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Picture of Sam Cuevas
Sam Cuevas
Sam has been working professionally as an both game UI and UX designer since 2020 in the video game industry ranging from Indie to AAA studios where she helped ship titles such as Forza Motorsport 8 and Minecraft. In parallel, her UI/UX experiences extends to commercial websites, desktop apps and mobile apps. In her spare time, she shares her design insights on Medium.
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What Does a Game UX Designer Do? And How to Become One?

game ux designer
Picture of Sam Cuevas
Sam Cuevas
Sam has been working professionally as an both game UI and UX designer since 2020 in the video game industry ranging from Indie to AAA studios where she helped ship titles such as Forza Motorsport 8 and Minecraft. In parallel, her UI/UX experiences extends to commercial websites, desktop apps and mobile apps. In her spare time, she shares her design insights on Medium.

Have you ever noticed that in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you have 3 inventories:

  1. Your pockets
  2. Quick select wheel
  3. House inventory

image8

You need these inventories to do a lot of stuff around your island, for instance, to craft items (like the marvelous Froggy Chair).

But you can only craft using your pocket inventory. Which makes sense while you’re out and about on the island, but less sense when you’re in your home. Where your home inventory is.

Plus, you can only craft one. Item. At. A. Time. Which takes. Forever

These are problems that take away from the intended experience (here’s a breakdown I did). As it is easier to believe that this was an oversight in the planning of this system rather than the designers saying, “Oh, let’s make a crafting system that is a pain in the Froggy Chair”.

Well, What Does a UX Designer Do Then?

In software development, a UX designer focuses on ensuring the overall product user experience is easy, effective, and enjoyable using design thinking, a method of solving user experience problems from the user’s perspective.

If you’re unfamiliar with design thinking, here is a great overview:

Overall, there’s a much bigger focus on sticking to design methods and understanding design thinking. Both of which are great starting points for upcoming UX designers.

Games aren’t like that.

Then, What Does a Game UX Designer Do?

In game design and game development, the creative director has a core idea for the game and works with game designers to flesh it out. Then, the game UX designer collaborating with other types of game designers such as game writers, narrative designers, level designers, UI designers, content designers, and systems designers takes the concept for the features and ensure everything works together as a whole cohesive gameplay experience.

For example, as a game UX designer at Turn 10 Studios, I designed the Spectate and Replay Modes for Forza Motorsport 8, building on the lead game designer’s vision and addressing past feedback. The process involved working fast, constant team communication, and adapting to changes.

A big topic of discussion for this project was whether they could have the POV cameras in Forza Motorsport that were in Horizon 5. You can find out the answer for yourself by playing the game!

What’s the Difference Between Game UX Designers, UI Designers, and Gameplay Designers?

What about user interface (UI) design?

Or UX / UI?

Would a gameplay designer ever overlap with UI?

Well, it depends. Here are the differences in the broadest of terms:

  • Gameplay Designer – Focuses on building out game systems
  • UX designer – Ensures those systems work and are communicated to the player
  • UI Designer – Makes sure those points of interaction match the game’s aesthetic.

Here is how they overlap:

image15

That all being said, it never hurts to learn game UI design, user research skills, visual design, and some basic scripting. Depending on the size of the studio, the role of UX designer might be expected to do more than UX design and its often time merged together with UI design as a UI/UX designer.

What Kinda Skills Would You Need?

Getting into an entry-level or junior role for UX design in products or games comes down to having the following soft and hard skills:

  • Assist with brainstorming and ideation
  • Create user flows and journey maps
  • Sketch and design wireframes to a low-, mid-, or high fidelity
  • Build playable game prototypes
  • Knowledge of design systems
  • Empathy, storytelling, presentation, and critical thinking (great soft skills)

For gaming in particular, you’ll need a few extra skills, like:

  • Familiarity with game engines (Unreal and Unity).
  • Strong understanding of game design principles, including clear objectives, engaging gameplay loops, and core game mechanics.
  • Assist with usability testing.

How about long-term thinking?

If you ever want to get really high up in a senior position in a company like Ubisoft, you’ll need the above skills along with the following:

  • Leadership experience
  • A pro in using prototyping tools like Figma, Axure, and others
  • Understanding of web design standards
  • Expert in using design tools (e.g., Photoshop and Figma)
  • Proven ability to create and enhance UX systems

Here’s an example of the qualifications you’d need for a mid-level UX designer at Smoking Gun Interactive:

image3 1

It always helps to show your passion by working on your own games! This can be done through game jams, practice projects, etc. I’ll talk about this more in a bit.

