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World of
Warcraft's user interface is an amazing combination of simplicity and
functionality.

Perhaps one of the biggest problems that many massively multiplayer
online games experience is the issue of complexity versus ease of use.
Many games - perhaps most famously EVE Online - provide so much
information for the user all at once that it's almost overwhelming. In
this user's opinion, it seems like an incredible achievement that
developers can create user interfaces that such wide audiences can
learn to manipulate and enjoy. I asked Irena what it takes to make the
sort of UI that can be used by the widest audience but still allows
players to get the most information out of the game as possible.



 "I tend to think of a game as a piece of software, regardless
of the audience," Irena explained.  "My success is more
determined by how easy it is to learn rather than how many people it
appeals to.  The hardcore audience is a small fraction of the
player base, and if a UI is clean, responsive, and appropriately
configurable, even they would appreciate it.  Instead of
focusing on “what can my UI do?,” I find
it’s more important to direct that attention to
“What does the game do?” Making the UI as
unobtrusive as possible while providing the features a player needs to
actually interact with the game is paramount.  Certainly some
level of customizability is important. However, it's just as key to
avoid the possibility of new users (particularly ones new to MMOGs)
configuring themselves into a confusing UI that they don’t
know how to fix.  It’s my job to make sure they
don’t fall into that trap without making the hardcore players
feel like I’ve “dumbed” the UI
down.  Not an easy task, I assure you." *smiles*



"My process is ever evolving since it’s the core of my job,"
she stated.  "Looking top down, I try to look at comparable
UIs and question why certain choices were made.  Sometimes
I’ll agree, and sometimes not.  Either way, I try
not to take anything for granted, because if there can be improvement
in what’s done before, there should be.  Of course,
forcing users too far from the familiar can also shoot a UI designer in
the foot. It’s a delicate line to walk."



Arguably, the user interface experience in massively multiplayer online
games has not really progressed, at all, since the standards of the
genre were established with the first MMOGs - EverQuest, Dark Age of
Camelot, Final Fantasy XI, and World of Warcraft to name a few - and
the industry has stagnated in a number of areas. Now that she's in a
position of influence on a title that's looking to be progressive, I
asked Irena how she plans to push UIs in a progressive direction.



"38 Studios is the first dev house outside of Blizzard that I feel has
prioritized UI appropriately.  A user interface is to an MMOG
as a first sentence is to a novel.  It can draw you in or turn
you off," Irena said. "There have been many competing games since the
release of WoW and, as I said before, they replicated a lot of its UI
(some of them down to the same color scheme for buttons and the
like).  While this, in and of itself, isn’t a bad
thing, these games have failed in terms of interface because they
didn’t go to the same level of polish of WoW, nor have they
understood the reasons behind some of the choices Blizzard made.
Blizzard makes a concerted effort to design from the perspective of the
player."



"38 Studios has made a commitment to having a great interface in
Copernicus," she said.  "I was brought on early in development
so we have as much time as we need to polish and refine.  Like
at Blizzard, the team here understands the importance of a good user
experience.  The goal isn’t to blow people away with
our UI.  Rather, it’s to achieve new methods of
letting the players enjoy the game for itself."



As one of our final questions, we asked Irena how her previous
experience at Blizzard will affect her contribution to the UI design in
Copernicus and what she learned at her former studio that will carry
over into her next project.



"In my career I’ve learned the value of metrics and how key
it is to have actual data on player behavior," Irena said. "I learned
an incredible amount about MMOG UI design at Blizzard, working with
Derek Sakamoto and Eric Dodds, especially that it’s important
to advocate for the little guy: the voiceless newbie player that
doesn’t quite follow what’s going on when he dings
for the first time.  I’ve also discovered the
importance of the game needing to stand on its own, to play well,
without the UI dominating the player’s
interactions.   This knowledge will guide the
decisions I make in designing the interface for Copernicus."

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Will
Copernicus raise the MMOG UI bar? We'll just have to wait and see.

Of course, innovation is one thing, but I was sure Irena had some
complaints about current MMOG UIs in their current form. 
Whether its buttons that make you squint like Mr. Magoo or pop-ups that
would only entertain an individual hyped on uppers, everyone has their
own frustrations with current UI systems.



"MMOG UIs have a tendency to be overly complicated, especially as a UI
ages and evolves," Irena explained. "They certainly shouldn’t
be afraid to add features, but developers should also consider the
impact that may have on their user base as a whole, not just a specific
audience.  My most frustrating MMOG UI experience was recently
logging into Warhammer Online for the first time.  There was
so much going on at the moment of log-in that I didn’t know
where to look.  Error messages were on the screen in all caps
yelling at me, and my very first quest required me to scroll down to
get all of the quest text.  This just came off as messy."
 



"UI is just as integral as any other design discipline and should be
started early by a specialized team focused on presenting a polished
and cohesive user experience," she continued. "It’s typically
underappreciated in game development, though that’s beginning
to change in some corners.  Problems like I mentioned could be
avoided when there’s someone on a team to advocate for
user-centered design."



Eventually, Irena and I came to the end of our conversation, and I
asked her what she would like to tell Ten Ton Hammer readers and fans
interested in Copernicus. Why should gamers really be excited?



"OMG!! COPERNICUS IS AWESOME!!!!" Irena exclaimed. "Seriously, though,
working at Blizzard was one of the most valuable experiences of my
life.  To get a chance to work with Curt Schilling, R. A.
Salvatore, Todd McFarlane, and all the other immense talent on this
team really blows my mind. So, what we’re doing here at 38
Studios is……oops sorry, time’s up!"
*winks*



We'd like to thank Irena, Andrea Schneider, and Karen Blondell for
taking their time to put together this interview and give such thorough
and informative answers.