Background: So I prepared this video as part of my application to Blizzard Entertainment to become one of their User Interface Artists for StarCraft 2 and Blizzard DOTA. It is intended to demonstrate some of the changes I would make to StarCraft 2’s existing interface layout; specifically in the Match History and Replay portions of the menu. It is however not production ready work or in any way functional at this point. Rather it is a rough draft that simply demonstrates how I envision some those areas being changed to help improve their functionality. Some of the changes are relatively minor, and some are more major; as they represent a complete overhaul of how the replay file management works. As I thought the video came out reasonably well: I wanted to share it one here. Obviously if you like any of my proposed changes: I would greatly appreciate you taking the time to thumbs up the video or leave a comment on youtube or in the blizzard forums. (As any attention it gets might help get my resume noticed, and might potentially lead to me getting the job… I generally don’t ask for this kind of thing, but community support never hurts.)
Regardless, you can watch the video at the link below (it is 7:04 long I think, 8:18 with credits… so not a huge time investment), and I am interested to see what you think of my proposals. So without further ado, here is the link:
Thanks to anyone that takes the time to watch it, and once again if you take the time to leave a comment or like it: I would be genuinely appreciative. If you feel up to it the original post on Blizzard's SC2 Forums is here.
I...want this all so badly. Have you contacted blizzard directly/checked out their job listings? You have some amazing ideas that do not require a total re-tooling of how battle.net 2.0 works.
You would think Blizzard entertainment would use everything that is suggested in this video, and MUCH MORE. It's still mindblowing how TERRIBLE the current UI is. I just don't understand how you can fail so miserably. It still annoys me..
Obviously, they need to hire this guy, but it's not like there weren't a million other persons that would've done it for them before...
I can think of at least 25 things that annoy the SHIT out of me when I'm using the UI and I could easily suggest many improvements. It really doesn't take a genius to see all the failures in this lackluster Battle.net 2.0.
I like the ideas very much, but I am kind of irritated of you claiming that you have already done this. Some of the stuff you describe is hard work to change, yknow?
Wow, just finished watching the video. I LOVE so much what you thought of with the game summary ---> replay and the extra stats you included such as units at the end of the game, and how you can tell what's happening at what point in the game.
Such simple stuff, but for people who play thousands of games in customs/1v1 ladder sorting through them starts to get so tedious.
I really hope you get the job man, these things are far and away the best suggestions I've seen thus far.
Wow very well done, Looking through the match history is such a pain, and its almost always a long process, this would be so helpful when I'm sorting through replays.
Just finished the video and 100% agree with all changes, and loved the way you showed them implemented! Hope you get the job fast, so you can fix bnet 2.0
Goodness there are some good ideas in here! I wonder how easy it would be to actually code all of these changes, but regardless, this user based thinking would be a great step in the UI.
On March 16 2012 06:14 mataxp wrote: Awesome ideas mate, not sure about the "already awesome UI" but maybe that was necessary.
But overall I loved it, I really hope you get the job, good luck!!
Since he is presenting this to Blizzard he is trying to not sound like a dick saying "This UI sucks, lemme show you how its done bro" He is sounding professional and complimenting them in regards to getting the job.
An amazing video, I do very much hope you get the job and can put these new features in!
Yeah sorry about the language here and there. I wish I could do it... I probably would. I originally wanted to spoof some of the Apple promotional ads, and then I could not quite pull it off... so I made it more serious. I should have probably gone back and changed the voiceover, but the whole purpose was kind of to show how much easier it could be and in the that context it seemed appropriate. Kind of like with a prototype care at a car show. They say you can "150 miles on a single charge", even if the model they are displaying is not actually functional.
Did you really just say sc2's interface is very well designed and well thought out and it was difficult to find ways to improve upon it? Blizzard won't appreciate you lying to them. I would have found a better say to say your interface needs improvements instead of going down the suckup route.
Very well made and some good ideas. But I'm not that comfortable with that you think that the UI is already so awesome, unless you just said that to kiss up. If you want community support to get the job (and you'll get mine), you need to be a lot more critical, because replays and match history is only something the serious bunch deals with, while the rest of us just play the game, or play custom mods.
wow dude nice job I love the way you link the replay and match history together. When searching through replays its genius to be able to click one thing and see the production tab and score screen and stuff
and all the time they've said 'replays with friends is in the pipeline' feels like you done it with minimal effort
I do not like those changes but icons in replays. Suggestions are useless for daily purpose. I mean, StarCraft II Bnet UI needs to be changed completely, not just to move this and that and add minor feature. Those requirements are in several threads already
1) Shared replays 1a) Serverside saved replays (anyone can just view my public replays, till I click just played game as "do not publish") 2) Be able to move to the middle or end of the replay immediately 3) Public chat channels 4) Chat commands (/whisper, /ignore, /join, /creategame) we are not xbox dumbasses to click 3 times to whisper, right? 5) Be able to join game from chat via clicking a button ("Observe" for example, when someone left channel and started new public game) 6) Be able to join game after it started, or this might be a feature to prevent cheating - see the real content with a slight 2 min delay 7) Statistics in UI (sc2 ranks stats for my profile, for our teams, its just numbers) 8) An option to show/hide my win/loss ratio to myself/others 9) Clan support 10) E-sports support, why I cannot see replays from games (perhaps with audio) and I have to see a stream? Why is there no stream directly in game UI when this event has Blizzard as a sponsor/partner? 11) Map market 11a) Model market, why you do not make some new models (e.g. CE Thor) of units paid for Blizzbucks? 12) Simplify it, I am just too lazy to click same sequence of tabs/buttons/scroll/rightclicks over and over 13) Screw realms, make it global as it used to be 14) Charts, more charts in game for casters, and more charts in BN UI to analyze. What about chart for income, for unit loss etc.
I mean, game itself is perfect, but whoever made current Battle.NET UI 2.0 just failed. It sucks. It definitely sucks.
Blizzard should be leader in game industry, so far I see that people are complaining. Other companies do a lot - a lot more, to make their games user friendly. It's sad. Oh and BTW So far it seems that D3 socializing will have same "empty" syndrom as SC2 has.
On March 16 2012 06:17 TheChostoProject wrote: Not to be rude, but it seems like a lot of high level ideas and no concern of how to do it.
The linking of replay and match history... how would they implement that without storing replays in the server?
Yeah this. Did you take into account the changes that would have to be made to the game code etc.?
He is applying as an artist/designer, not as a programmer.
With that being said it would be more than possible to have replays remain stored locally and lookup via the games unique id. Each game played on battle.net has its own method of being tracked already (GUID), assign that to the replays metadata, have the sc2 client search the replay folder for the requested replay, if the user did not save it then unclickable button, if the user has it saved, clickable button.
While his proposed changes are not trivial, they are not impossible either, and as an application for a UI artist this is extremely solid, his proposal matches the general design of the b.net ui and looks extremely functional. Even if this stuff is discared, I like his approach to design and think that he would be a valuable part of the team at any game company.
On March 16 2012 06:17 TheChostoProject wrote: Not to be rude, but it seems like a lot of high level ideas and no concern of how to do it.
The linking of replay and match history... how would they implement that without storing replays in the server?
Yeah this. Did you take into account the changes that would have to be made to the game code etc.?
well if the replay got deleted by the player the " load replay button " could just be greyed out. the replays are saved on your computer anyways so you can combine both why not?
Wow I really like the idea of play replay button right after the match, no longer need extra click on the camera and select the replay again. Overall pretty cool indeed, hope you get the job!
On March 16 2012 06:17 TheChostoProject wrote: Not to be rude, but it seems like a lot of high level ideas and no concern of how to do it.
The linking of replay and match history... how would they implement that without storing replays in the server?
Yeah this. Did you take into account the changes that would have to be made to the game code etc.?
The thought I had was a localized XML file that stored all the crosslinked data. Your match history is just a web page anyways, it would not be an issue to check a XML file while it is loading data from Blizzard's site. If you are on someone elses computer and the replay file is not available then it just greys out the load replay button, or if the file is deleted it would automatically remove that entry from the crosslinking file.
Initially I did go into a lot more detail about how things worked, and covered a lot more ideas... but the voiceover was around 25 minutes long and I did not think anyone would watch all of it anyways; so I scrapped it and kept it short and sweet. I suppose I could have provided more data using on screen text, but I was afraid that would be too distracting. (Plus I was trying to get this thing out relatively quickly.)
I agree with you overall though, as if it is only pie in the sky suggestions it does not do much good. However, even if I did include a lot of technical information: I would be guessing somewhat as to how StarCraft 2's back end did things; so my proposals might not be very good anyways if I am incorrect in my understanding of how things work.
I should probably point out that this position is for a User Interface Artist anwyways, and I am not sure how much they have to do with coding things on the back end anyways. (The job listing makes no mention of any language knowledge or coding experience; so I think it is just graphical design and modeling layouts... which is what I did.)
Very Awesome! Nice ideas and simple things which makes sense. I love the replay part with the direct sending inside the SC2 GUI. Hopefully Blizzard integrated them!
These changes would bring the UI to another level, good job. The main thing they need to address is a clan tag system so its easy to transfer clans yet keep your original name.
I love the ideas for changes to the UI. They're awesome.
Wasn't a big fan of the video though, too many superlatives made it sound like an Apple keynote speech. Also in the text at the end you capitalize every word, which is weird.
Nevertheless, the job opening is for UI design and that part you got covered.
No offense but shouldn't you actually use this for your job application first without posting it somewhere else? I'm pretty sure they may consider it a bit offensive if a new guy who wants to have a job creates a thread on some site showing off his abilities.
Sure you'll get a lot of "BLIZZARD MUST HIRE YOU" comments but yeah...
They'd be nice changes, but almost none of them I'd say should be prioritized over bigger issues. I'd much rather have overall match statistics uploaded to show my strongest/weakest MUs, and have the details that you're trying to bring simply already displayed on the match history page, not having to right click them. Still though, I wouldn't complain if they were implemented.
Pretty sure Blizzard devs/programmers/artists are not the kind of people who post up their initial brainstorming ideas on community forums to get feedback. Not sure what you were trying to accomplish except maybe shoot yourself in the foot if Blizzard finds this. If they did like your ideas they would probably want to keep it to internal testing/feedback before possible implementation and then community feedback. Most companies take the privacy of their internal development so seriously I wouldn't be surprised if this kind of public display of what should be your private job application cost you your shot at the position.
On March 16 2012 06:45 Na_Dann_Ma_GoGo wrote: No offense but shouldn't you actually use this for your job application first without posting it somewhere else? I'm pretty sure they may consider it a bit offensive if a new guy who wants to have a job creates a thread on some site showing off his abilities.
Sure you'll get a lot of "BLIZZARD MUST HIRE YOU" comments but yeah...
Good luck anyway!
Hey if they don't hire me, they don't hire me. No big deal really. Maybe they will use some of my ideas, and I will have helped to make the game I love to play better. I understand what you are saying, but we are also in an age of new media, and they might appreciate someone taking the iniative to start a geurilla marketing campaign on his own behalf.
If anything it shows: I am relatively smart, I must really want the job, I know how to use the web to my advantage, and at the very least it gets my resume noticed. (If not blacklisted.)
Sometimes in life you have to take a gamble, and that is what this is.
Great work, but unfortunately you won't get the job because Blizzard prides itself on hiring incompetent employees. You clearly don't meet these requirements.
On March 16 2012 06:56 ReseT wrote: How about we can watch replays together like the old days, =( This would make practicing so much easier... and analyzing
Yeah I totally agree with this idea... Idk why they havent implimented it yet, considering how much time they've put in in the replay system
On March 16 2012 06:56 ReseT wrote: How about we can watch replays together like the old days, =( This would make practicing so much easier... and analyzing
Yeah, I want that too. You would think it would be possible, even if just as an observer. I thought about adding that, but all the changes I suggested seemed feasible and relatively easy to implement... and with that one I did not know what changes would have to be made to the engine to make that happen. So it, like a lot of other ideas, was left on the cutting room floor unfortunately.
Here is another one that I left out: How about being able to enable all talk when creating a custom game? It is really annoying when you want to train with someone and talk while you are doing it. You always have to use a third party program for it. It should be a drop down box like locked alliances.
Hashes could worked too. If you assign every game a hash on the server and assign every replay a hash on the local computer, it could cross-link on login (or look for new or missing files periodically.)
Whilst the current suggestions are really good I think, they seem to fail to impress some people. What they need to realize however, that even if these suggestions never get mentioned again, it shows this man knows what he's talking about and actually uses his brain to create an efficient and smart AI.
Really good ideas in this video. I can see so many things that you can do to the Battlenet 2.0 UI...I wonder, if one man can do this, how hard is it for the Blizzard Battle.net 2.0 team to start on projects like these? Get with the program Blizzard...
On March 16 2012 07:07 Ero-Sennin wrote: Awesome, and of course as others have said, I'd still much prefer to be able to watch replays with someone, but your way is a nice step up.
"Finding areas to improve on was a VERY difficult process."
I feel like you are sucking up that's not a bad thing though. Probably not a good idea to tell blizzard how awful their UI is in your application video.
That being said, I think you made a lot of good improvements, and I'd love to see someone with a lot of good ideas like you get the job.
Loved the suckup at 6:30 I'd actually say the interface is pretty damn bad, I mean your solutions are sooo simple, yet would be such an incredibly awesome improvement. Gl, hope you get it
Very well made video, and I like all your idea's. If you have a thread on battle.net you should have the link at the bottom, I don't go there much but i would to support you. ^__^
On March 16 2012 07:27 cmen15 wrote: Very well made video, and I like all your idea's. If you have a thread on battle.net you should have the link at the bottom, I don't go there much but i would to support you. ^__^
The changes are great and very well presented. I think the best part was how you came to the realization and explaining it. Even if none of your changes are implemented, it shows your thought process.
That being said, sucking up so blatantly probably weakened the video, especially since Blizzard might have let go the team for the very position you're applying for.
Great video with great ideas that are communicated really clearly, I really hope you get the job.
One thing, and I only mention this because I think your presentation is that close to being really top notch, is that you could work on the pacing of your speech. Your overall speed and clarity is very good, but every now and again you speak a word much faster than the others, often forfeiting a consonant or two in the process. This means that I had to concentrate a fair bit to make sure I caught everything!
I know you're applying for the job as a designer, not a presenter, but since you're that close to being good at the latter, I thought I'd mention my point of view on it The more strings you have to your bow the better, after all.
On March 16 2012 06:24 Ashur wrote: I do not like those changes but icons in replays. Suggestions are useless for daily purpose. I mean, StarCraft II Bnet UI needs to be changed completely, not just to move this and that and add minor feature. Those requirements are in several threads already
1) Shared replays 1a) Serverside saved replays (anyone can just view my public replays, till I click just played game as "do not publish") 2) Be able to move to the middle or end of the replay immediately 3) Public chat channels 4) Chat commands (/whisper, /ignore, /join, /creategame) we are not xbox dumbasses to click 3 times to whisper, right? 5) Be able to join game from chat via clicking a button ("Observe" for example, when someone left channel and started new public game) 6) Be able to join game after it started, or this might be a feature to prevent cheating - see the real content with a slight 2 min delay 7) Statistics in UI (sc2 ranks stats for my profile, for our teams, its just numbers) 8) An option to show/hide my win/loss ratio to myself/others 9) Clan support 10) E-sports support, why I cannot see replays from games (perhaps with audio) and I have to see a stream? Why is there no stream directly in game UI when this event has Blizzard as a sponsor/partner? 11) Map market 11a) Model market, why you do not make some new models (e.g. CE Thor) of units paid for Blizzbucks? 12) Simplify it, I am just too lazy to click same sequence of tabs/buttons/scroll/rightclicks over and over 13) Screw realms, make it global as it used to be 14) Charts, more charts in game for casters, and more charts in BN UI to analyze. What about chart for income, for unit loss etc.