What About Career Paths for UX Designers?

Part of this comes down to whether or not you want to go into management.

As an individual contributor and maker, you often go from Junior to mid to senior to lead.

After that, the next phase up is all management. If you’re interested in those kinds of roles, you’d be on the lookout for UX manager, or even UX director roles.

image12 1

Granted, UX design is still relatively new in gaming. AAA and AA studios have adopted these roles more seriously. With a solid understanding of game design principles, it could be possible to transition to roles like creative director.

How Are UX Designers Involved in The Game Development Process?

Generally, here this is what UX designers do at each stage of the game development process.

image1 2

Let’s break it down.

Stage 1: Prototype

Think of this stage as your proof of concept. You have a main idea that you need to slap together to prove that your idea is fun.

This is normally a vertical slice.

It’s a bite-sized, playable demo of your game that showcases its core gameplay and unique features. It’s a quick and dirty way to test your ideas, get feedback, and see if your game is fun. It’s fine to cut corners since your goal is to have the simplest possible version of your game.

Here’s a more in-depth explanation of creating vertical slides:

Now let’s talk about prototyping, which focuses on specific ideas or mechanics.

Rapid prototypes in UX design usually involve clickable mockups that simulate simple interactions. This is effective for many games, but not all. Choosing the most suitable way to present a basic prototype early on is crucial to the design process.

For feature work, you’ll want paper-esque prototypes of how your feature will work.

Begin by mapping out how you want players to use your feature. Identify the key screens and actions they need to move through each step.

Here is an example of one that I put together:

image5

While working on the Spectate Feature for Turn 10, I wanted to showcase a tagging feature so players can quickly switch between the players they want to watch.

This screenshot below was supposed to be a simplistic wireframed overview of how that would look:

image7

In short: Figure out the easiest path for players to experience all the key elements you want them to see, then map it out.

Stage 2: Pre-Production

The UX designer is (depending on the studio) assisting with brainstorming. From there, the focus would be to structure the game’s information architecture by:

  • Creating “site” maps to determine what UI pages will be necessary in the game
  • Define/document features to deconstruct user expectations
  • Creating User Flows for each feature to hypothesize how players will interact with these features
  • Researching target players to create player personas in order to define player playstyles, expectations, and preferences
  • Conduct market research to study systems in similar games in order to audit what ideas could be successful and what pitfalls to avoid.

Here’s an example of a game sitemap:

image13 1

Image from Slideshare.

You’d probably want to know what I did during pre-production during my past projects.

First, I had to figure out my “persona”. This meant doing some research to answer these questions:

  • Who is using this?
  • What do they want?
  • Why do they want this?

Answering these questions will give you enough information to break your audience into groups or segments based on similarities.

We’d use demographic information to reflect the groups appropriately. For instance, here’s what an “Ultimate Gamer” would look like:

  • Be between the ages of 26 and 30
  • Live alone or with children
  • 60% of this demographic is male
  • Play games to explore new storylines or worlds
  • Early adopter of high-level hardware (e.g., new consoles)
  • Makes up 4% of gaming enthusiasts

For my Forza project, I focused on a persona that enjoyed spectating — labeled as “Popcorn Gamers” in the link above. They account for 29% of gaming enthusiasts and often watch live streams and follow prominent influencers.

Here is another great example avatar by Newzoo:

image4 1

To make a user flow for Popcorn Gamers I had to think of features they’d enjoy. For instance, they would probably like to tag the players they want to watch and switch between them quickly.

In this stage, the goal is to work side by side with game designers to determine how the features will work throughout the game.

Stage 3: Production

The UX designer will focus more on visualizing the work they have so far:

  • Creating low- or mid-fidelity wireframes
  • Testing features (with the help of a UX researcher) to test the hypothesis
  • Ensure features follow standard accessibility guidelines, and work to define how that would look in the game.
  • Iterating on designs to hand off to a UI designer

Here’s an example of a low/mid-fidelity wireframe I did during my work on Forza:

image6

There are common challenges in which a UX designer would be more heavily involved:

  • Onboarding and tutorials to ensure the player can play the game effectively
  • Assisting to define the structure of any marketplace or commerce system,
  • Working with level designers to help apply UX principles and define needs for prompts or indicators

Stage 4: Post Production

If the game has a post production phase, then you’ll need to deal with one of the following parts:

  • Part One – Finishing what was starting during production, mainly any systems or features that didn’t get included in the launch. This also includes following up on any bugs that needed addressing.
  • Part Two – Supporting live features. This means taking player feedback to improve the systems that are currently in the game.
  • Part Three – Adding new features into the game, which hadn’t been planned during production.

