Part 1 - Matchmaking Game System

Challenge: The current matchmaking interface does not allow the player to create their own personal preferences when joining matches from the Play menu

Solution: A robust and qualitative matchmaker menu to maximize inclusivity of all play-styles

Target Audience: Players who feel their play style is not being supported by the current matchmaking system.

“Support variation in play styles, again this is something that Overwatch does a good job with, for example with Bastion not requiring jumping, fast movements or precise aim.”
Ian Hamilton, UX Designer

Key Insights from Ian:

When coming up with solutions for inclusivity, it is critical to consider the following areas..

Strength - Ability to use certain more difficult buttons (e.g. pressing sticks in), or to hold buttons down
Endurance/Pain/Fatigue - How to reduce activity needed & therefore extend possible game session length.
Range of Motion - How far fingers can physically move.
Accuracy - Ability to make small, smooth or precise movements.
Presence of Limbs/Digits - Not everyone has two working hands with ten working fingers
Speed - Ability to complete a task within a set time frame

Giving an option for button mapping is a great way to not give unfair advantage.
Support variation in play styles, Overwatch already does this well with
all of the playable heroes it has to offer.

Giving options such as auto run that can help many players (solution for strength inclusivity)

Current Sitemap

Low-fi UI Flow - This illustrates how the different queues link back to the Main Menu and how the Preferences menu links back to the Play menu

Proposed IA Map - Matchmaking Preference

Menu Prototype

Disclaimer: Players can only join matches with other players who have the same or similar matchmaking settings as them.

Ex; All players in a match have Aim Assist toggled ON.

Part 2 - Ana Biotic Rifle Redesign

Challenge: The scope view for Ana’s Biotic Rifle is not intuitive during high intensity gameplay

Solution: A streamlined scope view that focuses on player immersion and target accuracy

About The Bionic Rifle

The rifle functions as a dart gun, which fires darts filled with a biotic solution that are injected upon impact with the target. For this purpose, Ana carries multiple darts with different effects, including healing darts and offensive darts.

It carries fourteen rounds in a single clip and is able to affect both teams, healing allies for 75 HP and dealing 70 damage to enemies. It comes equipped with a scope which makes Ana's shots hitscan at the sacrifice of vision of her surroundings and movement speed.

Redesign Process - Biotic Rifle Scope

Current User State

The current state of the biotic rifle is very basic. The user is able to either use no scope or opt to use the scope, which is toggled with either the left trigger on an analog controller, or the right mouse button.

The Biotic Rifle shoots darts, if these darts hit an enemy then they will cause damage, if they hit a teammate they will heal the teammate. With this being said, there are no linear micro transactions between using a scope/no scope and targeting an enemy/teammate. This causes a cognitive conundrum for the player, especially in fast paced action.

The biotic rifle is primarily used for healing, so from a UX standpoint I think it would be interesting to add a special feature to the biotic rifle to enhance its healing capabilities. Something that makes the biotic rifle special from other weapons is its scope ability and unique hitscan

Redesigned Solution - Biotic Rifle Scope

For my redesigned solution. I knew it would be important to incorporate other UI elements into Ana’s Biotic Rifle, making Ana look and feel unique to the player, while still harnessing the powerful interface elements that are pre existing. Some other interface elements that were particularly important and consistently used were her Ability #1 (Sleep Dart) and her Ability #2 (Biotic Grenade).

Another notable part of the interface that is particularly important for a first person shooter is Ana’s ammo count. In competitive moments or intense action, it can be crucial to know when to manually reload.

Lastly, because the Biotic Rifle is primarily used for healing, I wanted to add confirmations in the scope view as to when Ana is targeting a friendly player. This confirmation works with the engine to determine the distance of the teammate and the velocity of the dart being fired.

Part 1 - Matchmaking Game System

Challenge: The current matchmaking interface does not allow the player to create their own personal preferences when joining matches from the Play menu

Solution: A robust and qualitative matchmaker menu to maximize inclusivity of all play-styles

Target Audience: Players who feel their play style is not being supported by the current matchmaking system.

“Support variation in play styles, again this is something that Overwatch does a good job with, for example with Bastion not requiring jumping, fast movements or precise aim.”

Ian Hamilton, UX Designer

Key Insights from Ian:

When coming up with solutions for inclusivity, it is critical to consider the following areas..

Strength - Ability to use certain more difficult buttons (e.g. pressing sticks in), or to hold buttons down

Endurance/Pain/Fatigue - How to reduce activity needed & therefore extend possible game session length.

Range of Motion - How far fingers can physically move.

Accuracy - Ability to make small, smooth or precise movements.