I mean, game itself is perfect, but whoever made current Battle.NET UI 2.0 just failed. It sucks. It definitely sucks.
Blizzard should be leader in game industry, so far I see that people are complaining. Other companies do a lot - a lot more, to make their games user friendly. It's sad. Oh and BTW So far it seems that D3 socializing will have same "empty" syndrom as SC2 has.
I find it hilarious that you are capable of thrilling us so incredibly with the work you do for nothing, and Blizzard takes months to implement the tiniest suggestion if they accept it at all. Great job man!
On March 16 2012 06:24 Ashur wrote: I do not like those changes but icons in replays. Suggestions are useless for daily purpose. I mean, StarCraft II Bnet UI needs to be changed completely, not just to move this and that and add minor feature. Those requirements are in several threads already
1) Shared replays 1a) Serverside saved replays (anyone can just view my public replays, till I click just played game as "do not publish") 2) Be able to move to the middle or end of the replay immediately 3) Public chat channels 4) Chat commands (/whisper, /ignore, /join, /creategame) we are not xbox dumbasses to click 3 times to whisper, right? 5) Be able to join game from chat via clicking a button ("Observe" for example, when someone left channel and started new public game) 6) Be able to join game after it started, or this might be a feature to prevent cheating - see the real content with a slight 2 min delay 7) Statistics in UI (sc2 ranks stats for my profile, for our teams, its just numbers) 8) An option to show/hide my win/loss ratio to myself/others 9) Clan support 10) E-sports support, why I cannot see replays from games (perhaps with audio) and I have to see a stream? Why is there no stream directly in game UI when this event has Blizzard as a sponsor/partner? 11) Map market 11a) Model market, why you do not make some new models (e.g. CE Thor) of units paid for Blizzbucks? 12) Simplify it, I am just too lazy to click same sequence of tabs/buttons/scroll/rightclicks over and over 13) Screw realms, make it global as it used to be 14) Charts, more charts in game for casters, and more charts in BN UI to analyze. What about chart for income, for unit loss etc.
I mean, game itself is perfect, but whoever made current Battle.NET UI 2.0 just failed. It sucks. It definitely sucks.
Blizzard should be leader in game industry, so far I see that people are complaining. Other companies do a lot - a lot more, to make their games user friendly. It's sad. Oh and BTW So far it seems that D3 socializing will have same "empty" syndrom as SC2 has.
blizzard should hire this guy
Thing is, this isn't exactly uncommon knowledge and has been discussed since forever. What we need though is a guy just like OP who can present the changes and the solutions that needs to be made in a clear and easily understandable fashion to get the word more out there.
And if Blizzard hired this guy, I would be extremely excited for the future.
Wow what a great job! This is such a great post for several reasons:
1) It adds something that is worth discussing and can be discussed by everyone for something that can possibly happen.
2) The suggestions are fantastic and gives readers (hopefully Blizzard) a concrete example of what should change and why.
3) It is a great example of how a suggestion thread should be made. A lot of thought and testing goes into it so that people will take the suggestions seriously when they respond.
4) It shows iniative. People tend to complain so much but don't want to do anything about it except complain.
5) Lastly it is short and concise so that internet dwellers can read and digest the whole post before giving a response.
Thank you so much for posting this. It made my day and I wish more people were like you. Best of luck getting a job with Blizzard!
These are some good ideas for replays. Now just do stuff like this to like 20 other things and bnet 0.2 might become good...
I smiled when you said SC2 UI is so well designed, nice lying mate
edit: And @ Ashur from page 2, you failed to mention that they need to add a normal game list and get rid of this "Join Game" bullshit that just ruins custom games and the custom map community completely.
Amazing job on the video... but I completely disagree with almost everything you've proposed. These changes are nifty and all, and I certainly wouldn't mind them, but I'd never use them as a high master league player, and I would rather Blizzard put more efforts into other parts of the UI.
What actually needs to be done with the SC2 UI is: - Simplified chat system (like messaging someone without having to right-click their name in friends list or elsewhere) - Moderated channels - Clan system - GameTV - Statistics
Nice wish-list from Ashur, but I think if you think about the context of the OPs video (i.e. a job application), he has taken the wiser approach.
It's all well and good to say you can come in, rip up the whole of Bnet 0.2 and do better, but in fact you'd probably find that all of those items are already on Blizz's to do list and that the reason they're not implemented yet is due to the technical challenge of integrating them.
The OPs video brings original and practical ideas to the table that build off of the hard work that's already been done.
I realy liked the video and the way you presented your ideas. Even if the changes might not be exactly what some people want or need, they would still be a huge step in the right direction. This video shows you are smart and creative enough to provide Blizard with new and interesting solution for a problem that they can't seem to be able to solve without you're help
I realy hope you get noticed by Blizard and wish you a lot of luck. Now, off to bump this somewhere on the Blizz forums ^^
no, sc2 UI is not "excellent and well tought out", and while i see why you would say such a thing (to get the job), you're dishonest and i would never hire you
a kick in the ass is also a step forward, and that's what blizzard needs atm the most, not lies to keep their egos safe from the truth
make a video where you critize them and adress the real problems in UI, and you get my respect. new ideas, not candy stuff: meaning its nice, but at the end of the day wont make much of a difference. band aid of sorts
Blizz you get what you need right here!!!!!!!!!!! dont miss your chance! (and i am so jelly on your abilities dude, my biggest dream is to work for Blizz on SC but i have nothing they would need for it ^^)
Not to diminish the incredible work you did here- the replay system would benefit so enormously from the overhaul you proposed- but I've gotten the feeling that the core UI issue for most players is more in the chat/community area than it is in accessing replays. Of course, you more than proved that you're equal to the task of reworking bnet, so I have faith. The very best of luck!
Blizz better hire this guy lol, these features should have been there from release.
Oh and I call bs about the part where you said "the UI is very well designed and it was hard to find things to improve". Though I doubt you would get hired if you simply said "The UI is a PoS, hire me so I can fix it"
On March 16 2012 07:52 snailz wrote: no, sc2 UI is not "excellent and well tought out", and while i see why you would say such a thing (to get the job), you're dishonest and i would never hire you
a kick in the ass is also a step forward, and that's what blizzard needs atm the most, not lies to keep their egos safe from the truth
make a video where you critize them and adress the real problems in UI, and you get my respect. new ideas, not candy stuff: meaning its nice, but at the end of the day wont make much of a difference. band aid of sorts
also, everything Ashur said.
There are plenty of videos and posts critizing blizzard, what this guy did was think of a change then actually took steps to get it done, and out there for blizzard to see. Posts like ashur's have been seen before and blizzard obviously obviously doesn't care
When I saw the title I figured it was going to be another crap thread that would end up being closed with the last post being 'This isn't the bnet forums'. I am happy to say I was very mistaken.
While I do agree with others that the UI is probably better off just being blown up and recreated, that's probably not the best way to apply to a company, and what you have proposed is functional, helpful features that complement the existing UI very well. I really hope you get the job, and maybe then you can implement some more radical changes
On March 16 2012 08:06 Myles wrote: When I saw the title I figured it was going to be another crap thread that would end up being closed with the last post being 'This isn't the bnet forums'. I am happy to say I was very mistaken.
While I do agree with others that the UI is probably better off just being blown up and recreated, that's probably not the best way to apply to a company, and what you have proposed is functional, helpful features that complement the existing UI very well. I really hope you get the job, and maybe then you can implement some more radical changes
Glad I could surprise you on that one. I tried to keep the video focused on just a few points, and keep it positive. Look we all love the game... no sense trashing it over a few flaws with the interface. Make lemonade out of lemons you know?
On March 16 2012 07:40 BearStorm wrote: Wow what a great job! This is such a great post for several reasons:
1) It adds something that is worth discussing and can be discussed by everyone for something that can possibly happen.
2) The suggestions are fantastic and gives readers (hopefully Blizzard) a concrete example of what should change and why.
3) It is a great example of how a suggestion thread should be made. A lot of thought and testing goes into it so that people will take the suggestions seriously when they respond.
4) It shows iniative. People tend to complain so much but don't want to do anything about it except complain.
5) Lastly it is short and concise so that internet dwellers can read and digest the whole post before giving a response.
Thank you so much for posting this. It made my day and I wish more people were like you. Best of luck getting a job with Blizzard!
My pleasure man. I wish I could have done it better or hit more points, but you are exactly right about keeping it short and concise. I figured if it went much longer than 6 or 7 minutes people would get bored. I tried to keep it visually interesting for the most part, and just focus on the things that fit into a cohesive theme. In retrospect I wish I would have used more words for content and less flowery language... but it is supposed to be a love letter to Blizzard in a way, and I did not want it to come across as attacking. (Plus I was trying to spoof Apple a bit at first... and yeah they love their buzzwords lol.)
this is just the tip of the iceberg, you only focused on one aspect of the UI that needs work, really hope they go this direction and improve the social aspect of Bnet as well
On March 16 2012 06:24 Ashur wrote: I do not like those changes but icons in replays. Suggestions are useless for daily purpose. I mean, StarCraft II Bnet UI needs to be changed completely, not just to move this and that and add minor feature. Those requirements are in several threads already
1) Shared replays 1a) Serverside saved replays (anyone can just view my public replays, till I click just played game as "do not publish") 2) Be able to move to the middle or end of the replay immediately 3) Public chat channels 4) Chat commands (/whisper, /ignore, /join, /creategame) we are not xbox dumbasses to click 3 times to whisper, right? 5) Be able to join game from chat via clicking a button ("Observe" for example, when someone left channel and started new public game) 6) Be able to join game after it started, or this might be a feature to prevent cheating - see the real content with a slight 2 min delay 7) Statistics in UI (sc2 ranks stats for my profile, for our teams, its just numbers) 8) An option to show/hide my win/loss ratio to myself/others 9) Clan support 10) E-sports support, why I cannot see replays from games (perhaps with audio) and I have to see a stream? Why is there no stream directly in game UI when this event has Blizzard as a sponsor/partner? 11) Map market 11a) Model market, why you do not make some new models (e.g. CE Thor) of units paid for Blizzbucks? 12) Simplify it, I am just too lazy to click same sequence of tabs/buttons/scroll/rightclicks over and over 13) Screw realms, make it global as it used to be 14) Charts, more charts in game for casters, and more charts in BN UI to analyze. What about chart for income, for unit loss etc.
I mean, game itself is perfect, but whoever made current Battle.NET UI 2.0 just failed. It sucks. It definitely sucks.
Blizzard should be leader in game industry, so far I see that people are complaining. Other companies do a lot - a lot more, to make their games user friendly. It's sad. Oh and BTW So far it seems that D3 socializing will have same "empty" syndrom as SC2 has.
blizzard should hire this guy
Thing is, this isn't exactly uncommon knowledge and has been discussed since forever. What we need though is a guy just like OP who can present the changes and the solutions that needs to be made in a clear and easily understandable fashion to get the word more out there.
And if Blizzard hired this guy, I would be extremely excited for the future.
The main thing is how small these changes are, how I cannot fanthom that they are hard to program and how much they'd impact the playing experience.
There are plenty of things, more drastic that one can think of(and the multi-view replay is one that always goes on #1), but those kind of things can be quite hard to change, if even possible, are a straight decision making(albeit poor) move by blizzard(the multi-server money plot comes to mind) and can even just be hard to sell the developers/higher ups at Blizzard.
These are all quite straight up changes, clear improvement because the person that implemented bnet 2.0 has clearly never played on it.
On March 16 2012 07:52 snailz wrote: no, sc2 UI is not "excellent and well tought out", and while i see why you would say such a thing (to get the job), you're dishonest and i would never hire you
a kick in the ass is also a step forward, and that's what blizzard needs atm the most, not lies to keep their egos safe from the truth
make a video where you critize them and adress the real problems in UI, and you get my respect. new ideas, not candy stuff: meaning its nice, but at the end of the day wont make much of a difference. band aid of sorts
also, everything Ashur said.
There are plenty of videos and posts critizing blizzard, what this guy did was think of a change then actually took steps to get it done, and out there for blizzard to see. Posts like ashur's have been seen before and blizzard obviously obviously doesn't care
yeah thats why i said "while i see why you would say such a thing"
but his suggestions are honestly nothing but a glorified band-aid, it really wont change anything significantly enough for me to go "OMFG hire this guy!!!11"
ghost town effect on bnet, and other things that Ashur mentioned are whats important, but blizz declines to adress them
edit: to the OP, sorry if i came off strong, its just venting
The video is pretty good, but I feel like the only real issue here is that the OP doesn't have a full understanding of the programming of Battle.net. I'm not saying that I do because I don't really, but I imagine some of the changes the OP has slated are more difficult to implement than people think. Specifically the sending of replays to friends and catagory changes. What it comes down to is: many people can think of ways to change the UI and create buttons to do so, not as many know how to practically implement them.
really would not mind if blizz hired you, from what you've shown us you have a very good understanding of how people actually interact with the UI. The whole concept of linking replays to match history is really clever, and makes a lot of sense regardless of what league you are in or how casual of a player you are.
i just wanna point out, you cant link your match history/score screen with the replay for each game
replays are stored on your computer, your match history is stored on your account. this is the reason that you can watch other peoples replays. if you wanted to combine match history and replays like that, blizzard wuold have to save a copy of every single replay ever played, one for each person in a game. the amount of memory it would require would be enormous.
I was just going to make a thread about this. This work is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Get that goddamn job! And maybe add a dedicated chat channel tab, would improve the social aspects of the game tremedously.
On March 16 2012 08:30 snively wrote: i stopped at 2:59.
i just wanna point out, you cant link your match history/score screen with the replay for each game
replays are stored on your computer, your match history is stored on your account. this is the reason that you can watch other peoples replays. if you wanted to combine match history and replays like that, blizzard wuold have to save a copy of every single replay ever played, one for each person in a game. the amount of memory it would require would be enormous.
ok, ill watch the rest now
The link doesn't have to be there for every game. Only when the replay file is available locally I would think, because otherwise you'd have problems where people can see practice games of other pros, which presents a rather obvious problem.
That's crazy, I felt the video more than anything showed me how difficult changing ANYTHING in the UI must be. You certainly put an absurd amount of effort into this. I also commend you for not just taking a shit on blizzards hard work (I have a feeling people who understand the process give Bliz more credit than the average TL user) Instead you came up with improvements that work within the walls Blizzard created.
I'm pretty astonished at the amount of people being negative in this thread. The OP spent what I can only guess is dozens of hours trying to improve the UI for the Game we all dearly love. And instead of thanking him you say he was too nice to Blizzard and made changes that are too small? Just mind blowing.... Yes if this was the official Heart of the Swarm UI update from Blizzard then I would agree that they didn't address some of the larger foundational flaws with the Interface.
But as far as a homemade attempt to demonstrate creative thinking and problem solving within a set of rules (although I don't quite understand how linking replay to match history would work with the way blizzard stores match history vs replay data) I thought you did an outstanding job. On top of that your presentation was absolutely top notch (I've seen numerous PhD presentations that were not as polished.)
Fabulous job, I sincerely hope your hard work pays off for you in the manner you hope.
Even if not all of these ideas are practical (I hope they are!), the current UI is trash and needs an overhaul one way or another. Many of these ideas are so obvious, it astounds me that they are not already implemented.
Also I am very much of the opinion that UI designers should not have to worry themselves about "is this easy/possible to do in the code". That's the coder's job. If it turns out to be implausibly hard, then and only then should the coder go to the UI designer and say "hey, X or Y specific thing isn't possible to do. Can we get the same result without doing that?"
The UI has to deliver what the end user wants, not what the coder wants.
Posting my support. I really hope that Blizzard pays attention to how positive the feedback on your suggestions are. And more importantly, I hope you get the job~!
You're not coming up with any original stuff here, no reorganization or original thought in the layout. You're basically saying, hey, wouldn't it be nice if we had this categorization. There is only one thing in the video which i actually liked, from a GUI stand-point, and that was the inclusion of the back button, that's it. The music is a little over the top too, i think.
