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Proper UI designers at last
Quirhid
Member UncommonPosts: 6,230
As you may have seen from one of the interviews in the alliance tournament 8, CCP has finally had the good sense of employing a real UI designer/engineer (team?). They admitted it themselves that now they thought it would be time to give the job to a professional. As a student of this particular field, I've absolutely abhorred the UI in Eve. Safe thing to say is that apart from the current server stability, it is one of the biggest issues of the game.
What is somewhat odd is that some fans have stated that it "looks great" or "it works fine for me". First, looks is not the only thing that is required from a UI and second, you can get used to, and learn to live with, even with the worst UIs but that still doesn't make it good. The UI is sheit, there's no defending it. Even if it is better than what it was way-back-when, it doesn't make it good.
Better UI makes combat easier (something that is not the same as "dumbed-down") and may significantly increase the number of players in the game. We'll have to wait and see how long it takes to implement these improvements.
This is a good thing. If they hired a professional, only good can come of this.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
Comments
Yeah lets hope this so called "professional team" doesnt mess up and make Eves UI exactly like every other freaking mmo.
Eve's ui is unique the way it is. It may be a bit clumsy but it fits the setting.
Wanna streamline Eves UI? Do it but make it look almost exactly the same as it is now.
[Mod Edit]
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
I've never had much of an issue with the EvE UI. but it has never been what you could call User Friendly. As you say, people get used to it, but that doesn't make it good. The DAoC UI was very simplistic till they released the ToA expansion, and that added all sorts of stuff. The main difference, however, was that that UI was customisable by the player, but it was easy to get lost in it.
The only downside I can see to the UI being overhauled is a lot of the old timers losing the speed that they do things. As it stands, they all know what is where and can get to everything they need thanks to practice. Change it too much, and you'll get moaners, leave it as it is, and you'll get moaners.
Damned if they do, damned if they don't
Still on the other other side of the coin - this could take a while to roll out, and they may even ask for the player base to give suggestions.
"Reading computer manuals without the hardware is a frustrating as reading sex manuals without the software."
-Arthur C. Clarke
Nice , well said!
So I am curious since the OP is a "student" of UI design and so many people seem to have a problem with the UI in Eve, so what would you different?
I see alot of complaining but no solutions. I have been accustomed to the UI for years, I never really saw a problem with it at all. Every game is different and I adapt. So what would you guys do different? What am I missing out on?
My only complaint is the painfully small text. I hate having to squint all the time. I usually keep a bottle of aspirin on hand.
Wait and see,
calling yourself in a professional fashion doesn't give you the skills to do it professionaly. So let's wait and see what comes out of this first before we start celebrating.
Also it would be best to allow switching between old/new ui when the time comes.
Pi*1337/100 = 42
last time CCP changed stuff on the UI we got more lag oh wait that was fleet finder
BestSigEver :P
Phase 1 is to make the font smaller so they can fit more stuff
LOL!!!
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"Your pride, good sir, far exceeds your worth." -x3r0h
Oldest mmorpg.com member with the least amount of post counts. That counts for something, right?
http://home.wanadoo.nl/ntt/menudesign101.png
Or how about a UI that doesn't lower my fps from 60 to 1 in a fight?
We are in pods in Eve, meaning that our ships are basically an extension of our minds.
That said, I'd like to see some "fluff". Barely visible numbers, lines, circular huds rotating around an object for a second, numbers showing distance and other fluff info. The kind of thing we see when directors show us the view point of an android etc.
However, this WOULD decrease performance and whatever Eve does, they should give us the ability to keep the "old" UI.
More tangible ideas might be: "themes". Why stop at one UI when you could choose among many?
Basically the idea I have for an Eve UI is a lot of semi-transparent (adjustable) graphics that show up when they are needed (or as desired by the Player) grow less transparent/brighter as the information becomes more important or the Player runs his mouse over them.
Something maybe that the pod-pilot might be seeing as he/she pilots the ship.
Off the subject, but one thing I have long thought Eve has missed the mark on is sound/music. For example, a Titan/Mothership should try its best to vibrate the bass in a Players speakers. A chant-like hum that just speaks of VASTNESS and unlimited firepower. Eve has recently added more "fluff" sounds, like the radio chatter you might hear at an airport. This is great, thought they should have done this a long time, however, I'd like to see this stepped up (and can be turned off). Random communications from say the Gate (and more in the background than the Aurora voice): "Caldari Cruiser Alpha-Two, you are cleared for jump." "Jump initialized" and etc
The order of the items would be wrong in the "good menu" compared to the "crap menu". Just because you may do things in a certain order does not mean the majority of people do. By grouping certain items together, you are more likely to cause accidents than cut down on them.
As has been stated, aside from some things being painfully small when you've been playing too long or have had too much to drink... I've never understood the complaints about the UI. Admittedly, I would like some sort of odd secondary monitor support to allow moving some of the items to a second screen that need not be the same res at the main screen - but that is probably just because I want more stuff that I am actually able to see without it being cluttered.