Presence of Limbs/Digits - Not everyone has two working hands with ten working fingers

Speed - Ability to complete a task within a set time frame

Giving an option for button mapping is a great way to not give unfair advantage.

Support variation in play styles, Overwatch already does this well with

all of the playable heroes it has to offer.

Giving options such as auto run that can help many players (solution for strength inclusivity)

Current Sitemap

Menu Prototype

Part 2 - Ana Biotic Rifle Redesign

Challenge: The scope view for Ana’s Biotic Rifle is not intuitive during high intensity gameplay

Solution: A streamlined scope view that focuses on player immersion and target accuracy

About The Bionic Rifle

The rifle functions as a dart gun, which fires darts filled with a biotic solution that are injected upon impact with the target. For this purpose, Ana carries multiple darts with different effects, including healing darts and offensive darts.

It carries fourteen rounds in a single clip and is able to affect both teams, healing allies for 75 HP and dealing 70 damage to enemies. It comes equipped with a scope which makes Ana's shots hitscan at the sacrifice of vision of her surroundings and movement speed.

Redesign Process - Biotic Rifle Scope

Current User State

The current state of the biotic rifle is very basic. The user is able to either use no scope or opt to use the scope, which is toggled with either the left trigger on an analog controller, or the right mouse button.

The biotic rifle is primarily used for healing, so from a UX standpoint I think it would be interesting to add a special feature to the biotic rifle to enhance its healing capabilities. Something that makes the biotic rifle special from other weapons is its scope ability and unique hitscan

Redesigned Solution - Biotic Rifle Scope

Another notable part of the interface that is particularly important for a first person shooter is Ana’s ammo count. In competitive moments or intense action, it can be crucial to know when to manually reload.

Lastly, because the Biotic Rifle is primarily used for healing, I wanted to add confirmations in the scope view as to when Ana is targeting a friendly player. This confirmation works with the engine to determine the distance of the teammate and the velocity of the dart being fired.

Overwatch Ana UX Redesign

Part 1 - Matchmaking Game System

Challenge: The current matchmaking interface does not allow the player to create their own personal preferences when joining matches from the Play menu

Solution: A robust and qualitative matchmaker menu to maximize inclusivity of all play-styles

Target Audience: Players who feel their play style is not being supported by the current matchmaking system.

“Support variation in play styles, again this is something that Overwatch does a good job with, for example with Bastion not requiring jumping, fast movements or precise aim.”

Ian Hamilton, UX Designer

Key Insights from Ian:

When coming up with solutions for inclusivity, it is critical to consider the following areas..

Strength - Ability to use certain more difficult buttons (e.g. pressing sticks in), or to hold buttons down

Endurance/Pain/Fatigue - How to reduce activity needed & therefore extend possible game session length.

Range of Motion - How far fingers can physically move.

Accuracy - Ability to make small, smooth or precise movements.

Presence of Limbs/Digits - Not everyone has two working hands with ten working fingers

Speed - Ability to complete a task within a set time frame

Giving an option for button mapping is a great way to not give unfair advantage.

Support variation in play styles, Overwatch already does this well with

all of the playable heroes it has to offer.

Giving options such as auto run that can help many players (solution for strength inclusivity)

Current Sitemap

Menu Prototype

Part 2 - Ana Biotic Rifle Redesign

Challenge: The scope view for Ana’s Biotic Rifle is not intuitive during high intensity gameplay

Solution: A streamlined scope view that focuses on player immersion and target accuracy

About The Bionic Rifle

The rifle functions as a dart gun, which fires darts filled with a biotic solution that are injected upon impact with the target. For this purpose, Ana carries multiple darts with different effects, including healing darts and offensive darts.

It carries fourteen rounds in a single clip and is able to affect both teams, healing allies for 75 HP and dealing 70 damage to enemies. It comes equipped with a scope which makes Ana's shots hitscan at the sacrifice of vision of her surroundings and movement speed.

Redesign Process - Biotic Rifle Scope

Current User State

The current state of the biotic rifle is very basic. The user is able to either use no scope or opt to use the scope, which is toggled with either the left trigger on an analog controller, or the right mouse button.

The biotic rifle is primarily used for healing, so from a UX standpoint I think it would be interesting to add a special feature to the biotic rifle to enhance its healing capabilities. Something that makes the biotic rifle special from other weapons is its scope ability and unique hitscan

Redesigned Solution - Biotic Rifle Scope

Another notable part of the interface that is particularly important for a first person shooter is Ana’s ammo count. In competitive moments or intense action, it can be crucial to know when to manually reload.

Lastly, because the Biotic Rifle is primarily used for healing, I wanted to add confirmations in the scope view as to when Ana is targeting a friendly player. This confirmation works with the engine to determine the distance of the teammate and the velocity of the dart being fired.