The rest are features that are nice to have, sure, but i don't really see anything original design-wise, and when you say that stuff is easier, you seem to forget that what is 'easier' ... Easier for you? What makes you think most people would think this was easier. What makes you think categories would ever be used? It's not my impression the map bookmarks are being used all that much really.
My main issue with your video is that you compliment their GUI design, when in fact the community seems to hate it. Wouldn't it have been better to come up with your own suggestion, and argue as for why your design is better, from some HCI standards?
Being a GUI designer, doesn't constitute adding new features - you are told what features are available, and must build the design from that. So build a GUI with the features available to you - or features you know which might be coming.
What seems like a totally missed opportunity to me is that you know the Marketplace for maps is coming - why not come up with your own suggestion for that? You moved a few buttons, added a back button, and added a lot of features which are really nice! But that is not GUI design..
In my eyes your main contribution here, is the back button, which is not all that major, although i admit it should have been there from day 1.
I'm sorry for being so harsh, i'm not that bad a guy!
Edit: After looking up the job on Blizzards website (http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/careers/posting.html?id=120001J) I think you completely misinterpreted the difference between designer and artist. Your video focuses on design - not art.
This man deserves the Pulitzer prize for SC2 :D I wish SC2 had replay sharing similar to BW in the fact that you could just host a replay and everyone could watch it with you like in a game lobby... good ol days...
On March 16 2012 07:52 snailz wrote: no, sc2 UI is not "excellent and well tought out", and while i see why you would say such a thing (to get the job), you're dishonest and i would never hire you
a kick in the ass is also a step forward, and that's what blizzard needs atm the most, not lies to keep their egos safe from the truth
make a video where you critize them and adress the real problems in UI, and you get my respect. new ideas, not candy stuff: meaning its nice, but at the end of the day wont make much of a difference. band aid of sorts
also, everything Ashur said.
There are plenty of videos and posts critizing blizzard, what this guy did was think of a change then actually took steps to get it done, and out there for blizzard to see. Posts like ashur's have been seen before and blizzard obviously obviously doesn't care
yeah thats why i said "while i see why you would say such a thing"
but his suggestions are honestly nothing but a glorified band-aid, it really wont change anything significantly enough for me to go "OMFG hire this guy!!!11"
ghost town effect on bnet, and other things that Ashur mentioned are whats important, but blizz declines to adress them
edit: to the OP, sorry if i came off strong, its just venting
Hey man, I get what you are saying. One reason I just tried to work within the existing UI so much is because that is what the job calls for. Part of the point of the video is to show how I might approach things if I were hired. You know? I don't think they would look favorably on hiring someone that says, "I know how to do everything better than you, and you have been doing it all wrong." Plus as some people have pointed out there may be some reason that some features are not implemented as of right now. I just tried to stick to things that would work well within the existing UI, and that I thought, based on what I know about the system, would be realistic to pull off. Also for the sake of the video I did keep it short and focused around a single point as opposed to trying to cover everything.
i wish you luck on getting the job. But i have the feeling that posting something you used for your application, kind of reduces the chances, knowing Blizzard likes to stay air tight. But thats up to their personal staff and not me to decide. Still quiet an interesting idea to get community backup for a job application.
On March 16 2012 09:07 Mr.Pyro wrote: I'm sorry, but i did not at all like it.
You're not coming up with any original stuff here, no reorganization or original thought in the layout. You're basically saying, hey, wouldn't it be nice if we had this categorization. There is only one thing in the video which i actually liked, from a GUI stand-point, and that was the inclusion of the back button, that's it. The music is a little over the top too, i think.
The rest are features that are nice to have, sure, but i don't really see anything original design-wise, and when you say that stuff is easier, you seem to forget that what is 'easier' ... Easier for you? What makes you think most people would think this was easier. What makes you think categories would ever be used? It's not my impression the map bookmarks are being used all that much really.
My main issue with your video is that you compliment their GUI design, when in fact the community seems to hate it. Wouldn't it have been better to come up with your own suggestion, and argue as for why your design is better, from some HCI standards?
Being a GUI designer, doesn't constitute adding new features - you are told what features are available, and must build the design from that. So build a GUI with the features available to you - or features you know which might be coming.
What seems like a totally missed opportunity to me is that you know the Marketplace for maps is coming - why not come up with your own suggestion for that? You moved a few buttons, added a back button, and added a lot of features which are really nice! But that is not GUI design..
In my eyes your main contribution here, is the back button, which is not all that major, although i admit it should have been there from day 1.
I'm sorry for being so harsh, i'm not that bad a guy!
Surely he's applying for a position at Blizzard and would be expected to work within their original GUI framework and augment it, I would have thought that was the brief?
Your criticism is generally fair though, although I don't agree with it personally (i.e I would find his changes 'easier' even if you wouldn't). Only the aforementioned point I would take proper issue with!
On March 16 2012 09:07 Mr.Pyro wrote: I'm sorry, but i did not at all like it.
You're not coming up with any original stuff here, no reorganization or original thought in the layout. You're basically saying, hey, wouldn't it be nice if we had this categorization. There is only one thing in the video which i actually liked, from a GUI stand-point, and that was the inclusion of the back button, that's it. The music is a little over the top too, i think.
The rest are features that are nice to have, sure, but i don't really see anything original design-wise, and when you say that stuff is easier, you seem to forget that what is 'easier' ... Easier for you? What makes you think most people would think this was easier. What makes you think categories would ever be used? It's not my impression the map bookmarks are being used all that much really.
My main issue with your video is that you compliment their GUI design, when in fact the community seems to hate it. Wouldn't it have been better to come up with your own suggestion, and argue as for why your design is better, from some HCI standards?
Being a GUI designer, doesn't constitute adding new features - you are told what features are available, and must build the design from that. So build a GUI with the features available to you - or features you know which might be coming.
What seems like a totally missed opportunity to me is that you know the Marketplace for maps is coming - why not come up with your own suggestion for that? You moved a few buttons, added a back button, and added a lot of features which are really nice! But that is not GUI design..
In my eyes your main contribution here, is the back button, which is not all that major, although i admit it should have been there from day 1.
I'm sorry for being so harsh, i'm not that bad a guy!
Edit: After looking up the job on Blizzards website (http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/careers/posting.html?id=120001J) I think you completely misinterpreted the difference between designer and artist. Your video focuses on design - not art.
I have worked as an artist in the past, and so at least in my experience... they sort of go hand in hand. And as part of the video didn't I work around the existing artistic them in a way? I mean if I just want to show photoshopped windows to people that is not very interesting, and it does not effect positive change in any way. I guess I wanted to do both with this.
I don't think you are being harsh by the way... it is just what you believe. And hey maybe I did miss with the video, but regardless it might lead to the game being better in some way, and maybe I helped to contribute to that. Is that such a bad thing?
O this looks realy nice! Maybe only a small percentage of people regulary watches and analyse their replays, and therefor has a low priority for blizzard, Still hoping they will implement this
On March 16 2012 09:11 FeyFey wrote: i wish you luck on getting the job. But i have the feeling that posting something you used for your application, kind of reduces the chances, knowing Blizzard likes to stay air tight. But thats up to their personal staff and not me to decide. Still quiet an interesting idea to get community backup for a job application.
Yeah I knew that might be a possible outcome, but hey you only live once right? And if anything the have to give me points for showing some ingenuity to at least get my resume noticed. (Or blacklisted lol... either one.)
On March 16 2012 09:07 Mr.Pyro wrote: I'm sorry, but i did not at all like it.
You're not coming up with any original stuff here, no reorganization or original thought in the layout. You're basically saying, hey, wouldn't it be nice if we had this categorization. There is only one thing in the video which i actually liked, from a GUI stand-point, and that was the inclusion of the back button, that's it. The music is a little over the top too, i think.
The rest are features that are nice to have, sure, but i don't really see anything original design-wise, and when you say that stuff is easier, you seem to forget that what is 'easier' ... Easier for you? What makes you think most people would think this was easier. What makes you think categories would ever be used? It's not my impression the map bookmarks are being used all that much really.
My main issue with your video is that you compliment their GUI design, when in fact the community seems to hate it. Wouldn't it have been better to come up with your own suggestion, and argue as for why your design is better, from some HCI standards?
Being a GUI designer, doesn't constitute adding new features - you are told what features are available, and must build the design from that. So build a GUI with the features available to you - or features you know which might be coming.
What seems like a totally missed opportunity to me is that you know the Marketplace for maps is coming - why not come up with your own suggestion for that? You moved a few buttons, added a back button, and added a lot of features which are really nice! But that is not GUI design..
In my eyes your main contribution here, is the back button, which is not all that major, although i admit it should have been there from day 1.
I'm sorry for being so harsh, i'm not that bad a guy!
Edit: After looking up the job on Blizzards website (http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/careers/posting.html?id=120001J) I think you completely misinterpreted the difference between designer and artist. Your video focuses on design - not art.
I have worked as an artist in the past, and so at least in my experience... they sort of go hand in hand. And as part of the video didn't I work around the existing artistic them in a way? I mean if I just want to show photoshopped windows to people that is not very interesting, and it does not effect positive change in any way. I guess I wanted to do both with this.
I don't think you are being harsh by the way... it is just what you believe. And hey maybe I did miss with the video, but regardless it might lead to the game being better in some way, and maybe I helped to contribute to that. Is that such a bad thing?
No. It is in fact awesome - but from the job pages description: + Show Spoiler +
A minimum of 3 years' experience working in the graphics arts, interaction design, or advertising field Strong graphic design skills -- particular iconography creation, artistic sense, and fluency in Adobe Photoshop Ability to illustrate UI components that are consistent with Blizzard Entertainment's design philosophy Strong ability to digitally render, and paint all types of materials and surfaces. Strong understanding of UI, and usability principals Awareness of current trends in Web, and user interface design Able to work well with a team in a dynamic, cross-discipline, and iterative setting Able to understand technical implementations, and limitations Excellent written, and verbal communications skills
I'm sorry, but the only point that was made in your video in regards to the job description was the fifth one, in my eyes.
On March 16 2012 09:16 Rassy wrote: O this looks realy nice! Maybe only a small percentage of people regulary watches and analyse their replays, and therefor has a low priority for blizzard, Still hoping they will implement this
Yeah it was just one idea that dovetailed nicely. I just wanted to make it interesting in some way.
On March 16 2012 09:07 Mr.Pyro wrote: I'm sorry, but i did not at all like it.
You're not coming up with any original stuff here, no reorganization or original thought in the layout. You're basically saying, hey, wouldn't it be nice if we had this categorization. There is only one thing in the video which i actually liked, from a GUI stand-point, and that was the inclusion of the back button, that's it. The music is a little over the top too, i think.
The rest are features that are nice to have, sure, but i don't really see anything original design-wise, and when you say that stuff is easier, you seem to forget that what is 'easier' ... Easier for you? What makes you think most people would think this was easier. What makes you think categories would ever be used? It's not my impression the map bookmarks are being used all that much really.
My main issue with your video is that you compliment their GUI design, when in fact the community seems to hate it. Wouldn't it have been better to come up with your own suggestion, and argue as for why your design is better, from some HCI standards?
Being a GUI designer, doesn't constitute adding new features - you are told what features are available, and must build the design from that. So build a GUI with the features available to you - or features you know which might be coming.
What seems like a totally missed opportunity to me is that you know the Marketplace for maps is coming - why not come up with your own suggestion for that? You moved a few buttons, added a back button, and added a lot of features which are really nice! But that is not GUI design..
In my eyes your main contribution here, is the back button, which is not all that major, although i admit it should have been there from day 1.
I'm sorry for being so harsh, i'm not that bad a guy!
Edit: After looking up the job on Blizzards website (http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/careers/posting.html?id=120001J) I think you completely misinterpreted the difference between designer and artist. Your video focuses on design - not art.
I have worked as an artist in the past, and so at least in my experience... they sort of go hand in hand. And as part of the video didn't I work around the existing artistic them in a way? I mean if I just want to show photoshopped windows to people that is not very interesting, and it does not effect positive change in any way. I guess I wanted to do both with this.
I don't think you are being harsh by the way... it is just what you believe. And hey maybe I did miss with the video, but regardless it might lead to the game being better in some way, and maybe I helped to contribute to that. Is that such a bad thing?
No. It is in fact awesome - but from the job pages description: + Show Spoiler +
A minimum of 3 years' experience working in the graphics arts, interaction design, or advertising field Strong graphic design skills -- particular iconography creation, artistic sense, and fluency in Adobe Photoshop Ability to illustrate UI components that are consistent with Blizzard Entertainment's design philosophy Strong ability to digitally render, and paint all types of materials and surfaces. Strong understanding of UI, and usability principals Awareness of current trends in Web, and user interface design Able to work well with a team in a dynamic, cross-discipline, and iterative setting Able to understand technical implementations, and limitations Excellent written, and verbal communications skills
I'm sorry, but the only point that was made in your video in regards to the job description was the fifth one, in my eyes.
"Strong graphic design skills -- particular iconography creation, artistic sense, and fluency in Adobe Photoshop"
All the elements I created were done in photoshop... so I would think that would count for showing some of those skills as well.
"Ability to illustrate UI components that are consistent with Blizzard Entertainment's design philosophy"
I think I would get that one as well, and you left out the Pluses categories.
"A passion for video games, and user interface design"
I think the video shows this in some ways right?
"Prototyping skills with tools such as Adobe Flash / Microsoft Blend"
I prototyped in premiere for the sake of it being a video, but I am good in AS3, I could have done it there as well. If anything it shows I can create elements in photoshop, and have some sense for layout etc.
Regardless, I don't know if it helps or not.... but I figured why not at least try?
"Strong graphic design skills -- particular iconography creation, artistic sense, and fluency in Adobe Photoshop"
All the elements I created were done in photoshop... so I would think that would count for showing some of those skills as well.
Iconography: You made a triangle, and a star. Artistic sense: You used the same layout as the existing buttons - how does that show you can design your own graphics? Fluency in adobe photoshop: I could do the same things in photoshop, and i do not consider myself fluent in photoshop at all.
On March 16 2012 09:24 alteredsego wrote: "Ability to illustrate UI components that are consistent with Blizzard Entertainment's design philosophy"
You didn't demonstrate any that were consistent - you just made duplicates of existing graphics? Same fonts, same colours, same textures, same shapes. I realize that makes sense when you're altering existing UI, you can not add new graphics into it, but that is an issue with your approach.
Great ideas. I could really use the whole replay system. Since you can have the same replays in different folders I could have one per matchup AND one per map. This could easilly track down what I'm struggling with in what matchups and what maps.
Give this man a job One of the best applications I've seen in a long time
On March 16 2012 07:52 snailz wrote: no, sc2 UI is not "excellent and well tought out", and while i see why you would say such a thing (to get the job), you're dishonest and i would never hire you
a kick in the ass is also a step forward, and that's what blizzard needs atm the most, not lies to keep their egos safe from the truth
make a video where you critize them and adress the real problems in UI, and you get my respect. new ideas, not candy stuff: meaning its nice, but at the end of the day wont make much of a difference. band aid of sorts
also, everything Ashur said.
