanic that requires the player to maintain their hunger to survive. Although the consumable item has been separated into nature and equipment, which didn’t make much sense to me and even a Minecraft player themselves, still having a tough time locating the consumable item I ask for.
2. Consuming food is difficult
As I described earlier, maintaining hunger is one of the main mechanics of Minecraft, but the game makes it so hard to consume them right away. As I was doing a user interview, one of the users mentions that he would appreciate it if it was easier to find the food within the inventory and consume it.
3. The creatable item didn’t show first in the list
Even with the category tab finding a craftable item still give a player unpleasant experience due to the reason that the item that can be craft didn’t show up in the first row in the line. Instead, turn on/off button only decrease/increase the number of objects we know how to craft or have some crafting component, but their layout is still the same.
4. Inventory requires the player to manually sorted
As the player inventory is very small, this problem didn’t stand out as a “USER HATE THESE” problem, but it was something that can be improved for the better experience and reduce the time that the player has to use for organizing the inventory.
5. Not enough inventory space for Arrow
As researching the user, I found that not many players like using a bow and arrow compared to the sword. The reason is that they have to trade their inventory slots for their space for the arrow.
Research Summary
User Interview
For this research, I have been interviewed 5 Minecraft players and 1 Non-Minecraft player about their experience with Minecraft and what did they think about Minecraft inventory.
What do you think about Minecraft inventory?
As a result, all Minecraft player 4 said “There is nothing wrong with Minecraft inventory system, this is how the survival game inventory should be” one of them insisting stop playing Minecraft if they change the system, the other Minecraft player said that the only downside thing he sees about Minecraft inventory is that they can’t sort the item in their inventory and they have to take time to organize them. From the non-Minecraft side, she said that she didn’t play Minecraft because “The inventory system looks like it’s coming from 1990“ and that she has an unpleasant experience playing/understanding them.
Is it better if Minecraft can sort items and have a default item slot?
This is where the answer starts to go in a different direction. Some of the players didn’t want a sorting item because they feel like it will take away the fun of customization, but some player wants them so they wouldn’t have to deal with organizing inventory.
Competitive Research
From here I look into a competitive game and some of the Minecraft Mod.
Terraria
In Terraria, there is a button for the sorting that will push all the items together to get rid of the space between them.
Pros
The advantage of this mechanic is that it helps the player organize the item in their bag and get rid of the extra spot.
Cons
This mechanic only helps when the player already has setup some other important thing in the front row to avoid mixing the important stuff. Else it will be very easy for the player to lose their stuff because it got to move around too much.
Pixark
Pixark is one of the Minecraft competitors that have a charming layout inventory system by sperate action into an overhead tab and divide items into a category.
Pros
With these details and organize inventory level it will be very easy for all new and old user to understand how the system work and benefiting the gameplay on making them don’t have to spend a lot of time in teaching the player how to play this game.
Cons
Because of the inventory very details, it was also blocking the entire screen and make it hard for the player to pull it up whenever they want. This blocking inventory will encourage the player only to open the inventory when they feel like they are safe.
Wireframe Prototype
Feature add & change
1. Adding the Consumable category
Adding a consumable category should benefit the player in finding the consumable object and give the game developer more room to add a consumable item that gives a different outcome to the player.
2. Consumable & Arrow inventory
As shown in the Wireframe, I add in the extra row to contain Arrow and consumable. This is to encourage the player to use more food, potion, and Bow so that all these mechanics would not be left out or would not only target some players. This will also benefit the developer in giving them room to design more content for the consumable item and shooting weapon.
3. Consumable shortcut
As feedback from the user interview shown that consuming item tens to be very hard for the player. So, I decided to add in one more shortcut slot for the consumable item.
4. Add auto sorting system and preset switching
The auto sorting system develops from the popularity of the Main inventory setup and the need for organizing the player inventory. This will make it faster for the player to organize their inventory. They will also be able to switch between 2 preset to fits the player's situation better. For the example default preset I give, the player is a Survival item set and Building item set.
5. Customizable Main Inventory preset
As the research shows that most Minecraft player loves customizing their inventory, I add in the present system for the Main inventory so now even though we have a preset player can still have a sense of power and they can still organize the main inventory the way they want.
6. Inventory sorting option
To give players more choice over customizing, I add in the sorting option for both player inventory and crafting inventory to help players organize and find the item more accessible.
User testing
As a result, Users feel like the interface has an excellent layout and very easy to understand. The wireframe also has a good variety of choices for the player to sorting the item while still look clean.
Using [Tab] for switching slot and [Middle mouse click] for sorting to comfortable enough to use and understand but using [E] for inventory is very uncomfortable for the new user since most of the game inventory is using [I] key.
Design Pivot
Pivot topic: Pet category
Requirement:
- Add pet category that is a craftable item
- The pet has to be an equitable item
- Each pet has a different status and ability that's required to show in the User interface
Extend feature
To add to the pet category, I decide to expand my old wireframe by adding the crafting tab for the pet category and equipment slots near the food slots I add-in.
Design explanation
Pets category tab
For the pets category tab, I decided to put it with the other tab next to the one I made for the consumable item to make it easier to find because a player already knows this information, what it is, and where to find it.
Pet equipment slot
I decide to place the pet equipment slots near the consumable slot I made because it has enough room to expand for the pet status and explanation and also line up with the other slot, making it fit perfectly to the inventory.