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Explorer: 87%, Killer: 67%, Achiever: 27%, Socializer: 20%
More buttons for common actions with context menus as backup. Right now, context menus are the main way to do most things.
Other than that, I say bigger text, even change the font to something that's easier to read (spacey and futuristic is cool, but take readability over style).
Functionally, it's not the worst, but aesthetically, it's bad. They need to offer more than just customizable colors and window positions. I can't imagine what it must've been like at launch.
Edit: I like batolemaeus's link and Serignuad's suggestions.
The UI isnt so bad when you get used to it but little things like this would make a huge difference, other things like the Corporate interface and POS interface need overhauling to. I would also like to see the drone controls and UI elements given some love to.
Currently playing:
EVE online (Ruining low sec one hotdrop at a time)
Gravity Rush,
Dishonoured: The Knife of Dunwall.
(Waiting for) Metro: Last Light,
Company of Heroes II.
Good stuff for a default, Batolemaeus!
I'd be a big fan of letting us moving the menu items to sections that we like... like not having [Show Info] on Players RIGHT ABOVE [Start Conversation]
The EVE user interface has to do a lot more than most MMO's. I agree that there is always room for improvement, but simplifying it too much will decrease it's effectiveness. I got used to it fairly quickly, and frankly, I never hear anyone complain about it. It's part of the game, and it works.
EDIT: someone mentioned drone controls needing love. This is a perfect example of something that needs tweaking. I just hope they don't totally overhaul the UI.
Classic! Best laugh I've had in days. Thanks Qaz.
For real? You're not trolling?
ohpleasepleaseplease! LET THIS BE TRUE!
Give me liberty or give me lasers
Some suggestions from a previous post. That's only the beginning. I hope you appreciate the 3 minutes I spent trying to find that post. All this "it fits" sounds useless to me because you can always make a user-friendly UI and make it fit. You should not start to design it the other way 'round. It needs to work first.
For a usability engineer, every user comment...
"I don't know how to use this. Maybe I'm too stupid."
"Damn I just died because of a miss-click. I must concentrate more."
"Oh crap, I didn't realize I was being pointed."
...should raise alarms. Especially if the frequency is high. It is very, very common for a user to initially blame himself/herself of the error - it's human psychology. Those three are just the first examples on the top of my head. The proper response would be:
Look into improving the tutorial. Do you need to include help texts or tips? Is there an easy-to-use way to get help? Can you display information better so the user knows what he/she is currently doing?
Look into improving shortcuts/button layout/actions/menus.
Like in the first, look into improving the display of real-time, relevant information only so it is easily noticable and upholds the users situational awereness.
Obviously that is not everything there is to this since there are engineers and designers especially specialized for this and I have to spend 5 years in university to be considered professional.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
No sir, it is not a troll. I was practically popping champagne when they introduced their newly hired usability engineer.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
o/o
Give me liberty or give me lasers
Please remove that hotlink. I didn't make it, Entity did, which also means he's hosting the file.
That said, the picture is years old.
Also:
This is ridiculous. You cause accidents by putting the trash button next to the make active button, not by keeping them apart.
The UI is EVEs Darwin, if your too dumb to use it you probably wont be able to formulate a proper skill training plan with EVEMON, do non lolkia fits etc. EvE is a complex game and streamlining the UI will give us old vets a even better reason to be bitter. If you move the trash it buttom in a cascade menu after so many years of playing it'll result it a lot of items disappearing (Russian drunk crew reportin' in).
"I don't know how to use this. Maybe I'm too stupid."
"Damn I just died because of a miss-click. I must concentrate more."
"Oh crap, I didn't realize I was being pointed."
Sounds like pretty good reason to me. If you can't figure out the UI your an WoW idiot.
How can you die by a miss-click? If your in 0.0 you know your way around better than that and if your in high sec you have to go through more warnings than Windows UAC.
Don't realize your being pointed? Take it as a learning experience and l2p.
This is a funny statement considering how many very old players think the ui is rubbish.
Did you know that "jump to" is right next to "open portal to"?
Just sayin'
There are no accidents with the Trash button.
You click to trash an item. It asks if you are sure. If you say you are sure, but did not mean to do so - you have other issues.
Having Trash It between View Market Details is a lot safer than just having Reprocess between Repackage and Trash It. You are more likely to have an accident just hitting Yes to a Trash It when you are looking to Repackage.
I really do not get where your complaint is coming from. Almost everything that does anything while docked loads a second window to do it or to ask you if you are sure. The only two you could have that Yes/No accident with would be two that have several items between them on the Ships menu and one item with two separators between them on the Items menu.
edit: And seriously, did you actually say "non-scary" operations in one place? Do you pee yourself while looking at market details or something?
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Explorer: 87%, Killer: 67%, Achiever: 27%, Socializer: 20%