There are plenty of videos and posts critizing blizzard, what this guy did was think of a change then actually took steps to get it done, and out there for blizzard to see. Posts like ashur's have been seen before and blizzard obviously obviously doesn't care
yeah thats why i said "while i see why you would say such a thing"
but his suggestions are honestly nothing but a glorified band-aid, it really wont change anything significantly enough for me to go "OMFG hire this guy!!!11"
ghost town effect on bnet, and other things that Ashur mentioned are whats important, but blizz declines to adress them
edit: to the OP, sorry if i came off strong, its just venting
Hey man, I get what you are saying. One reason I just tried to work within the existing UI so much is because that is what the job calls for. Part of the point of the video is to show how I might approach things if I were hired. You know? I don't think they would look favorably on hiring someone that says, "I know how to do everything better than you, and you have been doing it all wrong." Plus as some people have pointed out there may be some reason that some features are not implemented as of right now. I just tried to stick to things that would work well within the existing UI, and that I thought, based on what I know about the system, would be realistic to pull off. Also for the sake of the video I did keep it short and focused around a single point as opposed to trying to cover everything.
yeah i know, but the thing is there wont be a job unless they change something dramaticlly, and i know that's not your fault, but i cant help but rage when sc2 UI is discussed, because i honestly feel that's the thing that's killing the game for a while now...
the ever present feeling of loneliness on bnet is so depressing, ive never experienced that in a multiplayer game to be honest
anyways, what you did here for the application is good work, its just the title "Proposed Design Changes To StarCraft 2's UI" that made me go all "now listen pal"
best of luck, mostly positive feedback in general, congrats, gl
"Strong graphic design skills -- particular iconography creation, artistic sense, and fluency in Adobe Photoshop"
All the elements I created were done in photoshop... so I would think that would count for showing some of those skills as well.
Iconography: You made a triangle, and a star. Artistic sense: You used the same layout as the existing buttons - how does that show you can design your own graphics? Fluency in adobe photoshop: I could do the same things in photoshop, and i do not consider myself fluent in photoshop at all.
On March 16 2012 09:24 alteredsego wrote: "Ability to illustrate UI components that are consistent with Blizzard Entertainment's design philosophy"
You didn't demonstrate any that were consistent - you just made duplicates of existing graphics? Same fonts, same colours, same textures, same shapes. I realize that makes sense when you're altering existing UI, you can not add new graphics into it, but that is an issue with your approach.
Hey, we agree to disagree. You may be completely right. Who knows, but that is my best effort: so if I miss... well I miss. At least I tried, and I know I went in the wrong direction. Oh well, onto a new project.
On March 16 2012 07:52 snailz wrote: no, sc2 UI is not "excellent and well tought out", and while i see why you would say such a thing (to get the job), you're dishonest and i would never hire you
a kick in the ass is also a step forward, and that's what blizzard needs atm the most, not lies to keep their egos safe from the truth
make a video where you critize them and adress the real problems in UI, and you get my respect. new ideas, not candy stuff: meaning its nice, but at the end of the day wont make much of a difference. band aid of sorts
also, everything Ashur said.
There are plenty of videos and posts critizing blizzard, what this guy did was think of a change then actually took steps to get it done, and out there for blizzard to see. Posts like ashur's have been seen before and blizzard obviously obviously doesn't care
yeah thats why i said "while i see why you would say such a thing"
but his suggestions are honestly nothing but a glorified band-aid, it really wont change anything significantly enough for me to go "OMFG hire this guy!!!11"
ghost town effect on bnet, and other things that Ashur mentioned are whats important, but blizz declines to adress them
edit: to the OP, sorry if i came off strong, its just venting
Hey man, I get what you are saying. One reason I just tried to work within the existing UI so much is because that is what the job calls for. Part of the point of the video is to show how I might approach things if I were hired. You know? I don't think they would look favorably on hiring someone that says, "I know how to do everything better than you, and you have been doing it all wrong." Plus as some people have pointed out there may be some reason that some features are not implemented as of right now. I just tried to stick to things that would work well within the existing UI, and that I thought, based on what I know about the system, would be realistic to pull off. Also for the sake of the video I did keep it short and focused around a single point as opposed to trying to cover everything.
yeah i know, but the thing is there wont be a job unless they change something dramaticlly, and i know that's not your fault, but i cant help but rage when sc2 UI is discussed, because i honestly feel that's the thing that's killing the game for a while now...
the ever present feeling of loneliness on bnet is so depressing, ive never experienced that in a multiplayer game to be honest
anyways, what you did here for the application is good work, its just the title "Proposed Design Changes To StarCraft 2's UI" that made me go all "now listen pal"
best of luck, mostly positive feedback in general, congrats, gl
I love your ideas, especially the back button that takes you back to your match history screen right where you left off. I hope Blizzard watches your video and hires you.
There are many nice ideas into it and i like your approach of applying with actual ideas. But I see some problems with this. At first: whad you did is all in all "just" Mockup even if its nicely done and well coporated into the design and look. The hard thing here would be to code the stuff. Another thing is, you didnt free your Mind to much to get further away from the original GUI. Sometimes it is just good to admit that something just sucks and throw everything away to do it right this time.
You dont turn a huge pile of shit into an icecream, by putting strawberrys, sauces and waffles into it.
So my critiq here is be more brave!! Dont show such "little" things to ehance thing bigger! There are plenty of really good cirtiqs about the GUI in TL tho. Most are adressed to the lag of community experience. Something you just get to by the sharing replay function, that is btw an awesome idea but not very thought-out. How do you actually share it? Does a mesasge pop up on the recievers side? If they are Ingame and do not awnser, do you have to wait for it or can you save this "sharing comand" in the background. What if friends aren't online? Can you share it with them as well and if so how would you solve the traffic and Storage problem? In the End a Replay is still Data kept on your machine not on any server.
Another thing would be.. I can't get away from the feeling that your changes would make the GUI even more heavier in terms of fully packed with stuff here and there.. here another option, there a new button and over there is a new way to that window that you can access as well from that menu and by that button over here.
KISS - keep it short and simple I mean the GUI to day dont follow this rule but you dont get to it by putting more stuff into it. I guess here applys the rule of perfection: Something isnt perfect if you can't add anymore to it but if you can't put anything away from it anymore. (also applys really great to animation aaand surprise to build orders ) Also would be nice to see the progress you did like older other approaches to a problem. So we, and also the guys over at blizzard can more easily get acces to your thoughts and process from what way you are coming
Ok well that are my few cents on it. I really like you dedication to it!! But you should go away from just Ideas up to deeper thoughts about it with reasonable conclusions. THen it would be even more epic : )
My professor is always saying "Ideas are like assholes everyone has one, and thinks his is the biggest, best, coolest and so on"
On March 16 2012 06:24 JeowJeow wrote: Did you really just say sc2's interface is very well designed and well thought out and it was difficult to find ways to improve upon it? Blizzard won't appreciate you lying to them. I would have found a better say to say your interface needs improvements instead of going down the suckup route.
That's what I was coming here to say. On the other hand, you can't really fault him for trying to not be cocky and piss the important people who will consider his application.
You know it's a mystery to me whether Blizzard employees actually play the game. Anyone using the battlenet UI will realize how bad it is.. I hope some of these changes get implemented in 1.5.
On March 16 2012 06:24 Ashur wrote: I do not like those changes but icons in replays. Suggestions are useless for daily purpose. I mean, StarCraft II Bnet UI needs to be changed completely, not just to move this and that and add minor feature. Those requirements are in several threads already
1) Shared replays 1a) Serverside saved replays (anyone can just view my public replays, till I click just played game as "do not publish") 2) Be able to move to the middle or end of the replay immediately 3) Public chat channels 4) Chat commands (/whisper, /ignore, /join, /creategame) we are not xbox dumbasses to click 3 times to whisper, right? 5) Be able to join game from chat via clicking a button ("Observe" for example, when someone left channel and started new public game) 6) Be able to join game after it started, or this might be a feature to prevent cheating - see the real content with a slight 2 min delay 7) Statistics in UI (sc2 ranks stats for my profile, for our teams, its just numbers) 8) An option to show/hide my win/loss ratio to myself/others 9) Clan support 10) E-sports support, why I cannot see replays from games (perhaps with audio) and I have to see a stream? Why is there no stream directly in game UI when this event has Blizzard as a sponsor/partner? 11) Map market 11a) Model market, why you do not make some new models (e.g. CE Thor) of units paid for Blizzbucks? 12) Simplify it, I am just too lazy to click same sequence of tabs/buttons/scroll/rightclicks over and over 13) Screw realms, make it global as it used to be 14) Charts, more charts in game for casters, and more charts in BN UI to analyze. What about chart for income, for unit loss etc.
I mean, game itself is perfect, but whoever made current Battle.NET UI 2.0 just failed. It sucks. It definitely sucks.
Blizzard should be leader in game industry, so far I see that people are complaining. Other companies do a lot - a lot more, to make their games user friendly. It's sad. Oh and BTW So far it seems that D3 socializing will have same "empty" syndrom as SC2 has.
On March 16 2012 09:52 CarlosOmse wrote: is this jsut a how u would do it design purely graphicly or did code the showed functions?
It is just a visual aid. In my mind it is like prototyping in flash or something of that nature, but instead of allowing you to go through the menu yourself I took you on a guided tour in a way.
On March 16 2012 06:24 JeowJeow wrote: Did you really just say sc2's interface is very well designed and well thought out and it was difficult to find ways to improve upon it? Blizzard won't appreciate you lying to them. I would have found a better say to say your interface needs improvements instead of going down the suckup route.
That's what I was coming here to say. On the other hand, you can't really fault him for trying to not be cocky and piss the important people who will consider his application.
Good job on the video!
Go say against ANY company you want to work at their current product sucks. Unless you come up with the biggest idea they heard in ages in less then a minute they will simply show you the door...
On March 16 2012 09:54 m!DniGhT wrote: Really nice editing and presenting your thoughts.
There are many nice ideas into it and i like your approach of applying with actual ideas. But I see some problems with this. At first: whad you did is all in all "just" Mockup even if its nicely done and well coporated into the design and look. The hard thing here would be to code the stuff. Another thing is, you didnt free your Mind to much to get further away from the original GUI. Sometimes it is just good to admit that something just sucks and throw everything away to do it right this time.
You dont turn a huge pile of shit into an icecream, by putting strawberrys, sauces and waffles into it.
So my critiq here is be more brave!! Dont show such "little" things to ehance thing bigger! There are plenty of really good cirtiqs about the GUI in TL tho. Most are adressed to the lag of community experience. Something you just get to by the sharing replay function, that is btw an awesome idea but not very thought-out. How do you actually share it? Does a mesasge pop up on the recievers side? If they are Ingame and do not awnser, do you have to wait for it or can you save this "sharing comand" in the background. What if friends aren't online? Can you share it with them as well and if so how would you solve the traffic and Storage problem? In the End a Replay is still Data kept on your machine not on any server.
Another thing would be.. I can't get away from the feeling that your changes would make the GUI even more heavier in terms of fully packed with stuff here and there.. here another option, there a new button and over there is a new way to that window that you can access as well from that menu and by that button over here.
KISS - keep it short and simple I mean the GUI to day dont follow this rule but you dont get to it by putting more stuff into it. I guess here applys the rule of perfection: Something isnt perfect if you can't add anymore to it but if you can't put anything away from it anymore. (also applys really great to animation aaand surprise to build orders ) Also would be nice to see the progress you did like older other approaches to a problem. So we, and also the guys over at blizzard can more easily get acces to your thoughts and process from what way you are coming
Ok well that are my few cents on it. I really like you dedication to it!! But you should go away from just Ideas up to deeper thoughts about it with reasonable conclusions. THen it would be even more epic : )
My professor is always saying "Ideas are like assholes everyone has one, and thinks his is the biggest, best, coolest and so on"
Yeah the job posting calls for working in the existing aesthetic... so that it what I tried to do. It makes it more difficult, but I tried to make some improvements around what already exists. I do appreciate the input though!
On March 16 2012 06:24 JeowJeow wrote: Did you really just say sc2's interface is very well designed and well thought out and it was difficult to find ways to improve upon it? Blizzard won't appreciate you lying to them. I would have found a better say to say your interface needs improvements instead of going down the suckup route.
That's what I was coming here to say. On the other hand, you can't really fault him for trying to not be cocky and piss the important people who will consider his application.
Good job on the video!
Yeah pissing off the overmind after you express that you desire to be assimilated... generally not a good tactic in my opinion.
"Strong graphic design skills -- particular iconography creation, artistic sense, and fluency in Adobe Photoshop"
All the elements I created were done in photoshop... so I would think that would count for showing some of those skills as well.
Iconography: You made a triangle, and a star. Artistic sense: You used the same layout as the existing buttons - how does that show you can design your own graphics? Fluency in adobe photoshop: I could do the same things in photoshop, and i do not consider myself fluent in photoshop at all.
On March 16 2012 09:24 alteredsego wrote: "Ability to illustrate UI components that are consistent with Blizzard Entertainment's design philosophy"
You didn't demonstrate any that were consistent - you just made duplicates of existing graphics? Same fonts, same colours, same textures, same shapes. I realize that makes sense when you're altering existing UI, you can not add new graphics into it, but that is an issue with your approach.
alteredsego, I think the only mistake you made was engaging in a discussion about this with someone who obviously has never advanced anywhere in a real corporate setting.
I thought your video showed creativity as well as tremendous talent and ability on an execution level. Moreover, I think it's clear that you spent a lot of time analyzing and really thinking about value-adds to an existing solution, which, to be honest is far more difficult than the "creativity" that Mr.Pyro seems to be advocating.
The truth of the matter is that no corporation has infinite resources. All the responses on this thread that are saying alteredsego didn't go far enough are completely impractical and truly awful advice. Every single one of us has some gripe or complaint about the current UI. Some of us could even go and "redesign" it by drawing up a few new mockups in Photoshop -- too bad that's completely fucking useless to Blizzard, or any other corporation that's already invested significant resources designing a functional GUI that integrates perfectly with their backend systems. Try to convince Blizzard's CFO and the entire development team to completely uproot and rewrite their entire application because you've got a "creative and purty new design". Fat fucking chance.
Blizzard games aren't built by a single individual. They're built by teams. And if you're applying to a job where you will be a part of a team (which it looks like this is if it's only asking for 3+ years of experience), you need to show that you can add value to the existing team, that you can integrate into the existing team, and you certainly don't want to be the idiot that is telling everyone else why their ideas suck and why they should drop everything they're doing to implement whatever cockshit nonsense you dreamed up in your parent's basement.
As someone who builds, motivates, and focuses teams -- I would love to be in Blizzard HR's shoes when you've got someone who can so vividly demonstrate the rare combination of 1) raw technical skill and talent needed to recreate a professional design flawlessly and then to layer and integrate his own design ideas on top of them; 2) the humility and practical sense to add value ON TOP OF and not to the exclusion of existing work; and 3) the entrepreneurial cajones and ability to really sell his own vision by creating a video and getting community support for it. This guy fucking stands out. alteredsego: you did a brilliant job.
Finally, I just have to say a word to Mr.Pyro and all the other Mr.Pyro's out there who have never created any value in their entire lives; who apparently can only criticize and tear down the work that others have constructed. You are the reason I've written this entire response. This dude put a shit ton of effort into creating this video -- whether you agreed with it or not, there's no reason to reply in such a callous and arrogant way. Have you ever created anything? Have you ever created any value on or for this planet, and have you had the balls to show it to the world? Maybe you have, but I doubt it because I can't imagine anybody who has ever engaged in an act of public creation would have the complete lack of empathy and respect that you demonstrated. Seriously, just have a little respect for anybody who decides to channel his or her energies into creating and adding value for all the rest of us to enjoy -- don't take that shit for granted.
"Strong graphic design skills -- particular iconography creation, artistic sense, and fluency in Adobe Photoshop"
All the elements I created were done in photoshop... so I would think that would count for showing some of those skills as well.
Iconography: You made a triangle, and a star. Artistic sense: You used the same layout as the existing buttons - how does that show you can design your own graphics? Fluency in adobe photoshop: I could do the same things in photoshop, and i do not consider myself fluent in photoshop at all.
On March 16 2012 09:24 alteredsego wrote: "Ability to illustrate UI components that are consistent with Blizzard Entertainment's design philosophy"
You didn't demonstrate any that were consistent - you just made duplicates of existing graphics? Same fonts, same colours, same textures, same shapes. I realize that makes sense when you're altering existing UI, you can not add new graphics into it, but that is an issue with your approach.
alteredsego, I think the only mistake you made was engaging in a discussion about this with someone who obviously has never advanced anywhere in a real corporate setting.