How to Get into Game UX Design

In 2024, the games industry is a mess.

To really get your foot in the door (as a junior), the best way is to look for larger studios that are looking to help train you, as compared to smaller studios that need someone with more experience.

But with the more than 7,800 layoffs that have occurred since 2023, it’s difficult to say how feasible that is currently.

image9 1
(Image source: Obsidian Publish)

If you’re really passionate about making games, then don’t let that stop you!

Here are some things you can work on in the meantime.

1. Learn Game and/or UX Design Principles

You need a foundation to work from. And you can do this in a variety of ways, from YouTube to established classes.

Creative Assembly has an intro video on YouTube that goes through the highlights:

There’s also a long list of books (I will always recommend Celia Hodent’s The Gamer’s Brain) that cover the topic.

I’ll give you a lot of examples later!

2. Create Case Studies

Did you love a game but notice usability or accessibility issues? Write about it. Present yourself as an authority capable of improving systems, by writing case studies on how to improve existing studies.

And tag the studio if you’re feeling lucky.

I’ve done this A LOT with my reviews on UX/UI design in games like Skyrim, Papers, Please, and more (aside from the tagging part).

3. Take Part in Game Jams

Meet other people at your level and work together on a project.

Itch.io will always be the best place to find game jams.

My first project with Rogue Wave Studios actually came out of a Game Camp sponsored by Xbox — it’s still active and currently international.

Game jams are typically shorter, aiming to get a concept made based on a topic by the organizers. Game camps are longer, often provide some training, and have more leeway in your game ideas. Both are great ways to meet people and get out of work, which you can continue after the challenge.

4. Network

The game industry is fairly tight-knit. So now is not the time to be nervous about talking to strangers.

Here’s how I’d approach this:

  • Pick out a few games that you like.
  • Find out the studio that made them.
  • Try talking to the team to see if any of them have insight and can help you out.

While at Turn 10, my mentor got me in touch with another game UX designer at 343 Industries. Who got me in touch with a UX Game Designer who happened to need some help on his team over in Mojang Studios. The creators of Minecraft.

Alternatively, find people on LinkedIn who have the title you want (e.g., UX designer) and DM them.

Not everyone will get back to you, but enough will. There are already a number of people on LinkedIn that are dedicated to helping people get into gaming.

Celia Hodent is a fantastic resource for UX design in gaming, having almost literally written the book on the topic. For more general UX designer knowledge, there are people like Tommy Geoco and Christopher Nguyen.

Discord is also another great channel to network.

There’s these servers that are good for getting started

  • IDGA Games User Research – More information on UX design in games.
  • Design Buddies – More UX focused but a great way to get started learning
  • Funsmith Club – Advice on how to improve your current projects and networking opportunities with other developers.

5. Apply to Jobs

Don’t worry about having 100% of the job requirements. If you hit 50% of the requirements, send in that resume. However, depending on the industry you’re applying for, you’ll likely run into a 34% or more application rejection rate.

Job applications are part strategy, part numbers. Part of the strategy involves using your cover letter to let the hiring manager know how passionate you are about that studio or gaming in general.

Let’s say you found a studio that you love, and there’s an open role that isn’t exactly UX, but you’re still pretty sure you can do. Apply anyway.

There are a number of people who focus on getting their foot in the door and then pivoting when a role becomes open. Use the fact that you’re already in the studio you like to talk to the people who have the role you want.

That way, you have a step up in case a role opens up.

If you’re not in a studio and still applying but not having luck, try to figure out the best way to market yourself. This often includes expanding your knowledge base so you can come off as the Swiss army knife of designers.

It’s common for a UX designer to also do UI design and art, so give it a try.

Let’s say you already have a lot of experience in UX, but you’re new to gaming. Gaming functions like any other specialization and typically favors UX designers who already have industry experience. Take some time to focus on building case studies that showcase your familiarity with game design and game UX.

How About Your Portfolio?

Your game design portfolio is one of the most important things you will have as a UX designer.

There are so many resources about how to craft the “perfect” case study.

But honestly it’s a little more complicated than what one guide can tell you. Because your target audience is a recruiter with very little time and attention. Keep their attention for more than 5 – 7 seconds by telling a story of your case study.

Answer these questions as you go along:

  • What – What is the problem/conflict? Set the stage and explain why it’s a problem for your users
  • Who – Who are the users for this application and what are their needs? You’ll also need to ask who else is working with you on this project and what they are like.
  • Why – Why do your users need this solution?
  • When – How long did this project take you?
  • Where – Where is the application hosted? Mobile — this one’s a bit of a stretch but bear with me.

