Dissertation

This was my final year project based around the effect that User interfaces and Heads-up displays on the immersion of players. The aim of the project was to dissect current HUDs and UI, identify their traits and their overall effect on immersion for players of multiple skill levels.

Process

Workflow

The Dissertation and project aimed to explore User Interfaces and how they could cause changes in how the user experiences a game. This project took on two forms, a formal written dissertation and an accompanying artefact. For the written report, I started by selecting a genre to refine research down into a single space.

As a fan of racing games and motorsports, I took the opportunity to investigate how the UI effects how I play the game as well as other players. The artefact would test the trends discovered in research and from game analysis.

As the final result to the project, I summarised the exploration into HUDs and UI by creating guidelines for designers attempting to create immesive experiences for players within racing games.

Analysis

Forza Horizon 5 and F1 2021

The analysis combined with the literature review formed the basis of the paper. It combined industry standard games and identifying what could make the user interfaces and HUD great and how they are designed could be connected to design theories.

Key papers that contributed to both designs and consideration towards creating guidelines to immersive UI involved concepts such as cognitive load, player performance and number of elements used in games as well as a process using the IEQ to examine the level of immersion experienced.

The analysis and full process can be viewed below from the start with F1 TV broadcasts to the final tested artefact.

Final Product

Artefact used for testing Guidelines for Immersive UI