I thought your video showed creativity as well as tremendous talent and ability on an execution level. Moreover, I think it's clear that you spent a lot of time analyzing and really thinking about value-adds to an existing solution, which, to be honest is far more difficult than the "creativity" that Mr.Pyro seems to be advocating.
The truth of the matter is that no corporation has infinite resources. All the responses on this thread that are saying alteredsego didn't go far enough are completely impractical and truly awful advice. Every single one of us has some gripe or complaint about the current UI. Some of us could even go and "redesign" it by drawing up a few new mockups in Photoshop -- too bad that's completely fucking useless to Blizzard, or any other corporation that's already invested significant resources designing a functional GUI that integrates perfectly with their backend systems. Try to convince Blizzard's CFO and the entire development team to completely uproot and rewrite their entire application because you've got a "creative and purty new design". Fat fucking chance.
Blizzard games aren't built by a single individual. They're built by teams. And if you're applying to a job where you will be a part of a team (which it looks like this is if it's only asking for 3+ years of experience), you need to show that you can add value to the existing team, that you can integrate into the existing team, and you certainly don't want to be the idiot that is telling everyone else why their ideas suck and why they should drop everything they're doing to implement whatever cockshit nonsense you dreamed up in your parent's basement.
As someone who builds, motivates, and focuses teams -- I would love to be in Blizzard HR's shoes when you've got someone who can so vividly demonstrate the rare combination of 1) raw technical skill and talent needed to recreate a professional design flawlessly and then to layer and integrate his own design ideas on top of them; 2) the humility and practical sense to add value ON TOP OF and not to the exclusion of existing work; and 3) the entrepreneurial cajones and ability to really sell his own vision by creating a video and getting community support for it. This guy fucking stands out. alteredsego: you did a brilliant job.
Finally, I just have to say a word to Mr.Pyro and all the other Mr.Pyro's out there who have never created any value in their entire lives; who apparently can only criticize and tear down the work that others have constructed. You are the reason I've written this entire response. This dude put a shit ton of effort into creating this video -- whether you agreed with it or not, there's no reason to reply in such a callous and arrogant way. Have you ever created anything? Have you ever created any value on or for this planet, and have you had the balls to show it to the world? Maybe you have, but I doubt it because I can't imagine anybody who has ever engaged in an act of public creation would have the complete lack of empathy and respect that you demonstrated. Seriously, just have a little respect for anybody who decides to channel his or her energies into creating and adding value for all the rest of us to enjoy -- don't take that shit for granted.
This. You did a wonderful job and I'm sure when you are expanding your artistic horizons, they will train you plenty. With that said, you showed a lot of courage and an ability to work hard which is the most important thing to any job (way more important than "experience" which they will be giving you anyways).
"Strong graphic design skills -- particular iconography creation, artistic sense, and fluency in Adobe Photoshop"
All the elements I created were done in photoshop... so I would think that would count for showing some of those skills as well.
Iconography: You made a triangle, and a star. Artistic sense: You used the same layout as the existing buttons - how does that show you can design your own graphics? Fluency in adobe photoshop: I could do the same things in photoshop, and i do not consider myself fluent in photoshop at all.
On March 16 2012 09:24 alteredsego wrote: "Ability to illustrate UI components that are consistent with Blizzard Entertainment's design philosophy"
You didn't demonstrate any that were consistent - you just made duplicates of existing graphics? Same fonts, same colours, same textures, same shapes. I realize that makes sense when you're altering existing UI, you can not add new graphics into it, but that is an issue with your approach.
alteredsego, I think the only mistake you made was engaging in a discussion about this with someone who obviously has never advanced anywhere in a real corporate setting.
I thought your video showed creativity as well as tremendous talent and ability on an execution level. Moreover, I think it's clear that you spent a lot of time analyzing and really thinking about value-adds to an existing solution, which, to be honest is far more difficult than the "creativity" that Mr.Pyro seems to be advocating.
The truth of the matter is that no corporation has infinite resources. All the responses on this thread that are saying alteredsego didn't go far enough are completely impractical and truly awful advice. Every single one of us has some gripe or complaint about the current UI. Some of us could even go and "redesign" it by drawing up a few new mockups in Photoshop -- too bad that's completely fucking useless to Blizzard, or any other corporation that's already invested significant resources designing a functional GUI that integrates perfectly with their backend systems. Try to convince Blizzard's CFO and the entire development team to completely uproot and rewrite their entire application because you've got a "creative and purty new design". Fat fucking chance.
Blizzard games aren't built by a single individual. They're built by teams. And if you're applying to a job where you will be a part of a team (which it looks like this is if it's only asking for 3+ years of experience), you need to show that you can add value to the existing team, that you can integrate into the existing team, and you certainly don't want to be the idiot that is telling everyone else why their ideas suck and why they should drop everything they're doing to implement whatever cockshit nonsense you dreamed up in your parent's basement.
As someone who builds, motivates, and focuses teams -- I would love to be in Blizzard HR's shoes when you've got someone who can so vividly demonstrate the rare combination of 1) raw technical skill and talent needed to recreate a professional design flawlessly and then to layer and integrate his own design ideas on top of them; 2) the humility and practical sense to add value ON TOP OF and not to the exclusion of existing work; and 3) the entrepreneurial cajones and ability to really sell his own vision by creating a video and getting community support for it. This guy fucking stands out. alteredsego: you did a brilliant job.
Finally, I just have to say a word to Mr.Pyro and all the other Mr.Pyro's out there who have never created any value in their entire lives; who apparently can only criticize and tear down the work that others have constructed. You are the reason I've written this entire response. This dude put a shit ton of effort into creating this video -- whether you agreed with it or not, there's no reason to reply in such a callous and arrogant way. Have you ever created anything? Have you ever created any value on or for this planet, and have you had the balls to show it to the world? Maybe you have, but I doubt it because I can't imagine anybody who has ever engaged in an act of public creation would have the complete lack of empathy and respect that you demonstrated. Seriously, just have a little respect for anybody who decides to channel his or her energies into creating and adding value for all the rest of us to enjoy -- don't take that shit for granted.
Hey I really appreciate the comment, but you know what he has his right to his opinion. I am not going to say I know better than everyone else. I am just going to try my best, and see how it comes out. The part that I liked was the community support thing. It may fail miserably, but I really liked the idea of using that style of self marketing. It is thinking a bit outside the box, and I am really curious to see how it turns out.
Regardless, thank you for all of the kind words. I really appreciated how well written your comment was; even if I didn't agree with some of the comments about my friend Pyro over there. After all nothing wrong with agreeing to disagree. He was pretty civil about it, and I appreciate that about how he handled things.
"Strong graphic design skills -- particular iconography creation, artistic sense, and fluency in Adobe Photoshop"
All the elements I created were done in photoshop... so I would think that would count for showing some of those skills as well.
Iconography: You made a triangle, and a star. Artistic sense: You used the same layout as the existing buttons - how does that show you can design your own graphics? Fluency in adobe photoshop: I could do the same things in photoshop, and i do not consider myself fluent in photoshop at all.
On March 16 2012 09:24 alteredsego wrote: "Ability to illustrate UI components that are consistent with Blizzard Entertainment's design philosophy"
You didn't demonstrate any that were consistent - you just made duplicates of existing graphics? Same fonts, same colours, same textures, same shapes. I realize that makes sense when you're altering existing UI, you can not add new graphics into it, but that is an issue with your approach.
alteredsego, I think the only mistake you made was engaging in a discussion about this with someone who obviously has never advanced anywhere in a real corporate setting.
I thought your video showed creativity as well as tremendous talent and ability on an execution level. Moreover, I think it's clear that you spent a lot of time analyzing and really thinking about value-adds to an existing solution, which, to be honest is far more difficult than the "creativity" that Mr.Pyro seems to be advocating.
The truth of the matter is that no corporation has infinite resources. All the responses on this thread that are saying alteredsego didn't go far enough are completely impractical and truly awful advice. Every single one of us has some gripe or complaint about the current UI. Some of us could even go and "redesign" it by drawing up a few new mockups in Photoshop -- too bad that's completely fucking useless to Blizzard, or any other corporation that's already invested significant resources designing a functional GUI that integrates perfectly with their backend systems. Try to convince Blizzard's CFO and the entire development team to completely uproot and rewrite their entire application because you've got a "creative and purty new design". Fat fucking chance.
Blizzard games aren't built by a single individual. They're built by teams. And if you're applying to a job where you will be a part of a team (which it looks like this is if it's only asking for 3+ years of experience), you need to show that you can add value to the existing team, that you can integrate into the existing team, and you certainly don't want to be the idiot that is telling everyone else why their ideas suck and why they should drop everything they're doing to implement whatever cockshit nonsense you dreamed up in your parent's basement.
As someone who builds, motivates, and focuses teams -- I would love to be in Blizzard HR's shoes when you've got someone who can so vividly demonstrate the rare combination of 1) raw technical skill and talent needed to recreate a professional design flawlessly and then to layer and integrate his own design ideas on top of them; 2) the humility and practical sense to add value ON TOP OF and not to the exclusion of existing work; and 3) the entrepreneurial cajones and ability to really sell his own vision by creating a video and getting community support for it. This guy fucking stands out. alteredsego: you did a brilliant job.
Finally, I just have to say a word to Mr.Pyro and all the other Mr.Pyro's out there who have never created any value in their entire lives; who apparently can only criticize and tear down the work that others have constructed. You are the reason I've written this entire response. This dude put a shit ton of effort into creating this video -- whether you agreed with it or not, there's no reason to reply in such a callous and arrogant way. Have you ever created anything? Have you ever created any value on or for this planet, and have you had the balls to show it to the world? Maybe you have, but I doubt it because I can't imagine anybody who has ever engaged in an act of public creation would have the complete lack of empathy and respect that you demonstrated. Seriously, just have a little respect for anybody who decides to channel his or her energies into creating and adding value for all the rest of us to enjoy -- don't take that shit for granted.
This. You did a wonderful job and I'm sure when you are expanding your artistic horizons, they will train you plenty. With that said, you showed a lot of courage and an ability to work hard which is the most important thing to any job (way more important than "experience" which they will be giving you anyways).
Thank you, I certainly hope so. Overall this is a rather interesting experience within itself. So I am just having fun with it and seeing where it goes. My resume is done, the video is done, and so basically all I can do for right now is sit back and enjoy the ride.
So... if you can access the replay from the match history, you could go to GM league, look at Idra's match history, open up a replay and look at his build? That sounds amazing.
With someone of your abilities you shouldn't be working for Blizzard. You should be starting your own company, or working alongside a small group of developers on something where you'll have the freedom to realize your designs. From what I've seen already, you're far better at what you do than any of their team is. If you're not leading, you're just going to be frustrated as hell when they tell you to do stupid shit.
Really great ideas. I would love an integrated replay autosave function where you can format the name of the replay file to include player names and other customizable options. That presentation was just incredibly impressive in my eyes, good luck on getting the position.
Really well designed, and some great ideas. I hope you get the gig, because those minor changes you've made in your own time are already pretty game changing, I'd love to see what you could do with the resources Blizzard has available to them.
Nice video and work but you really over dramatised it with the "And what I found was nothing short of groundbreaking..." line that made me throw up in my mouth a little. I mean you're not really doing anything remotely groundbreaking as much as it is a couple of improvements that are on people's wishlists but are lower priority to implement on a development side. I'm not trying to undermine your work I just think you shouldn't present it as if you're some kind of UI Columbus sailing seas people had never heard of.
It's good to sell yourself, but remember that these are people who you will have to work with on a daily basis and be candid with at an interview, so when you send in a video with dramatic background music that feels more like a video meant to woo clueless investors than get across ability to do the job given to you, it can hurt you as much as help you.
The main thing to understand is that if you're applying for a job that requires years of experience, you likely won't get it entirely because the reason experience is so important in the games industry is the familiarity with the process, hierachy and the feature set of typical toolsets (like Scaleform or other common UI middleware). If it's not a junior/graduate position then they're going to expect you to be able to integrate very quickly and if you don't have that experience you will need time, regardless of how talented you are (or think you are).
With all that said, you can never go wrong by putting in a lot of effort and trying to get a job that might just be above your current level, I know plenty of people who have got jobs just by being confident in their ability to do the job without necessarily having the pre-requisites. Just don't remotely expect it to happen.
In the likely event this doesn't go well, just try and get started in the industry in general in the field you want to get involved in, you should not be getting into the industry to only ever work on games you like, you should do it because you enjoy the work itself on its own merits. Also when you get turned down, politely (and for god's sake don't badger people, just ask once) for the reasons why and what you could do to improve your portfolio and skill set in that area. Believe it or not but most professionals like to get treated like experts on their field and don't mind answering questions.
On March 16 2012 10:46 Jonoman92 wrote: Really great ideas. I would love an integrated replay autosave function where you can format the name of the replay file to include player names and other customizable options. That presentation was just incredibly impressive in my eyes, good luck on getting the position.
Thank you... yeah I thought of that as well, and it would be great to see it implemented. Given that you would be exiting a game while the replay file is being written... I imagine that would be easy to do, even if it was not retroactive.
good luck on getting the position (lol but back in my mind the Conspiracy Keanu meme is running: "what if blizzard read what the community said and plan to adress the issues, but 1st want to release him as a beta tester to see how the community respond to the changes ")
On March 16 2012 10:54 Fandango wrote: Nice video and work but you really over dramatised it with the "And what I found was nothing short of groundbreaking..." line that made me throw up in my mouth a little. I mean you're not really doing anything remotely groundbreaking as much as it is a couple of improvements that are on people's wishlists but are lower priority to implement on a development side. I'm not trying to undermine your work I just think you shouldn't present it as if you're some kind of UI Columbus sailing seas people had never heard of.
It's good to sell yourself, but remember that these are people who you will have to work with on a daily basis and be candid with at an interview, so when you send in a video with dramatic background music that feels more like a video meant to woo clueless investors than get across ability to do the job given to you, it can hurt you as much as help you.
The main thing to understand is that if you're applying for a job that requires years of experience, you likely won't get it entirely because the reason experience is so important in the games industry is the familiarity with the process, hierachy and the feature set of typical toolsets (like Scaleform or other common UI middleware). If it's not a junior/graduate position then they're going to expect you to be able to integrate very quickly and if you don't have that experience you will need time, regardless of how talented you are (or think you are).
With all that said, you can never go wrong by putting in a lot of effort and trying to get a job that might just be above your current level, I know plenty of people who have got jobs just by being confident in their ability to do the job without necessarily having the pre-requisites. Just don't remotely expect it to happen.
In the likely event this doesn't go well, just try and get started in the industry in general in the field you want to get involved in, you should not be getting into the industry to only ever work on games you like, you should do it because you enjoy the work itself on its own merits. Also when you get turned down, politely (and for god's sake don't badger people, just ask once) for the reasons why and what you could do to improve your portfolio and skill set in that area. Believe it or not but most professionals like to get treated like experts on their field and don't mind answering questions.
Well I have worked in the industry a bit in the past. I was part of a Research and Development team that developed motion capture software that has been used in games and movies a good bit. When I was there we were heavily involved with WETA with doing all the mocap work for the LOTR movies, and stuff like that. I think that type of enviroment is probably pretty similar to Blizzard, but hey you know what: if I fail, I fail. At least I gave it my best effort.
As for the hyperbole: I was initially trying mimic one of Apple's product release videos; so that is why the language is the way it is. I don't believe I am all that amazing. I just work hard, and I know and am passionate about the game: thats it. And the purpose of this video was to put some of that on display and to get me noticed.
I appreciate the comment though, and trust me I know it is a long shot... but you know what it is fun. So I am enjoying it so far.