And now, the important part!

How did you do it, and what was your process?

This is where you can make a picture book with all your artifacts. Put enough words to get your point across and artifacts to make sense of your story.

Here’s an example of one of an “artifact” from the Minecraft case study in my portfolio:

image11 1

However, you do not have to show everything you’ve ever done for a project in your case study.

Think of your portfolio as another design product. Understand who you’re designing for and what would best suit them.

Don’t Forget About the Interview

The interview process is something that doesn’t change. You’ll start with a call with a recruiter or HR representative who will see if you’re a decent fit, then move forward to talk to the hiring manager.

What you should anticipate are a variety of UX related game design interview questions to understand your design process and to understand how you think and solve problems. For instance, expect questions on how you’ll design metaphorical features.

There will most likely be a follow-up stage where you present your portfolio and talk through past designs. That makes 3 rounds and is normally enough to make decisions, but some places might have an additional round, or a take-home test.

The interview process is to ensure that you know what you’re doing and can fit within the company’s culture.

Let’s Talk Cheddar: Here’s How Much Game UX Designers Make

On average, a US-based UX designer (in any industry) has the following average base salary of at least $100,000 a year. Here are a couple sources you can reference:

  • Glassdoor: $81,000 – $139,000 per year ($105,000 per year median)
  • Salary.com: $100,661 – $123,612 per year ($111,417 per year median)
  • ZipRecruiter: $53,500 – $172,000 per year ($106,224 per year | $51 per hour)

This varies depending on where you live in the US. A senior UX designer can make between $150,000 to $243,000.

This is generally true for the gaming industry, with a trend to pay on the lower end.

How about freelancing?

If you end up freelancing, hourly rates for UX designers tend to range between $30 and $45.

Freelancing can be an excellent way to work on various projects and build connections within multiple studios. It also gives you more flexibility. Of course, in 2024, freelance work is harder to come by. And it’s difficult to say when that will change…

Many smaller studios will extend contracts as they focus on pushing out their games, but they typically look for someone with enough experience to work independently.

Additional Resources

Follow me on LinkedIn! I’m always available to chat with people to help them out. As are so many other people in the community.

Otherwise, I’ve read (and recommend) these books and love the following videos:

Books:

Videos and YouTubers:

Before we wrap up, let’s address some lingering questions you may have about this role.

FAQs

Are game UX designers in high demand?

I know for sure that smaller studios don’t tend to hire UX designers due to a variety of factors, including misconceptions and tight budgets.

Regarding larger studios, It’s hard to tell at the moment. As of 2023, UX Design job listings (across various industries) have fallen by 70%.

image10 1
(Image source: Indeed)

However, keep in mind that many sources don’t account for pre-COVID hiring trends. As the gaming and tech industries “normalize,” we’ll get a better idea of how in-demand UX designers are. It’s only a matter of time before there’s an uptick in need.

What are the education requirements to get hired as a game UX designer?

There’s no real education requirement. Woo!

But that also means many people can come out and claim to be a UX designer without earning the title. With a low barrier to entry, it’s hard to determine who knows how to do the job and who thinks they know what they’re doing.

What you need to be hired is to build a strong portfolio showing you have what it takes.

Do this by working with an established mentor, volunteering your time on a project, or asking for feedback from colleagues. And stay humble. There’s always something new to learn.

Do I need to be good at math to get hired as a UX designer in games?

Not really. Most necessary game math related to game design are in the realm of systems design, economy design and game balancing.

How do I know if game UX design is right for me?

I can’t tell you that.

Loving games does not mean you’re meant to work in the gaming industry. Game UX is chaotic and fast-paced compared to vanilla/product UX.

A lot of studios have introduced UX without understanding what it is, so the designer might have to be capable of defending their need. The payoff? Working on something really amazing with what might be the coolest team ever.

Do I need to know how to code or use game engines?

Yes and no.

Like with product design, understanding front-end development will help ensure you don’t make something that can’t be implemented. It’s the same concept.

Knowing how to build UI screens in a game engine would be an advantageous skill to learn, but it’s not a requirement. However, I do recommend you to pick this skill up for Unity and Unreal in order to get a competitive edge over other candidates.

What other softwares do I need to know?

Figma. It’s what I used during my time working on Minecraft.

