MINECRAFT...DUNGEONS?
// Dungeon crawling for kids!
Minecraft Dungeons is a live service, co-op, role-playing game spun off from widespread sensation Minecraft. It's 2+ years old as of late 2022, and its service model has shifted since release from classic, paid content expansions to a seasonal cosmetic battle pass system. Newer updates mainly revolve around its procedurally-generated game mode, which, combined with the game's age, suggest a smaller active dev team and resource pool.
SO WHAT'S THIS ABOUT
// Establishing goals and Constraints
I was tasked to generally redesign and improve the UX of Minecraft Dungeons - no further direction. As it is with all open-ended tasks, there's an untethered excitement until you eventually remember that you, as a fresh outsider, are trying to noticeably improve something a large studio has already spent months to years refining. That said, after conducting a breadth of user research and flow analysis, I did find and narrow my focus onto a few overarching areas that I believe could realistically benefit from improvement, from both a user and revenue standpoint.
- LACK OF FOCUS ON ONLINE MULTIPLAYER
Interface still focuses on couch co-op play despite higher prevalence of more accessible online co-op, especially after the pandemic. That shrinks a user's perception of the player base, makes a game seem less relevant, and reduces the number of cosmetic DLC impressions. - LITTLE EMPHASIS ON CHARACTER UNIQUENESS
Character save files aren't distinctive at a glance; appearance and stats are the only visual indicators. Outside of lower player attachment, this has also led to accidental progress deletion becoming a noticeable issue, significant in that it often causes users to quit playing entirely. - OVERALL AESTHETIC COHESION
Some visuals and UI elements clash or feel out of place, likely due to the heavy emphasis this game puts on its accessibility features.
Of course, critique and good ideas aren't solutions until you frame them within imposed constraints. Given the age of the game and a playerbase used to current systems, I needed to be able to justify the effort against current dev resources and player expectations. So the real challenge question was:
"How can I improve the user experience in a way that both satisfies the long-time player and justifies the dev effort?"
ORIGINAL VS REDESIGN
// START SCREEN CHANGES FOR Everyone's benefit
Start Menu / Save File screens are encountered every single time someone boots a game, regardless of whether they end up actually playing or not. As one of the primary areas developers use to inform players of new information, premium items, and in-game events, I chose to target Minecraft Dungeon's start screen. Most of the changes would use existing systems and assets, with the exception of one new feature that would only require an extra text field of metadata on missions.
ORIGINAL
REDESIGN
// Click to Enlarge
CHANGES
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IMPACT
🫡 ONLINE FRIENDS LIST
>
See friends ready to play at a glance!
Increased impressions for unlockable cosmetic items.
Reduced clicks to invite friends and raise playerbase awareness.
👑 CHARACTER TITLES
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Equip and show off unique mission award titles in multiplayer!
Increased player attachment and customization opportunities.
"COPY" title applied when duplicating characters to differentiate save files beyond cosmetics and stats.
🧭 CURRENT AREA
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Direct reminder of what current character was doing last play session.
One less barrier to starting another play session.
Adds non-intrusive visual variety to Start Screen.
✨ BUTTONS & FONT
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Combined Settings, Exit, and Accessibility and moved them away from main control areas.
All font families are now related to aid immersion.
Changed Online/Offline selection dropdown to a binary switch.
THE FUNDAMENTAL STEPS
// DEFINE, Analyze, Iterate, test, Repeat
The process to my solution started with gaining an overall understanding of the product, firstly by engaging with the product. I created flowcharts and user journeys from gameplay walkthroughs and my own experiences, and followed it by focusing in on player sentiment and pain points that weren't tied to costly-to-change gameplay features. Then I brainstormed changes with wireframes, validated them with multiple usability tests, revised with feedback, and eventually created a high fidelity mockup, which I put through a colorblind accessibility pass test.
Game Screen Analysis
// I NEEDED AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENTIRE GAMEPLAY LOOP TO UNDERSTAND PLAYER FEEDBACK CORRECTLY.
Original Flowchart
// tHE DARKER LINES REPRESENT THE DEV-INTENDED USER PATH THROUGH THE GAME.
User Journey
// i DELVED MORE INTO THE CHOICES AND POTENTIAL EMOTIONS PLAYERS MIGHT experience during Gameplay.
Wireframes for Usability Testing
// iNITIAL IDEAS THAT GOT CHANGED AS i ITERATED INCLUDED A FULL QUEST LOG AND THE popular LOBBY-STYLE start SCREEN, BUT SUBJECTS WERE CONFUSED BY THE ADDITIONS. pLAYERS THAT WEREN'T INTERESTED IN MULTIPLAYER FELT IT CLUTTERING, OR THOUGHT THE SLOTS WERE FOR EQUIPMENT, AND THE QUEST LOG SEEMED OUT OF PLACE AND MORE AT HOME IN LATER GAMEPLAY SCREENS.
Moodboard & Styleguide
// mOODBOARD INSPIRATIONS WERE TAKEN FROM OTHER parts of mINECRAFT DUNGEONS FOR INTERFACE DESIGN CONSISTENCY, AND FROM OTHER GAMES POPULAR WITH THE PRIMARY DEMOGRAPHIC (CHILDREN TO MID-20'S).
Colorblind Accessibility Revision
// aLL COLORBLIND FILTERS WERE TESTED, WITH mONOCHROMACY AND rED-BLIND highlighting noticeable CONTRAST ISSUES, which then got addressed.
A RETROSPECTIVE
// an exercise in realistic proposals
Enhancing a start menu doesn't make for the flashiest case study. However, given the constraints of player expectations for an established gameplay loop, little incentive to invest significant amounts of resources on "working" systems, and, simply, this project being an assignment to go alongside a crash course in game UX fundamentals, the changes I proposed objectively increase revenue value for existing features in areas were they weren't being advertised before. As important, subject feedback was neutral to positive, which is great considering how passionate the gaming community often is about the smallest redesigns. And, if these changes could save anyone's progress from being deleted, that's already an important win.
I'm genuinely curious as to the degree my proposal would affect the current playerbase, so in case there's a dev at Mojang reading this with some spare time at work, well, I'd love to see some more in-depth A/B testing.
I'm genuinely curious as to the degree my proposal would affect the current playerbase, so in case there's a dev at Mojang reading this with some spare time at work, well, I'd love to see some more in-depth A/B testing.
// UPDATE: I'm aware the current version of Minecraft dungeons has a few extra start SCREEN elements, related to their seasonal battlepass. However, they're simply additions and the rest of the interface exists as the original screenshot shows ("Switch hero" has been changed to "Hero Settings"). If I were to update my mockups, I'd simply put the new elements underneath the "menu" button on my current mockup.
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