On March 16 2012 10:57 qwertyindeed wrote: good luck on getting the position (lol but back in my mind the Conspiracy Keanu meme is running: "what if blizzard read what the community said and plan to adress the issues, but 1st want to release him as a beta tester to see how the community respond to the changes ")
That would be pretty funny. If I get hired I will definitely mention that to them lol.
Good luck! Nothing seems to do anything but improve the UI~tbh its kinda annoying how poor the UI is considering geez blizzard you had the better part of a decade
I have to crash now (was up all last night finishing the video an rewriting my resume), I look forward to reading everyone's comments when I am done hibernating. (So sorry if I don't respond to anyone right away.)
On March 16 2012 10:54 Fandango wrote: Nice video and work but you really over dramatised it with the "And what I found was nothing short of groundbreaking..." line that made me throw up in my mouth a little. I mean you're not really doing anything remotely groundbreaking as much as it is a couple of improvements that are on people's wishlists but are lower priority to implement on a development side. I'm not trying to undermine your work I just think you shouldn't present it as if you're some kind of UI Columbus sailing seas people had never heard of.
It's good to sell yourself, but remember that these are people who you will have to work with on a daily basis and be candid with at an interview, so when you send in a video with dramatic background music that feels more like a video meant to woo clueless investors than get across ability to do the job given to you, it can hurt you as much as help you.
The main thing to understand is that if you're applying for a job that requires years of experience, you likely won't get it entirely because the reason experience is so important in the games industry is the familiarity with the process, hierachy and the feature set of typical toolsets (like Scaleform or other common UI middleware). If it's not a junior/graduate position then they're going to expect you to be able to integrate very quickly and if you don't have that experience you will need time, regardless of how talented you are (or think you are).
With all that said, you can never go wrong by putting in a lot of effort and trying to get a job that might just be above your current level, I know plenty of people who have got jobs just by being confident in their ability to do the job without necessarily having the pre-requisites. Just don't remotely expect it to happen.
In the likely event this doesn't go well, just try and get started in the industry in general in the field you want to get involved in, you should not be getting into the industry to only ever work on games you like, you should do it because you enjoy the work itself on its own merits. Also when you get turned down, politely (and for god's sake don't badger people, just ask once) for the reasons why and what you could do to improve your portfolio and skill set in that area. Believe it or not but most professionals like to get treated like experts on their field and don't mind answering questions.
Well I have worked in the industry a bit in the past. I was part of a Research and Development team that developed motion capture software that has been used in games and movies a good bit. When I was there we were heavily involved with WETA with doing all the mocap work for the LOTR movies, and stuff like that. I think that type of enviroment is probably pretty similar to Blizzard, but hey you know what: if I fail, I fail. At least I gave it my best effort.
As for the hyperbole: I was initially trying mimic one of Apple's product release videos; so that is why the language is the way it is. I don't believe I am all that amazing. I just work hard, and I know and am passionate about the game: thats it. And the purpose of this video was to put some of that on display and to get me noticed.
I appreciate the comment though, and trust me I know it is a long shot... but you know what it is fun. So I am enjoying it so far.
You need to help them with this, you are amazing you have put all of the communities complaints and made them a realistic and easily implemented change , cheers dude you are amazing.
To be honest I feel that bnet 2 needs a total overhaul of the back end of their UI, not just a few interface improvements. There's just a lot of latency when you try to do things, and the overall visual themes are not unified and therefore counterintuitive.
Obviously this isn't the job you're applying for, but even if the changes here were implemented I would still use SC2Gears to look at my stats and organize my replays because of those issues. It has more features, and while its interface isn't a work of art it is snappy and coherent.
I like the idea to add shapes next to replays that you think were good, but I think instead of adding shapes next to the replay, suggesting that you could add a "save file as..."
Other then that I like the ideas, very innovative I think.
These are good ideas, no doubt. However, I hope everyone realizes that, from a software development standpoint, it is not easy to add all these features, a UI overhall can't just be released in a patch.
Not to be rude, but it seems like a lot of high level ideas and no concern of how to do it.
The linking of replay and match history... how would they implement that without storing replays in the server?
Pretty good. Still feel as though you are essentially patching a very poorly designed UI. Like yeah the fixes are good, but honestly when I heard SC2 was coming, my expectations were insanely high. I thought we may have built in streams with hat lobbies lol.
I'd like to see SC2 UI be more gutted, instead of continuous new features being tacked on. But good video nevertheless.
There is nobody currently at Blizzard who is concerned about the quality of the UI. The part that bothers me the most is their wording when adressing the community's concerns regarding the UI, it seems to say "Not enough people who gave us their money are expressing their concern about the quality of the UI for us to care." They might as well say, "We know its crap, but you bought it, jokes on you." If this man is hired I will be a happy hampster. Even if they just steal his ideas (seems more likely) at least someone is listening.
But really, anyone can do this (not anyone can do something this well. You've done an exceptional job). The difficult part is for Blizzard to apply these proposed changes to the game. They can't just stick bunch of art in a blender with the current game/UI they have, hit a button, and it's all new and better.
I'm really not trying to take away from what you've done, because your ideas are awesome. I've just seen too much whining about the current UI, and I get the impression that too many people think making huge changes like that is easy.
On March 16 2012 06:07 k1mjee wrote: Hire this guy and spotlight this.
Agreed! hopefully all of these changes are added for patch 1.5
LOL. Obviously you don't know a thing about programming. To actually implement all these ideas, would take way longer than when patch 1.5 will be released.
Sweet ideas, but as most people have pointed out some of those ideas would be insane to actually implement. With that said, you applied as an artist, not as a designer, and I think that your work artistically was well done. You certainly proved to me you have a better head on your shoulders then whoever designed the original system.
I hope you included a link to that video in your app, or that blizzard stumbles across it and sees it, I think that video alone could be enough to get you hired lol.
Not bad. I would like to see more. That's only a facelift in my eyes for the replay organization. It's a start. I wouldn't focus solely on that though.
Like many have already said. People seem to have a disregard of the effort that such changes actually take. The problem is that Blizzard somehow designed themselves into a corner with how the BNet2.0 back-end actually works. I feel that either they tried to keep it way to general in order to overly "future-proof" it for their upcoming games or they just under-committed on staff for that project.
All in all SC2 and D3 feel like they were understaffed for the scope that those projects should have had. I don't know if that resulted from them not scaling their teams to the increased manpower necessary to create AAA games today or whether they just feel that project THOR TITAN takes precedence over any other projects because it is more key to the continued future existence of Blizz than either SC2 or D3.
Dude this is amazing, if Blizzard hires you on they are getting a great addition, if not then hell im sure theres tons of companies that could use a man like yourself
On March 16 2012 17:09 Bigpet wrote: Like many have already said. People seem to have a disregard of the effort that such changes actually take. The problem is that Blizzard somehow designed themselves into a corner with how the BNet2.0 back-end actually works. I feel that either they tried to keep it way to general in order to overly "future-proof" it for their upcoming games or they just under-committed on staff for that project.
All in all SC2 and D3 feel like they were understaffed for the scope that those projects should have had. I don't know if that resulted from them not scaling their teams to the increased manpower necessary to create AAA games today or whether they just feel that project THOR takes precedence over any other projects because it is more key to the continued future existence of Blizz than either SC2 or D3.
Isn't it called Titan?
Either way, I think it's pretty apparent that Blizzard is/was understaffed. Before the release of Starcraft 2 they were always looking for BNet designers of all sorts and probably still are to this day. I mean in Diablo 3 too there seems to be quite a lot struggling with stuff like the auction house etc. I mean up until the last patch the Auction House UI was garbage (now it's somewhat well) and there were a ton of issues with joining public games, missing texts and so on.
I mean it's not really excusable as they should've more effort (and earlier) into acquiring the right people considering the importance of BNet for all their titles. Because that probably somewhat failed there's just not enough manpower for all 4 (5 perhaps even) titles that are being developed at the moment and I can imagine that finding really good personal for such a job can be hard.
But oh well, it can only get better now ;P
Edit: Gotta say, this thread turned out as expected, a bunch of excited guys shouting "HIRE HIM, HIRE HIM!" Just because the OP makes some decent mockups that doesn't mean he necessarily has the qualifications required for the job. That's not up to you guys to decide as most aren't even experienced in UI or programming.
And I don't mean to downplay the OPs skills, I just don't think it's a wise choice to make an application material video like this public before. It's not like he can go there and tell them "look, a lot people like my video and want you to hire me, that gives me a better chance, right?"
Many things suggested here are really non-trivial. Even if Blizzard hires him it'll be completely unrealistic to expect all this in the next one or two, or even four or five patches.
On March 16 2012 12:32 shizaep wrote: These are good ideas, no doubt. However, I hope everyone realizes that, from a software development standpoint, it is not easy to add all these features, a UI overhall can't just be released in a patch.
Not to be rude, but it seems like a lot of high level ideas and no concern of how to do it.
The linking of replay and match history... how would they implement that without storing replays in the server?
Like mentioned by another realist.
Well the MU screen already stores a a decent chunk of things, I think storing the path would be very little problem. Then if file doesn't exist, the button is grey'd out(or not shown). A deeper connection would admittedly be a bit more code, but I cannot for the life of me see how that'd be very hard to code. Infact the biggest issues I see would be, how to keep the GUI consistent with and without the replay behind the MU screen(which is a designer problem, not programmer one).
On March 16 2012 06:15 l_Kyo_l wrote: Wow, just finished watching the video. I LOVE so much what you thought of with the game summary ---> replay and the extra stats you included such as units at the end of the game, and how you can tell what's happening at what point in the game.
Such simple stuff, but for people who play thousands of games in customs/1v1 ladder sorting through them starts to get so tedious.
I really hope you get the job man, these things are far and away the best suggestions I've seen thus far.
I believe having a more advanced game summary with more stats would be beneficial for regular practices. BUT in terms of during tournaments or even for people practicing for tournaments, it will be too much. I believe blizzard made the correct decision by only allowing us to see part of the build order and really general summarys.
Everything else was completely wonderful. I really like the idea of having a button available to bring you from a game summary page to the actual replay ^^
Blizzard hire this guy IMMEDIATELY. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe these ideas that he has are only the tip of the ice burg, I can think of many many other things to be added into bnet 2.0 and I am pretty sure he knows this as well.
Good stuff, the intro of your video was pretty wordy and long-winded though. In the future, get to the good stuff faster. This is basically a demo reel, so don't make potential employers sit through a minute of talking about how you make a demo reel before you show them the demo reel.
First of all, I know that Blizzard don't have unlimited resources or a big enough staff dedicated to improving the UI but I wish they would rethink Battle.net's design and do a complete overhaul, not just add some new features (the big ones like watching replays with friends and clan support are always welcome). I'm not going to go into details about what I think is bad or missing since that has been brought up so many times before.
That being said, I think you're really talented and no doubt cut out for this. I like your approach of making the video and showcasing your ideas. The features you proposed are really good but I'd love to see you coming up with something new and fresh outside the existing UI. Even though it's probably never going to happen (Blizzard redesigning it from scratch) it would be nice if you could show us what you have in mind for a completely new UI.
I'm a fan of Goblinoid's designs and if anyone is not familiar with his work, please check out his thread and his interactive UI.
Support this man! Replays and Match history are the ONLY tools I use consistently and sadly they are just so underwhelming right now. It just seems so non-user friendly right now...
So I LOVE THESE PROPOSED CHANGES, I think they would be great for the game
So... That was amazing no? Let's all spam blzizard forums with how this guy should be the lead designer and the lead designer at Blizzard needs to be fired, immediately.
On March 16 2012 18:05 Madera wrote: First of all, I know that Blizzard don't have unlimited resources or a big enough staff dedicated to improving the UI but I wish they would rethink Battle.net's design and do a complete overhaul, not just add some new features (the big ones like watching replays with friends and clan support are always welcome). I'm not going to go into details about what I think is bad or missing since that has been brought up so many times before.
That being said, I think you're really talented and no doubt cut out for this. I like your approach of making the video and showcasing your ideas. The features you proposed are really good but I'd love to see you coming up with something new and fresh outside the existing UI. Even though it's probably never going to happen (Blizzard redesigning it from scratch) it would be nice if you could show us what you have in mind for a completely new UI.
I'm a fan of Goblinoid's designs and if anyone is not familiar with his work, please check out his thread and his interactive UI.
I dunno if you know, but Blizzard has nearly unlimited resources in retrospect to the gaming industry (that's the whole idea of all the joking about them ruling everything) The financial income they receive just from WoW could support 10 UI teams, and still be profitable...
I'm not trying to drown your dreams in sorrow, but your video IS NOT an application for an artist. Your video ecompasses mostly programming changes, and has little to do with visuals. Artists develop content for, or with developers to pass along common goals and overarching reaches of their department. They do not develop, program, or implement wide sweeping user interface changes. Also, the changes that you suggest would anatogize a huge corporation like Blizzard Entertainment who already employs, and has a solid core of fundamentals that they want and desire in the game. It is not your position, especially as an artist, to dictate what they want as a company--suggestions are fine, and there's nothing wrong with it.
If you intended the actual changes you suggest to be (somehow) thought of as merely cosmetic, and have no functionality then I can almost see your vision. But as it is, when you accept a position in nearly ANY company, your role is first to familiarize yourself with the OUSTANDING amount of work that is required by your superiors and team. It is not your duty to act as if you are the LEAD PRODUCER or DEVELOPER, such is the case with your vision. Finally, and personally, most of the changes that you call for are ENTIRELY REDUNDANT and actually confuse the already existing interface. I don't know what analogy would help you, but the next time you get into your car and reach for the fan control, think about how you already know where it is. Now, say I add a few redundant changes, such as add fan control to your steering wheel, or fan control to your in-dash setup, or in your computer--completely redundant. Say I remove the original one, or offer different but all-together similar choices--totally CONFUSING. Also, you seem to think tagging is essentially good, but IT IS NOT. The UI needs to be effective in its SIMPLICITY, not because it lacks choices or variables. End of rant, and I'm sorry, but don't be offended.
On March 16 2012 06:04 alteredsego wrote: Background: So I prepared this video as part of my application to Blizzard Entertainment to become one of their User Interface Artists for StarCraft 2 and Blizzard DOTA. It is intended to demonstrate some of the changes I would make to StarCraft 2’s existing interface layout; specifically in the Match History and Replay portions of the menu. It is however not production ready work or in any way functional at this point. Rather it is a rough draft that simply demonstrates how I envision some those areas being changed to help improve their functionality. Some of the changes are relatively minor, and some are more major; as they represent a complete overhaul of how the replay file management works. As I thought the video came out reasonably well: I wanted to share it one here. Obviously if you like any of my proposed changes: I would greatly appreciate you taking the time to thumbs up the video or leave a comment on youtube or in the blizzard forums. (As any attention it gets might help get my resume noticed, and might potentially lead to me getting the job… I generally don’t ask for this kind of thing, but community support never hurts.)
Regardless, you can watch the video at the link below (it is 7:04 long I think, 8:18 with credits… so not a huge time investment), and I am interested to see what you think of my proposals. So without further ado, here is the link:
Thanks to anyone that takes the time to watch it, and once again if you take the time to leave a comment or like it: I would be genuinely appreciative. If you feel up to it the original post on Blizzard's SC2 Forums is here.
Very good job.
A few thoughts: I don't like the idea of only being able to send replays to friends. B.net 2.0 is already set up in such a way that you can't even talk to someone unless they're your friend. Why don't you just let the replay be sent to anyone you enter into a text box?
The frames, buttons, and layout of B.net 2.0 is very ugly and inconsistent. While you've improved the functionality of B.net 2.0 tenfold, it's still just as ugly.
If you get a job at Blizzard, please push for a complete design of the the UI art from the ground up. And get them to reverse this pointless trend of only being able to interact with friends, or being force to friend someone before you interact with them.