It’s the current industry favorite and allows for controller mapping for prototyping. For instance, King, the studio behind Candy Crush — which has over 200 million active users — uses Figma.

image2

If you want to learn how to build assets, learn Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. However, it’s not a requirement to learn how to 3D model.

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Bi-weekly on Tuesday, get a shot of 2-min TL:DR update in your inbox on the latest

All tactics. No fluff . Pro advice only. Unsubscribe any time

EXPERIENCE & BACKGROUND:

[STUDIO] Blizzard Entertainment: Content, mechanics, and systems designer

(Creator of Apex Legends & former Creative Director at Respawn)

[GAME] World of Warcraft: MMORPG with 8.5 million average monthly players, won Gamer’s Choice Award – Fan Favorite MMORPG, VGX Award for Best PC Game, Best RPG, and Most Addictive Video Game.

  • Classic:
    • Designed Cosmos UI
    • Designed part of Raid Team for Naxxramas
  • Burning Crusade:
    • Designed the raid bosses Karazhan, Black Temple, Zul’Aman
    • Designed the Outlands content
    • Designed The Underbog including bosses:
      • Hungarfen, Ghaz’an, Swamplord Musel’ik, and The Black Stalker
    • Designed the Hellfire Ramparts final bosses Nazan & Vazruden
    • Designed the Return to Karazhan bosses: Attumen the Huntsman, Big Bad Wolf, Shades of Aran, Netherspite, Nightbane
  • Wrath of the Lich King:
    • Designed quest content, events and PvP areas of Wintergrasp
    • Designed Vehicle system
    • Designed the Death Knight talent trees
    • Designed the Lord Marrowgar raid
  • Cataclysm:
    • Designed quest content
    • Designed Deathwing Overworld encounters
    • Designed Morchok and Rhyolith raid fights
  • Mists of Pandaria: 
    • Overhauled the entire Warlock class – Best player rated version through all expansion packs
    • Designed pet battle combat engine and scripted client scene

[GAME] StarCraft 2: Playtested and provided design feedback during prototyping and development

[GAME] Diablo 3: Playtested and provided design feedback during prototyping and development

[GAME] Overwatch: Playtested and provided design feedback during prototyping and development

[GAME] Hearthstone: Playtested and provided design feedback during prototyping and development

[STUDIO] Riot Games: Systems designer, in-studio game design instructor

(Former Global Communications Lead for League of Legends)
(Former Technical Game Designer at Riot Games)

[GAME] League of Legends: Team-based strategy MOBA with 152 million average active monthly players, won The Game Award for Best Esports Game and BAFTA Best Persistent Game Award.

  • Redesigned Xerath Champion by interfacing with community
  • Reworked the support income system for season 4
  • Redesigned the Ward system
  • Assisted in development of new trinket system
  • Heavily expanded internal tools and features for design team
  • Improved UI indicators to improve clarity of allied behaviour

[OTHER GAMES] Under NDA: Developed multiple unreleased projects in R&D

Game Design Instructor: Coached and mentored associate designers on gameplay and mechanics

[STUDIO] Moon Studios: Senior game designer

(Former Lead Game Designer at Moon Studios)

[GAME] Ori & The Will of The Wisps: 2m total players (423k people finished it) with average 92.8/100 ratings by 23 top game rating sites (including Steam and Nintendo Switch).

  • Designed the weapon and Shard systems
  • Worked on combat balance
  • Designed most of the User Interface

[GAME] Unreleased RPG project

  • Designed core combat
  • High-level design content planning
  • Game systems design
  • Game design documentation
  • Gameplay systems engineering
  • Tools design
  • Photon Quantum implementation of gameplay

[VC FUNDED STARTUP] SnackPass: Social food ordering platform with 500k active users $400m+ valuation

[PROJECT] Tochi: Creative director (hybrid of game design, production and leading the product team)

  • Lead artists, engineers, and animators on the release the gamification system to incentivize long-term customers with social bonds and a shared experience through the app

[CONSULTING] Atomech: Founder / Game Design Consultant

[STUDIOS] Studio Pixanoh + 13 other indie game studios (under NDA):

  • Helped build, train and establish the design teams
  • Established unique combat niche and overall design philosophy
  • Tracked quality, consistency and feedback methods
  • Established company meeting structure and culture

Game Design Keynotes:

(Former Global Head of HR for Wargaming and Riot Games)
  • Tencent Studio
  • Wargaming
  • USC (University of Southern California)
  • RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology)
  • US AFCEA (Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association)
  • UFIEA (University of Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy)
  • West Gaming Foundation
  • Kyoto Computer Gakuin – Kyoto, Japan