Devlog #4: User-Centered Design

What is User-Centered Design?

User-centered design is a take on designing experiences that places the user at the forefront of development. Every decision is made with usability in mind. What that means is that products are designed to be as simple and easy to use for as many people as possible. In order to do this, designers try not to force users to change what they're already used to. This requires designers to do lots of research on other existing products to find widespread conventions that people have grown accustomed to.

How does it manifest in game design?

One big way user-centered design is shown in games is through control schemes. A good designer won't deviate from typical control layouts unless they need to for their specific product. Think about how many games use WASD to move your character, or spacebar to jump. Think about how many shooter games use the left trigger to scope in, and the right trigger to shoot (Call of Duty, The Last of Us, etc.). Think about how many platformers have jumping mapped to the bottom face button, and an offensive action mapped to the left face button (Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong Country, Mega Man, etc.). These are popular control schemes, and designers keep using them because they don't want to force players to get used to an unknown method of control. If a game has an alternate control scheme, such as motion controls, for example, designers may also try to add the option to use a more standard controller, so that they don't need to force players to adapt.

Another way user-centered design can be shown in games is when they actively try to break conventions. Normally, this would be advised against, but it can work in the context of adding more difficulty to a game. For example, how many platformers have you played in which you defeat enemies by jumping on them? Probably plenty, and that's likely what you're used to as a result. But if an enemy has a spiked helmet that damages you upon jumping on them, it can create the feeling of more difficulty. You may just have to throw a projectile at them instead to defeat them, which isn't much harder mechanically than simply jumping on them, but the fact that the enemy actively breaks conventions and makes players do something they wouldn't normally do is what makes them feel more challenging. This idea can manifest itself in lots of different ways, like giving the player that's slower than normal to encourage more careful, deliberate actions, or adding ice physics to a floor that makes movement more unpredictable.