How Much Can You Make with Agile UI Prototyping?
How Much Can You Make with Agile UI Prototyping?
Today, we’re stepping into the world of Alex, a solo developer with a promising game concept. Alex knows a brilliant mechanic isn’t enough; players need to understand and interact with it intuitively. This often comes down to effective UI.
Morning: The Core Mechanic and Initial UI Challenge
Alex is building a roguelike with a unique crafting system. Players combine elemental shards to create powerful spells, but the initial UI is clunky. Alex’s goal for the day is to prototype a fluid crafting interface.
A common pitfall at this stage is over-designing, perfecting visuals before testing core functionality. Alex avoids this by setting clear, achievable UI prototyping goals: create a functional drag-and-drop system for shards and a visible output slot for the resulting spell.
Mid-Day: Rapid Iteration and Lo-Fi Prototyping
Alex begins with paper sketches, quickly mapping out possible layouts for the crafting grid and spell output. These lo-fi prototypes are about speed, not perfection. They capture the essence of the interaction without getting bogged down in pixels.
Next, Alex translates these sketches into simple wireframes using a free online tool. This allows for quick arrangement and rearrangement of elements. The challenge of complexity can feel overwhelming here, with a million possibilities.
Alex logs each idea, initial sketch, and early design decision in a game dev journal. This helps manage the creative chaos, ensuring no good idea is lost and tracking the evolution of the UI. This structured approach to a game development log is crucial for staying organized.
Afternoon: Quick User Feedback and Iteration
Alex then creates a quickly coded mock-up, integrating the basic drag-and-drop functionality. This isn’t polished, but it’s interactive. A crucial mistake many developers make is waiting for a “perfect” UI before seeking feedback.
Alex asks a friend to try the crafting interface. Specific questions are posed: “Is it clear where to drag the shards?” “Do you understand what the output slot represents?” Alex observes their friend’s natural behavior, noting any hesitation or confusion.
The feedback is immediate and insightful. The output slot isn’t intuitive enough. Alex documents this feedback, observed pain points, and quick iteration ideas for the next prototype in their game dev journal. To make documenting these insights efficient and ensure you track game development progress effectively, consider a dedicated tool. Our game dev journaling tool is designed to help you organize your thoughts and iterations seamlessly.
Evening: Refinement and Planning for Next Steps
Based on the afternoon’s feedback, Alex refines the prototype. Instead of discarding the existing work, improvements are made. The output slot now visually highlights when a valid spell can be created, addressing the confusion.
Alex plans the next iteration for tomorrow: refining the visual feedback for successful crafting and integrating a preliminary spell description display. This iterative process, guided by feedback and documented in the game dev journal, is the essence of agile UI prototyping. It ensures promising mechanics aren’t lost to bad UI.