While I think this guy has some great ideas, I was unclear as to whether or not he actually knows, or has any idea, about how to program. It is easy to say "This is something good!" but have no idea how much time or work that would take.
On March 16 2012 19:07 ffdestiny wrote: I'm not trying to drown your dreams in sorrow, but your video IS NOT an application for an artist. Your video ecompasses mostly programming changes, and has little to do with visuals. Artists develop content for, or with developers to pass along common goals and overarching reaches of their department. They do not develop, program, or implement wide sweeping user interface changes. Also, the changes that you suggest would anatogize a huge corporation like Blizzard Entertainment who already employs, and has a solid core of fundamentals that they want and desire in the game. It is not your position, especially as an artist, to dictate what they want as a company--suggestions are fine, and there's nothing wrong with it.
If you intended the actual changes you suggest to be (somehow) thought of as merely cosmetic, and have no functionality then I can almost see your vision. But as it is, when you accept a position in nearly ANY company, your role is first to familiarize yourself with the OUSTANDING amount of work that is required by your superiors and team. It is not your duty to act as if you are the LEAD PRODUCER or DEVELOPER, such is the case with your vision. Finally, and personally, most of the changes that you call for are ENTIRELY REDUNDANT and actually confuse the already existing interface. I don't know what analogy would help you, but the next time you get into your car and reach for the fan control, think about how you already know where it is. Now, say I add a few redundant changes, such as add fan control to your steering wheel, or fan control to your in-dash setup, or in your computer--completely redundant. Say I remove the original one, or offer different but all-together similar choices--totally CONFUSING. Also, you seem to think tagging is essentially good, but IT IS NOT. The UI needs to be effective in its SIMPLICITY, not because it lacks choices or variables. End of rant, and I'm sorry, but don't be offended.
... You wouldn't happen to work for Blizzards UI team would you? None of what he said was "redundant", in fact it was EXACTLY what is missing from Blizzards attempt (that's a key word, because it was a failed attempt) at "simplicity" as you said. He actually compartmentalized the poorly made UI, made it MORE efficient to SIMPLISTICALLY navigate and whatever you are ranting on about has NOTHING to do with his attempts at becoming an artist (or obviously Designer because like you said his changes are mainly design based) but are somehow related to thinking his changes are bad (or redundant) and you have some vendetta.
To use your awful car analogy, imagine this, you buy an old Corolla, it has normal gas intake and a AC on the dash like any other corolla. (this is starcraft BW) nothing fancy, everything is there to handle. Now you have the new Hybrid Ford Fusion, Electric gas powered machine, save on gas, efficent driving, style, sleek, but instead of getting to your AC which usto be in a single place (the dashboard) you NOW because of how the UI is designed have your AC/Radio/CD player ALL seperated by a dash board compartment, so now you have to open seperate compartments to reach things that are all related in the sense of secondary need, but a need nonetheless, so here's where the analogy kicks in if you haven't pieced this together after your god awful attempt at belittling his work that completely (in 5 days) improved on a system that is pathetic. The seperated compartments, for the "efficient" new model are the SC2 user interface, the upgrades are simply removing the horrid compartmentalized model and making a more easy to use efficient model
This was, unlike yours, a well thought out rebut to your claim over his work. Please next time, before you place your uneducated, lack of thought opinions on someones work that they really worked hard on in an facetious manner, please think a bit harder or if you have trouble doing that, refrain from typing at all.
Thank you.
On March 16 2012 19:46 how wrote: While I think this guy has some great ideas, I was unclear as to whether or not he actually knows, or has any idea, about how to program. It is easy to say "This is something good!" but have no idea how much time or work that would take.
I don't understand what you're getting at, don't take this wrong I could be incorrect, but he stated it took him 5 days to implement these changes on his own computer (so through his own file of SC2) into a working model. The actual transfer of data/programming required (I am a graduate of Computer Sciences are UNB, with a degree in this field and working for RIM) would not take an even half ass UI team (which I hope Blizzard intends on finding) more than 1-2 weeks to create and implement efficently without any mistakes. The more skilled the team, the less time it would take. His changes were not COMPLETELY reworking the system, it was just modding the workings. The only real additions of difficulty would be the programming of getting the Replay organizer/tag system implemented because that is "new" in regards to the system.
EDIT: To expand on this, it is also the companies job to keep players interested long enough to purchase HOTS and the LotV, so it is there JOB because they want to make MONEY to upgrade the game to a level at which is acceptable in this day an age. Spend money to make money, upgrade to grow fan base. It's no secret the UI team for Blizzard is awful, if you didn't notice they are trying to fuck (key word: Fuck as in totally break the entire game, and ruin it) Diablo III's chat system which was one of the BIGGEST FREAKING PARTS, just like they did with sc2...
For a UI Artist application I was disappointed at the lack of examples of your artwork. I think Blizzard won't be interested in your ideas (they probably already have the design documentation for upcoming bnet). But they will want an artist who can design new interfaces using existing art styles.
I think you would have been better served by redesigning bnet with a zerg/hots theme as a display of artistic skill while adding some of your own ideas.
On March 16 2012 19:47 NeMeSiS3 wrote: It's no secret the UI team for Blizzard is awful, if you didn't notice they are trying to fuck (key word: Fuck as in totally break the entire game, and ruin it) Diablo III's chat system which was one of the BIGGEST FREAKING PARTS, just like they did with sc2...
The Blizzard UI artists are good. A UI artist is in charge of the graphics of the UI not the functionality, you are thinking of the decisions the lead designer for Battle.net makes which is a totally different position.
Netscape 6.0 is finally going into its first public beta. There never was a version 5.0. The last major release, version 4.0, was released almost three years ago. Three years is an awfully long time in the Internet world. During this time, Netscape sat by, helplessly, as their market share plummeted.
It's a bit smarmy of me to criticize them for waiting so long between releases. They didn't do it on purpose, now, did they?
Well, yes. They did. They did it by making the single worst strategic mistake that any software company can make:
They decided to rewrite the code from scratch.
Netscape wasn't the first company to make this mistake. Borland made the same mistake when they bought Arago and tried to make it into dBase for Windows, a doomed project that took so long that Microsoft Access ate their lunch, then they made it again in rewriting Quattro Pro from scratch and astonishing people with how few features it had. Microsoft almost made the same mistake, trying to rewrite Word for Windows from scratch in a doomed project called Pyramid which was shut down, thrown away, and swept under the rug. Lucky for Microsoft, they had never stopped working on the old code base, so they had something to ship, making it merely a financial disaster, not a strategic one.
On March 16 2012 18:40 NeMeSiS3 wrote: I dunno if you know, but Blizzard has nearly unlimited resources in retrospect to the gaming industry (that's the whole idea of all the joking about them ruling everything) The financial income they receive just from WoW could support 10 UI teams, and still be profitable...
This is a little bit of a hyperbole. Blizzard also has some business sense and they know that hiring 10 more people to design the UI is very unlikely to recuperate the cost. There aren't many lost sales due to "the UI is functional" instead of "the UI is good". But like I said, I do feel that they have focused a little bit too much on "what makes this game sell" instead of "how do we make an outstanding game in every regard" with SC2 and D3 and scaled their dedicated staff accordingly. But that's just the feeling I get, I got little in the way of actually proving that.
It's a nice video but given its purpose it comes across as somewhat cocky (but that might also be due to cultural differences).
A few things that stood out to me while watching:
(1) low signal/noise ratio - a lot of "awesome", "great", "groundbreaking", ... and similar fluff - I found myself fast-forwarding several times because I wanted to get to the actual content and you were just talking about how great everything is without explaining what is great and why it is great.
(2) you don't seem to give a lot of thought to the question of why things are the way they are. Blizzard's UI designers are probably not stupid and while the lack of some functionality may be attributed to deadlines it is more likely that most of it is the result of deliberate decisions (which you should strive to understand before improving on them).
(3) you don't explain the rationale behind your proposed changes other than "I'd like to have this functionality, it makes my life easier". the users of Starcraft are probably not one homogenous group and it's even less likely that they are one homogenous group that shares exactly your preferences you should try to identify different classes of users, what their objectives are when using the replay/match history system and which workflows they have developed to achieve these objectives. Special attention to those users that don't use the system at all - do they ignore it because they don't need it, because they don't know about it or because they can't find a suitable workflow for doing what they want to do? Then you can take the issues you identified via usability testing and assign them to the tasks/workflows they impact. For each change you should have a clear idea which tasks it simplifies, for which classes of users this task is relevant and what the trade-off of the change is - whose workflows do you make more complex or even impossible, how does your change affect the overall complexity (and learning curve) of the product, ... almost no non-trivial change is unequivocally beneficial to all users.
I'm no designer but I worked as a software developer for a company that does usability testing and UI design for a wide range of clients - from car controls to websites. Based on that experience I would really prefer a simple printed mockup or even sketch (seperate for each individual change, no matter how small) along with a written description and justification of that change to the sort of advertisment video you provide. IMHO the video format and its limitations make you focus too much on the specific results you arrive at (which Blizzard will discard anyways) instead of showing off the methodology & reasoning you use to arrive at these results (which are the qualities Blizzard would hire you for).
On March 16 2012 19:47 NeMeSiS3 wrote: I don't understand what you're getting at, don't take this wrong I could be incorrect, but he stated it took him 5 days to implement these changes on his own computer (so through his own file of SC2) into a working model. The actual transfer of data/programming required (I am a graduate of Computer Sciences are UNB, with a degree in this field and working for RIM) would not take an even half ass UI team (which I hope Blizzard intends on finding) more than 1-2 weeks to create and implement efficently without any mistakes. The more skilled the team, the less time it would take. His changes were not COMPLETELY reworking the system, it was just modding the workings. The only real additions of difficulty would be the programming of getting the Replay organizer/tag system implemented because that is "new" in regards to the system.
I think you're underestimating the complexity of the proposed changes somewhat. Especially the linking of replay-database to match history is far from trivial. Currently, the replay-browser is nothing more than a very basic file browser inside the SC2 client. All the replay files are directly accessible outside SC2 as well. The match history on the other side is a server-side system, which allows players to view the match history of others. Linking these two will require some major reworking of these systems.
Blizzard would implement this and many more but the technology simply isn't there yet. These ideas are ok but i don't think that Blizzard's develepers are lacking ideas, i think they haven't put in resources and efforts to upgrade their shitty UI. This next patch could be something that changes that.
On March 16 2012 06:24 Ashur wrote: I do not like those changes but icons in replays. Suggestions are useless for daily purpose. I mean, StarCraft II Bnet UI needs to be changed completely, not just to move this and that and add minor feature. Those requirements are in several threads already
1) Shared replays 1a) Serverside saved replays (anyone can just view my public replays, till I click just played game as "do not publish") 2) Be able to move to the middle or end of the replay immediately 3) Public chat channels 4) Chat commands (/whisper, /ignore, /join, /creategame) we are not xbox dumbasses to click 3 times to whisper, right? 5) Be able to join game from chat via clicking a button ("Observe" for example, when someone left channel and started new public game) 6) Be able to join game after it started, or this might be a feature to prevent cheating - see the real content with a slight 2 min delay 7) Statistics in UI (sc2 ranks stats for my profile, for our teams, its just numbers) 8) An option to show/hide my win/loss ratio to myself/others 9) Clan support 10) E-sports support, why I cannot see replays from games (perhaps with audio) and I have to see a stream? Why is there no stream directly in game UI when this event has Blizzard as a sponsor/partner? 11) Map market 11a) Model market, why you do not make some new models (e.g. CE Thor) of units paid for Blizzbucks? 12) Simplify it, I am just too lazy to click same sequence of tabs/buttons/scroll/rightclicks over and over 13) Screw realms, make it global as it used to be 14) Charts, more charts in game for casters, and more charts in BN UI to analyze. What about chart for income, for unit loss etc.
I mean, game itself is perfect, but whoever made current Battle.NET UI 2.0 just failed. It sucks. It definitely sucks.
Blizzard should be leader in game industry, so far I see that people are complaining. Other companies do a lot - a lot more, to make their games user friendly. It's sad. Oh and BTW So far it seems that D3 socializing will have same "empty" syndrom as SC2 has.
way more important improvement then the op suggested
I like many of the changes, at least for a start. I don't think that if you were hired you would immediately be put and charge and able to just implement all this, but still it is a good start.
One little stat that I think would be fun to see is total actions in a game. Imagine one of those 40 minute pro games... a quadrillion actions XD
On March 16 2012 21:42 Mesha wrote: Blizzard would implement this and many more but the technology simply isn't there yet. These ideas are ok but i don't think that Blizzard's develepers are lacking ideas, i think they haven't put in resources and efforts to upgrade their shitty UI. This next patch could be something that changes that.
The technology isn't there to launch a replay from the score screen? To add tabs to replays?
You make it sound like Blizzard is attempting to design a quantum computer.
These changes would be awesome. Really awesome and would make Battle Net so much more comfortable and easy. But there is so much more that could be done better with this UI! I really really hope Blizzard will focus on this and put a lot of effort into it. The UI is still on a very low level for a game of this quality. Even if Blizz had to hire some more people to do it. This should be really high on the priority list! Gj op.
Well, OP covered like 10% of the things that HAVE TO BE CHANGED. Is it better than battle.net at the moment? Yes. Does it cover all areas that cry for improvement? No.
On March 16 2012 21:42 Mesha wrote: Blizzard would implement this and many more but the technology simply isn't there yet. These ideas are ok but i don't think that Blizzard's develepers are lacking ideas, i think they haven't put in resources and efforts to upgrade their shitty UI. This next patch could be something that changes that.
The technology isn't there to launch a replay from the score screen? To add tabs to replays?
You make it sound like Blizzard is attempting to design a quantum computer.
It was sarcasm. The phrase "the technology isn't there yet" was used by Blizzard as a comment regarding shared viewing of replays if I recall correctly (something BW had mind you). Might have been something else regarding replays though.
my bad it was actually something TB said sarcastically: reddit
edit2: which was a quote from Frank Pearce regarding cross-region play (basically saying the ping is too high)
You know, it depends on the technology infrastructure provided by the telecommunications providers. It's something that we'll be constantly evaluating and looking at. In an ideal world, the Blizzard gaming community would be unified in one global region, but the technology's just not there yet. Ten years ago, we weren't making 3D games. Hopefully, in the same way that we're making 3D games today and we weren't ten years ago, down the road the connectivity in terms of the internet will be such that we can bring everyone together in a unified community, but it's just not possible right now. That's the ideal world.
I just wanted to say thanks for all the comments: both positive and negative. I am still catching up on all of them, but I assure you: I am reading every one. Thanks so very much for all the views, and for all of the support!
On March 16 2012 19:47 NeMeSiS3 wrote: I don't understand what you're getting at, don't take this wrong I could be incorrect, but he stated it took him 5 days to implement these changes on his own computer (so through his own file of SC2) into a working model. The actual transfer of data/programming required (I am a graduate of Computer Sciences are UNB, with a degree in this field and working for RIM) would not take an even half ass UI team (which I hope Blizzard intends on finding) more than 1-2 weeks to create and implement efficently without any mistakes. The more skilled the team, the less time it would take. His changes were not COMPLETELY reworking the system, it was just modding the workings. The only real additions of difficulty would be the programming of getting the Replay organizer/tag system implemented because that is "new" in regards to the system.
I think you're underestimating the complexity of the proposed changes somewhat. Especially the linking of replay-database to match history is far from trivial. Currently, the replay-browser is nothing more than a very basic file browser inside the SC2 client. All the replay files are directly accessible outside SC2 as well. The match history on the other side is a server-side system, which allows players to view the match history of others. Linking these two will require some major reworking of these systems.
If you read what I said, "the real additions of difficulty would be the programming of getting the replay organizer/tag system implemented" The match history> replay is under that category. You'd be hard pressed to find a UI team that can't solve that problem in two weeks.
