About
Slugterra: Slug It Out 2 is a free-to-play, match-three game. It features a story mode as well as event duels. By completing matches, players collect slugs with different attacks to use against enemies. This free-to-play game is the second installment of the puzzle series by the same name.
My Responsibilities
As a Senior UX/UI Designer and expert, I worked part-time on the live-operated product, 'Slugterra: Slug it Out 2'. I provided evaluations and expert suggestions, creating UX/UI designs for both existing and new features. I also created detailed documentation, collaborated closely with developers and game designers, addressing and resolving design-related problems to ensure a seamless and engaging user experience.
Process
Starting with a comprehensive review of the game's current state, I applied my expertise to identify core issues with the existing UX/UI and gameplay that could cause pain points and impact main KPIs. After forming my own opinion of the product, I began collecting existing data and analyzing the business goals for the next update and the product in general. Once these were identified, I developed targeted suggestions, supported by references and low-fidelity wireframes, to refine the user experience. All research findings were meticulously documented in Confluence.
Being a UX/UI designer means that I focused not only on user experience problems but also on the visual part. An additional challenge was to collect all the necessary assets from PSD files left by previous contractors and combine them with existing sliced parts from the existing build into a Figma UI KIT. Additionally, I began to build a design system with existing colors and typography and formulated navigation principles that can scale while developing new features.
Slugg classes and Boss resistance [Feature]
The design idea is to provide classes and sort slugs between them to bring a new level of strategy into gameplay. The bosses' weaknesses and resistance are one of the features in a row that uncovers this mechanic. This feature was already in development; therefore, during my research and evaluation, I identified several issues and worked on improvements. To pinpoint these problems, I asked five of my relatives several questions regarding this feature and gathered some insightful feedback.
Pain points- Unclear representations of the weaknesses/resistance.- Spending a lot of time navigating between scenes to meet the requirements.
So, I worked on the pain points and brought solutions:
- Changed the visual representation of the bosses' weaknesses and resistance.
- Added a slugs deck widget to help players notice which slugs are less suitable for the upcoming match, so players can directly switch them.
Handoff
The handoff for this feature included assets backgrounds (optimized for 9-slice) and class assets that were provided by previous contractors.
Artifact duels [Feature]
This feature was designed to provide an event where players can enter the match with the required types of slugs and receive an artifact drop as a reward. The game provides three types of difficulties, with different rarity of rewards.
Defining all the requirements, I came up with the flow chart and ideas for the feature, which we agreed upon with the producer.
Wireframes. The game has been on the market for a long time, so it is crucial to consider players' habits in navigation, even if they’re not the most convenient. For example, only one page in the game has back navigation (slugdeck); all other screens are closed with the close button. Many screens have an Info page, and the game has two types of popups: a small dialog and a big one that can include more info and options. So, I took these as a foundation principle for UX and created wireframes for both mobile and tablet.
UI. After we agreed on the wireframes, I prepared the final look of the feature and created a prototype. After collecting the first feedback and review, I made some changes to reduce complexity that can increase the scope of development work.
For this event, we decided to leave the existing entry point to the duels but added an event notification and promo banner for it.
Handoff For this feature, I have prepared optimized backgrounds, new states of the slug slots, a fatigue icon, and a concept of the rune node, based on the existing node from story mode. We implemented a 3D object in the layout to add dynamism to the scene. Slugs also have animations inside the slots.
Weekly tournament [Feature]
Design: This feature was completely redesigned to provide a new leaderboard displaying players' scores that can be collected during matches against other players' characters. The matches are not played online but against the player's ghost and their loadout.
The core mechanic of battling other players' ghosts already existed in the game under the name "Multiplayer." I evaluated the existing feature, identified key pain points, and redesigned the screen.
Pain points - Not clear what the main action on the screen is.- Naming: Different terms for the same entity lead to confusion.- Cognitive overload.- Inconsistency.- Poor typography, spacing, and alignment.
Wireframes. For this feature, I started with wireframes but made them in Miro to boost the results, and created several variants with different amounts of features. One of them was with slightly changed information architecture, adding the players' leaderboard while another gave more priority to player statistics and less to the barrier/defense charge.
After discussions with the design and development team, we decided to go with the variant focused on statistics. And I have created more polished UX.
UI. After we agreed on the wireframes, I prepared the final look of the feature and created a prototype. I also prepared icons that fulfill the feature's needs.
Handoff For this feature, I have prepared optimized backgrounds, a new fame icon, and a new icon that indicates defense charge.
Result
The feature was improved by adding a leaderboard, player statistics, and possible rewards. Corrected the typography and spacing.
So, while collecting data, the development team implemented more features that I had worked on.
I was really happy to work on Slug It Out 2 because both my kids and I truly enjoy the gameplay and its unique, sometimes old-school vibe.
