作者：Hillary Hopper（Tinyco公司UI/UX设计师）

我告诉别人自己是个手机用户界面/用户体验（简称UI/UX）游戏设计师时，我想很多人可能会有以下其中一种反应：

1.不了解这个岗位的工作职责是什么；

2.认为我是一个负责为游戏制作库存资产（例如箱子和三角形）的人。

UI design(from brainzooming)

所幸我的工作并不仅局限于此，我所扮演的角色需要沉浸于充满色彩及想象的世界。我的专长是《Tiny Village》和《FarmVille》之类的社交模拟游戏，我喜欢这个行业是因为它提供了许多创意空间。参与开发《Tiny Village》的时候，我发挥自己的创意制作了游戏图标，设计了UI主题，另外也分析和思考了用户体验和操作流程等问题。

在手机游戏领域，创意和UI设计可挖掘的空间很大。手机游戏已经形成一个规模达120亿美元的市场，每年增幅超过50％，这促使许多人投身这一领域制作出各种手机游戏。

UI与UX之间的和谐

游戏的美学元素非常重要，因为它代表用户对游戏的第一印象。UI/UX设计师不但要晓得鉴别游戏所需体现的风格，而且还要准确把握游戏需制作的美术内容。手机游戏中的美术内容包括建筑、风景和角色的视觉效果和感觉。多数情况下，游戏公司会分组制作这些内容。

创造用户界面与美术内容之间的和谐是一项基本的设计任务，也是一个非常有趣的过程。但这个过程比听起来更为棘手——不可让用户界面的风头盖过游戏美术内容，反之亦然。虽然行业中对这两者的关系存在不同看法，但我坚定地认为UI必须居于美术设计之后，不可过于喧宾夺主。当前最成功的游戏一般都会提供直观而不突兀的用户体验。举例来说，我在TinyCo工作时就得努力制作美观的UI同时又不让它过于抢眼导致用户分心。UI不应该太过吸睛，它应该与周围的环境相得益彰，并准确传递信息。

现在我已经说完了用户界面的层面，现在该谈谈有关用户体验的内容了。游戏用户体验设计是一个极具创新和令人兴奋的领域，我需要花大量时间规划用户与游戏互动之后的操作流程（游戏邦注：例如点触UI按钮）。这通常包括设计动画及动作等内容。强大的用户体验可无缝引导用户自然地进入游戏世界。

Tiny-Village(from jayceooi.com)

简单的UX设计

不少人都把UX想得太复杂了，但我认为UX设计应该尽量提供最简单的解决方案。这个过程越简单，对用户来说就会越直观。我在TinyCo工作期间也发现，有些最大的UX问题都可以用一个简单的方法来解决。有时候我们并不需要太复杂的UX，多数情况下设计一个简单的功能更有意义。

知道创意设计按钮布局并了解人类心理学的知识对这份工作非常有帮助。设计师参与UX项目时必须牢记人类是依赖习惯的动作，因此最好让UX接近于一种让用户无需思考就能自觉操作的习惯。

手机游戏设计生涯

如果你是一个设计师并且不知道应该投身这个行业的哪个领域，我强烈推荐你尝试手机游戏设计。硅谷、洛杉矶、纽约有大量工作机遇，如果你符合以下几个条件，你或许就可以考虑参与游戏UX/UI设计：

*你喜欢游戏

*你自己经常玩手机游戏

*你会留意各类游戏的用户界面

*你喜欢制作图标，喜欢像素完美的设计

*你的强项是色彩理论，你喜欢融合不同主题

设计游戏用户界面及用户体验是一项极具挑战而又不乏回报的工作。刚接触时可能会因为赶工而觉得困难重重，但了解它的长处和劣势之后，你就能够更轻松地应对了。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Creativity In Mobile Game Design by Hillary Hopper

When I tell people that I am a mobile user interface/user experience (UI/UX) game designer, I think a lot of people either:

1. Don’t understand what responsibilities the role entails

2. Think that I am someone who makes stock assets (i.e. boxes and triangles) for games

Thankfully my job does not entail that; at least not all the time. Instead, my role is steeped in a world of color and imagination. My expertise is in social simulation games such as Tiny Village and Farm Ville. I love this sector of the industry because it has a lot of creativity available to it. While working on Tiny Village, I have been able to be creative with creating icons, and theme of the UI, along with being more analytical and thinking about the user experience and flow.

In the mobile gaming industry, there is a lot of ground to cover when it comes to creativity and UI design.  Mobile gaming has turned into a $12 billion dollar market and is growing over 50% per year. This has led people from all over the world to try their hand at creating mobile games of one kind or another.

Creating Harmony between UI and UX

The aesthetics of a game are critically important because that is the first thing a user will see. UI/UX designers have to not only identify the kind of feel that a game needs to have, but they also have to be critically aware of the artwork that is being created for the game. Examples of artwork for mobile games include the look and feel of buildings, landscapes, and characters. More often than not, gaming companies will have a separate group that creates these assets, so it’s possible for the teams to go on different paths.

Creating harmony between the user interface and the artwork is a fundamental design task and can be a very fun process. This process is actually much more complex than it sounds — the user interface should not overwhelm a game’s artwork or vice versa. Although there are several schools of thought about the synergy, I am a firm believer that UI should be secondary to the artwork and less noticeable. The best games today offer a user experience that helps the user navigate without being intrusive. For example, while working at TinyCo I have tried to create beautiful UI but have it not be distracting to the player. UI should not cover up, but should complement its surroundings and display information properly.

I’ve spoken about the user interface aspect but it’s important to mention what the user experience aspect entails. Designing a game’s user experience is an area that is extremely creative and stimulating. I spend a lot of time planning the flow of the game after a user interacts with game (i.e. tapping a UI button). This usually includes designing animations and modals. A strong user experience allows the user to navigate seamlessly through the game in a way that just feels natural.

Simple UX Design

A lot of people like to over think UX, but I view it as making the simplest solution possible. The simpler the process, the better it will be for the user and more intuitive. While working at TinyCo, some of the biggest UX questions have been solved by a simple solution. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be some complicated UX. Most times it’s designing a feature that is simple and makes sense.

Being creative about button placement and learning about the psychology of the human being helps a lot. During any UX project,  designers must remember that humans are creatures of habit. Thus the UX should be almost a habit to make the user tap without even thinking.

Mobile Game Design as a Career

If you are a designer and wondering what type of industries to consider, I would strongly suggest mobile game design. Opportunities are abundant in Silicon Valley, Los Angles, and New York.  But how do know if you’re a good fit? If the following bullet points describe you, then you should consider UX/UI game design:

■You love games

■You play mobile games on your own

■You notice the interface on all types of games

■You enjoy making icons and love pixel perfect designs

■Color theory is a strong suit for you and you love putting themes together

Being responsible for the design of a game’s user interface and user experience is a challenging but rewarding opportunity. Because of the tight deadlines, the learning curve can be overwhelming at first. But once you learn its strengths and weaknesses it becomes a lot easier. You can see every pixel and color and making just one small mistake can be seen by everyone. I wouldn’t want to work in any other field and have found it to be such a wonderful career. – Hillary Hopper（source:brainzooming）