Brief introduction: As the UX Designer for Cities: VR, a VR adaptation of the city-building game Cities: Skylines, I focused on enhancing the tutorial and onboarding experience to accommodate both new and existing players.
My role: Led prototyping, testing, and design discussions to identify and resolve user experience challenges.
Key objective: Streamline the tutorial to reduce complexity and improve player retention.
Prototyping & Testing: Developed and tested new tutorial instructions and a controller cheat sheet to aid player understanding
Design Iteration: Identified quick fixes, such as changing the city border color and implementing stationary screens, to enhance user experience.
Documentation: Proofread and formatted the Player Guide to provide ongoing support for players.
Challenges:
Overwhelming instructions and long tutorial duration.
Multiple prompts presented simultaneously.
Difficulty remembering controls.
Intrusive UI screens that followed the player's view.
Lack of understanding of basic game mechanics.
These issues led to 40% of players being unable to complete the tutorial.
Controller Cheat Sheet: Noticed missing control information; created a mockup in Figma leading to in-game implementation.
Stationary Screens: Tested replacing face-attached screens with stationary ones, resulting in players paying more attention to the information.
Quick Fixes: Allowing full refunds during tutorial, changing the city border color to avoid confusion with the water areas, and changing from radio buttons to checkboxes
Controller labels: Adding labels to controls in game, to lower the cognitive load
Want to read a more in-detail description about this step, with findings and changes between iterations? You can find it in the toggle heading below.
I joined Fast Travel Games as their first UX Designer after the skeleton of the tutorial had been created.
I quickly noticed that it needed some love to fit the target audiences since not all would be familiar with the Cities: Skylines franchise.
City Building Dreamers
VR headset owners who play simulation & casual games, and would be excited about the fantasy of creating a city in VR
City Architects
VR headset owners who like strategy & simulation games, and would be thrilled about creating and managing their own detailed city in VR
Virtual Skyliners
Cities: Skylines fans who own a VR headset
I found some low-hanging fruit that would help players.
For example, switching from radio buttons to checkboxes when players can check several options.
I played other tutorials to check how they solve the cognitive overload issue that often happen in VR
To validate the need for an update, and identify the main pain points, I ran an initial tutorial test on Cities: VR.
40% of the players couldn't even finish the tutorial!
Other insights included:
Too overwhelming
Long instructions
Several prompts at the same time
Forget controls & buttons
Intrusive screen which follows the face
Missed vibrations & indications
Ran out of money
Teleport didn't work as they thought
Players felt stupid
While some fixes could only be tested after a rough implementation, I could test and iterate on the instructions.
I created and iterated on the tutorial texts in Figma, testing each iteration on the target audience through 1-on-1 interviews online.
Cities: VR is a very complex game, and not everything is being taught at the tutorial.
Since players also got overwhelmed by the amount of information and controls, I suggested we add a controller cheat sheet to the game.
While testing the instructions, I also tested my wireframe of the controls.
I had identified some issues which could be easily fixed by the developers. Some examples are:
The city border looks like water while the player is in the water-view. Just by changing the color, no players thought it was water in future tests.
Players could run out of money and get stuck in the tutorial. We changed the bulldozing so players could get a full refund during the tutorial.
The tested, new instructions were in! The test was much quicker, no players got stuck, and they were generally less confused.
We also added GIFS with pictures of the controllers, highlighting the relevant buttons.
While this was a cost-effective and fast way to show button locations, it was ultimately not enough.
Players didn't remember controls & buttons
GIFs moved too fast
The intrusive screen still annoyed players
During the past two tests, I noticed players trying to look past the instruction screens. It seems like it was interfering with the learning.
We fixed the screens and implemented a Player Guide which would support players with information later in the game.
The result of the stationary screens was better than expected!
Players noticed indications and vibrations
Tutorial was quicker
Players read the instructions more
Tutorial felt short
But, players still had issues with knowing button placement and remembering controls.
When playing VR games it's a hassle to look at the controls, since you need to remove the headset to do so.
Players also forgot which buttons had which action, since they focused on trying to remember button placements.
We added a controller model with button labels, to help players remember positions of buttons as well as the actions. I immediately saw that it made the tutorial experience much smoother in the next playtest.
I did a usability test for the game on PSVR2, identifying fun blockers.
I did a usability test for a new feature to purchase tiles, making sure it was easy to understand.
Improved Completion Rates: Post-update, all players were able to complete the tutorial successfully.
Positive Feedback: Players reported a more immersive and accessible experience.
Industry Recognition: Cities: VR was nominated for the VR Awards.
"Amanda parachuted in to troubleshoot and shape up our player onboarding for Cities: VR ahead of the launch. She ran several playtests to identify our problems, suggested solutions and prioritized the lot in a neat report - all on a short timeline and brand new hardware. Not only did Amanda’s efforts give the dev team the most bang for their implementation bucks, but the quick and noticeable improvements led to great feedback from execs and platform holders."
‒ Andrea Wästlund, Lead Producer
Simplify Instructions: Clear and concise guidance enhances player retention.
User-Centered Design: Iterative testing with real users is crucial for effective UX improvements.
Flexibility in Design: Being open to quick fixes can lead to significant improvements in user experience.