Minecraft Dungeons Redesign

The dungeon-crawler, adventure role-playing video game reimagined with a Pokémon twist.

Role

UX/UI Designer

Duration

8 weeks

Tools

Figma + FigJam, Photoshop

Team

Just me!

Background + Goals

Analyzing the UX/UI of Minecraft Dungeons (PC version) and offering recommendations that could potentially improve a player’s experience

This project was created as part of ELVTR’s 8-week course on the subject of UX/UI for gaming. Once I had learned about the many aspects of designing a great user experience in games, I was then tasked to apply that knowledge into a redesign of an existing game: Minecraft Dungeons.

Design Process

In this project, I utilized the following methods learned throughout the course:

High-fidelity wireframes of CBL HoopCity

Player journey Map

Familiarizing myself with Minecraft Dungeons’ gameplay through a player’s lense

By watching an online playthrough of the game, I was able to create a player journey map and take note of the decisions players make, especially during the onboarding section and initial moments of gameplay. This was very helpful in understanding how players felt about each step in the process while also highlighting potential opportunities for improvement.

Paper Prototype

Turning game dev opportunities into real player features

With these opportunities in mind, I organized all of the game options players currently have, as well as new ones which I added, into their respective screens using a paper prototype. Some of my recommendations for improving the experience are as follows:

An online/offline toggle
Character customization (skin options)
An animated loading bar with random gameplay tip

Flow CHart

Solidifying the slightly-updated player journey

This step was crucial in establishing the final user flow of Minecraft Dungeons and making sure that all of the possible, new player options made sense from a game development perspective.

Wireframes

Building the new foundation of Minecraft Dungeons

For this initial version of the project, I decided to focus on creating the following screens: welcome, character selection, location selection, initial gameplay, and home. Given more time, I would have continued designing more gameplay screens such as the map and inventory.

Usability Testing

3 minor yet crucial improvements in my designs

After finishing the mid-fi wireframes, I recruited one participant to test out my prototyped designs on Figma for any glaring usability issues. Specifically, I made the player run through the following tasks:

Choose a mode (online or offline) and start the game.
Select a character and a corresponding customization option.
Select a location from the map and corresponding difficulty mode.
Enter the selected location to start the gameplay.

Photo of participant during usability testing session, conducted in a quiet hotel room.

Photo of the participant during usability testing session, conducted in a quiet hotel room.

Adjusting online/offline toggle’s format and placement

Reworking character customization to be optional

Making second navigation tab more prominent

Moodboard

Taking inspiration from the UI of Pokémon and Zelda games respectively

Since I had the liberty of designing Minecraft Dungeons but in the style of a different, existing game, I ended up picking Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ art direction and recreated some of their UI elements to fit my designs. I also lightly referenced the UI of Zelda’s Breath of the Wild.

Color BLindness Check

Fortunately, my UI designs didn’t reveal any major accessibility issues when put in a color blindness simulator

UI Designs

Introducing the final mockups/concepts for Minecraft Dungeons meets Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Outcome

To summarize this entire project...

I was able to dissect and redesign the UX/UI of an existing video game, Minecraft Dungeons, within a short period of time. Hopefully, my proposed changes will help make a player’s gaming experience a lot more enjoyable and streamlined.

Challenges and constraints

Limited time & scope. Since I had only 8 weeks to work on this project, I couldn’t design the entire flow of the game. Instead, I chose to focus on the screens I thought were the most important to the player’s experience.
Only having one user for usability testing. Ideally, testing with at least four users would’ve helped further validate my designs and gain more feedback. Regardless, I made do with my situation.
My first time designing UI for games. Through trial and error, as well as having access to some available UI assets, I was able to successfully create these visual concepts and become even more comfortable with the tools.

Some key takeaways

Designing the UX of games vs. mobile and web products couldn’t be more different despite sharing some similarities.
Usually, games are made simply for entertainment purposes rather than solving a particular user problem.