On March 16 2012 08:56 laLAlA[uC] wrote: holy fuck. my application looks like dirt compared to this.
lol So you are the competition huh? Best of luck to you. I am just glad to see other StarCraft 2 fans trying to get involved with the game's development.
... You wouldn't happen to work for Blizzards UI team would you?
Since you never addressed any of the realistic business-side issues that actually being employed at such a huge company as Blizzard (or any company) deems as necessary, and you never answered any of my reasons for the critique through picking careers (as in, this is an employment application) through such an important, and in-depth project I don't really know what to say to you, other than your attack is largely ad hominen, emotional and dismisses the fact that the original video is grossly detracted from the actual job that he desires. Furthermore, since he's calling for employment, it's different. If this were a simple "hey look what SC II can be" then, like I said, I would agree with it more. As of right now, there's no reason to curtail those emotions and ignore the fallacies that exist in his logic--also, why are you speaking for him in such a manner, anyway? I'm sure he can respond if he wishes, and taking up a random, anonymous white-knight for your defense is all-together, I don't know, baseless?
On March 16 2012 06:24 Ashur wrote: I do not like those changes but icons in replays. Suggestions are useless for daily purpose. I mean, StarCraft II Bnet UI needs to be changed completely, not just to move this and that and add minor feature. Those requirements are in several threads already
1) Shared replays 1a) Serverside saved replays (anyone can just view my public replays, till I click just played game as "do not publish") 2) Be able to move to the middle or end of the replay immediately 3) Public chat channels 4) Chat commands (/whisper, /ignore, /join, /creategame) we are not xbox dumbasses to click 3 times to whisper, right? 5) Be able to join game from chat via clicking a button ("Observe" for example, when someone left channel and started new public game) 6) Be able to join game after it started, or this might be a feature to prevent cheating - see the real content with a slight 2 min delay 7) Statistics in UI (sc2 ranks stats for my profile, for our teams, its just numbers) 8) An option to show/hide my win/loss ratio to myself/others 9) Clan support 10) E-sports support, why I cannot see replays from games (perhaps with audio) and I have to see a stream? Why is there no stream directly in game UI when this event has Blizzard as a sponsor/partner? 11) Map market 11a) Model market, why you do not make some new models (e.g. CE Thor) of units paid for Blizzbucks? 12) Simplify it, I am just too lazy to click same sequence of tabs/buttons/scroll/rightclicks over and over 13) Screw realms, make it global as it used to be 14) Charts, more charts in game for casters, and more charts in BN UI to analyze. What about chart for income, for unit loss etc.
I mean, game itself is perfect, but whoever made current Battle.NET UI 2.0 just failed. It sucks. It definitely sucks.
Blizzard should be leader in game industry, so far I see that people are complaining. Other companies do a lot - a lot more, to make their games user friendly. It's sad. Oh and BTW So far it seems that D3 socializing will have same "empty" syndrom as SC2 has.
way more important improvement then the op suggested
+1 to what ashur wrote. too bad this is just a dream and blizzard will never improve their sucky bnet 0.2 interface as it seems /sigh
I want ALL of this, that was truly amazing. My god if this guy isn't hired I'm going to boycott all of Blizzard products. Cuz that is alot of useful shit gimmie gimmie
On March 16 2012 06:14 Legion710 wrote: Obviously, they need to hire this guy, but it's not like there weren't a million other persons that would've done it for them before...
THIS. Also the reason why they will not hire him and make those improvements. Those guys currently on the job dont want to.
On March 16 2012 21:42 Mesha wrote: Blizzard would implement this and many more but the technology simply isn't there yet. These ideas are ok but i don't think that Blizzard's develepers are lacking ideas, i think they haven't put in resources and efforts to upgrade their shitty UI. This next patch could be something that changes that.
The technology isn't there to launch a replay from the score screen? To add tabs to replays?
You make it sound like Blizzard is attempting to design a quantum computer.
It was sarcasm. The phrase "the technology isn't there yet" was used by Blizzard as a comment regarding shared viewing of replays if I recall correctly (something BW had mind you). Might have been something else regarding replays though.
my bad it was actually something TB said sarcastically: reddit
edit2: which was a quote from Frank Pearce regarding cross-region play (basically saying the ping is too high)
You know, it depends on the technology infrastructure provided by the telecommunications providers. It's something that we'll be constantly evaluating and looking at. In an ideal world, the Blizzard gaming community would be unified in one global region, but the technology's just not there yet. Ten years ago, we weren't making 3D games. Hopefully, in the same way that we're making 3D games today and we weren't ten years ago, down the road the connectivity in terms of the internet will be such that we can bring everyone together in a unified community, but it's just not possible right now. That's the ideal world.
Since a lot of people seem to be commenting on the whole difference between an Artist and a Designer, and what role development plays in the whole thing, I thought I would share this:
It is an interview with Nick Slough, who is the Lead UI Artist on StarCraft 2, and at around 58 minutes it starts into a whole discussion on Designer versus Developer argument and what roles each plays. The shows hosts kind of dominate the conversation a lot, but he does talk a bit about how in his eyes they are all part of the development team and should be involved with making the best product possible. As it relates to this topic, and it is somewhat interesting: I thought I would go ahead and share.
On March 16 2012 06:24 Ashur wrote: I do not like those changes but icons in replays. Suggestions are useless for daily purpose. I mean, StarCraft II Bnet UI needs to be changed completely, not just to move this and that and add minor feature. Those requirements are in several threads already
1) Shared replays 1a) Serverside saved replays (anyone can just view my public replays, till I click just played game as "do not publish") 2) Be able to move to the middle or end of the replay immediately 3) Public chat channels 4) Chat commands (/whisper, /ignore, /join, /creategame) we are not xbox dumbasses to click 3 times to whisper, right? 5) Be able to join game from chat via clicking a button ("Observe" for example, when someone left channel and started new public game) 6) Be able to join game after it started, or this might be a feature to prevent cheating - see the real content with a slight 2 min delay 7) Statistics in UI (sc2 ranks stats for my profile, for our teams, its just numbers) 8) An option to show/hide my win/loss ratio to myself/others 9) Clan support 10) E-sports support, why I cannot see replays from games (perhaps with audio) and I have to see a stream? Why is there no stream directly in game UI when this event has Blizzard as a sponsor/partner? 11) Map market 11a) Model market, why you do not make some new models (e.g. CE Thor) of units paid for Blizzbucks? 12) Simplify it, I am just too lazy to click same sequence of tabs/buttons/scroll/rightclicks over and over 13) Screw realms, make it global as it used to be 14) Charts, more charts in game for casters, and more charts in BN UI to analyze. What about chart for income, for unit loss etc.
I mean, game itself is perfect, but whoever made current Battle.NET UI 2.0 just failed. It sucks. It definitely sucks.
Blizzard should be leader in game industry, so far I see that people are complaining. Other companies do a lot - a lot more, to make their games user friendly. It's sad. Oh and BTW So far it seems that D3 socializing will have same "empty" syndrom as SC2 has.
way more important improvement then the op suggested
No one has ever put it better. These minor changes arent enough. All these suggestions would have more effect than more shiny icons and graphic changes. Maybe people would actually spend their time in bnet if it would be that convienent and play more themselves. I definetely think we need to grow our playerbase in the long run for esports to grow.
On March 17 2012 02:21 Xxazn4lyfe51xX wrote: These changes look amazing! I really hope you get the position!
That being said, to better your chances of getting said position, fix the typo at 7:23 You have Ehacing instead of Enhancing.
Good luck!
lol Yeah I noticed that right after it started to get traction... I don't think there is a way to replace a video without creating a new one, but I could be wrong. Regardless, thanks for letting me know! I just let that one get away from me unfortunately.
Very nice. As a starcraft fan and a professional designer, this is great work (and only just the beginning). What about group replay watching? Blizzard, hire this man now.
In all honesty, the emphasis you put on the amazing changes you have thought out for the UI got me dissapointed. The changes in the video, IMO, isn't that original; I thought there was going to be more except replays and match history.
... You wouldn't happen to work for Blizzards UI team would you?
Since you never addressed any of the realistic business-side issues that actually being employed at such a huge company as Blizzard (or any company) deems as necessary, and you never answered any of my reasons for the critique through picking careers (as in, this is an employment application) through such an important, and in-depth project I don't really know what to say to you, other than your attack is largely ad hominen, emotional and dismisses the fact that the original video is grossly detracted from the actual job that he desires. Furthermore, since he's calling for employment, it's different. If this were a simple "hey look what SC II can be" then, like I said, I would agree with it more. As of right now, there's no reason to curtail those emotions and ignore the fallacies that exist in his logic--also, why are you speaking for him in such a manner, anyway? I'm sure he can respond if he wishes, and taking up a random, anonymous white-knight for your defense is all-together, I don't know, baseless?
the biggest question out of all of that, since you only managed to quote the part in which I asked you if you work for Blizzards UI team is, do you? Since you singled out that specific quote you'd imagine that you'd answer it.
These are good proposals, though I feel like a lot of the proposed changes are basic UI features that should've been included in the package to begin with, had Blizzard been even remotely considerate towards UI.
TBH, the inefficiency of finding replays to their corresponding match histories, or having to reselect the match history category after returning from viewing match details simply because it didn't provide us with enough information on the list itself are unacceptable design flaws considering how easy they are to implement, just to name a couple out of many.
The lack of effort put in by blizzard in regards to UI is astounding in contrast to the quality of the game itself. Truly, the UI is dragging the SC2 experience down for its users.
So props for actually doing something and getting this video out there.
There are a couple things I'd like to say though:
I couldn't help but cringe when you mention that you thought the interface was already well designed and had a difficult time in finding ways to improve upon it. If you really think this way, I believe your standard for UI design is set unacceptably low, especially considering you're a designer yourself. If you don't really think this way (which I'm personally assuming) you're kissing their asses for a failed design. Either way the statement doesn't belong in this video.
You're quite dramatic as well, with the tone of your voice, vocabulary, and the choice of background music. You might want to turn down the sensationalism and get to the points to "up" your credibility.
... You wouldn't happen to work for Blizzards UI team would you?
Since you never addressed any of the realistic business-side issues that actually being employed at such a huge company as Blizzard (or any company) deems as necessary, and you never answered any of my reasons for the critique through picking careers (as in, this is an employment application) through such an important, and in-depth project I don't really know what to say to you, other than your attack is largely ad hominen, emotional and dismisses the fact that the original video is grossly detracted from the actual job that he desires. Furthermore, since he's calling for employment, it's different. If this were a simple "hey look what SC II can be" then, like I said, I would agree with it more. As of right now, there's no reason to curtail those emotions and ignore the fallacies that exist in his logic--also, why are you speaking for him in such a manner, anyway? I'm sure he can respond if he wishes, and taking up a random, anonymous white-knight for your defense is all-together, I don't know, baseless?
the biggest question out of all of that, since you only managed to quote the part in which I asked you if you work for Blizzards UI team is, do you? Since you singled out that specific quote you'd imagine that you'd answer it.
I am in complete agreement with ffdestiny here. The video does not at all adress an interface artist. Go look at the job requirements. A task for an interface artist might be something along the lines of: "So the GUI Designer made this prototype, with these buttons here, here, here and here. We want you to texture and animate these buttons."
I'm terribly sorry to put it so crudely, because i'm sure this guy is passionate about it, but i'll be a monkey's uncle if he gets the job.
... You wouldn't happen to work for Blizzards UI team would you?
Since you never addressed any of the realistic business-side issues that actually being employed at such a huge company as Blizzard (or any company) deems as necessary, and you never answered any of my reasons for the critique through picking careers (as in, this is an employment application) through such an important, and in-depth project I don't really know what to say to you, other than your attack is largely ad hominen, emotional and dismisses the fact that the original video is grossly detracted from the actual job that he desires. Furthermore, since he's calling for employment, it's different. If this were a simple "hey look what SC II can be" then, like I said, I would agree with it more. As of right now, there's no reason to curtail those emotions and ignore the fallacies that exist in his logic--also, why are you speaking for him in such a manner, anyway? I'm sure he can respond if he wishes, and taking up a random, anonymous white-knight for your defense is all-together, I don't know, baseless?
the biggest question out of all of that, since you only managed to quote the part in which I asked you if you work for Blizzards UI team is, do you? Since you singled out that specific quote you'd imagine that you'd answer it.
I am in complete agreement with ffdestiny here. The video does not at all adress an interface artist. Go look at the job requirements. A task for an interface artist might be something along the lines of: "So the GUI Designer made this prototype, with these buttons here, here, here and here. We want you to texture and animate these buttons."
I'm terribly sorry to put it so crudely, because i'm sure this guy is passionate about it, but i'll be a monkey's uncle if he gets the job.
if you read back (he edited out the entire quote I posted to just add that) I agreed with that, what I was even arguing about was how he stated the changes were "redimdamt" and he said something along the lines of why change the system simplistic nature for a more complicated UI (which it would actually be the reverse)
I never argued that the job hes seeking is actually incorrect for what he's showing.
It's baffling that these kinds of things weren't implemented in the first place. No offence to OP, but the proposed changes are intuitive and should have been thought of the first thing around.
Also, watch replays with friends needs to be added, no question.
This makes me want to kill myself more than that Kony video.
The changes you proposed are very very limited.
A complete re-hall of the whole UI is needed in my opinion. With all the stuff there adding in, in HotS i think a complete UI design is needed as its going to make it even more confusing and annoying to get your head around.
On March 17 2012 05:16 faulty wrote: It's baffling that these kinds of things weren't implemented in the first place. No offence to OP, but the proposed changes are intuitive and should have been thought of the first thing around.
On March 17 2012 05:16 faulty wrote: It's baffling that these kinds of things weren't implemented in the first place. No offence to OP, but the proposed changes are intuitive and should have been thought of the first thing around.
This too. They are not 'groundbreaking'.
Hi, I'm the real you, I hope you can change for the both of us.
On March 17 2012 05:16 faulty wrote: It's baffling that these kinds of things weren't implemented in the first place. No offence to OP, but the proposed changes are intuitive and should have been thought of the first thing around.
This too. They are not 'groundbreaking'.
Hi, I'm the real you, I hope you can change for the both of us.
On March 17 2012 04:53 sAymole wrote: These are good proposals, though I feel like a lot of the proposed changes are basic UI features that should've been included in the package to begin with, had Blizzard been even remotely considerate towards UI.
TBH, the inefficiency of finding replays to their corresponding match histories, or having to reselect the match history category after returning from viewing match details simply because it didn't provide us with enough information on the list itself are unacceptable design flaws considering how easy they are to implement, just to name a couple out of many.
The lack of effort put in by blizzard in regards to UI is astounding in contrast to the quality of the game itself. Truly, the UI is dragging the SC2 experience down for its users.
...
I couldn't help but cringe when you mention that you thought the interface was already well designed and had a difficult time in finding ways to improve upon it. If you really think this way, I believe your standard for UI design is set unacceptably low, especially considering you're a designer yourself. If you don't really think this way (which I'm personally assuming) you're kissing their asses for a failed design. Either way the statement doesn't belong in this video.
On March 16 2012 06:17 TheChostoProject wrote: Not to be rude, but it seems like a lot of high level ideas and no concern of how to do it.
The linking of replay and match history... how would they implement that without storing replays in the server?
Yeah this. Did you take into account the changes that would have to be made to the game code etc.?
The thought I had was a localized XML file that stored all the crosslinked data. Your match history is just a web page anyways, it would not be an issue to check a XML file while it is loading data from Blizzard's site. If you are on someone elses computer and the replay file is not available then it just greys out the load replay button, or if the file is deleted it would automatically remove that entry from the crosslinking file.
Initially I did go into a lot more detail about how things worked, and covered a lot more ideas... but the voiceover was around 25 minutes long and I did not think anyone would watch all of it anyways; so I scrapped it and kept it short and sweet. I suppose I could have provided more data using on screen text, but I was afraid that would be too distracting. (Plus I was trying to get this thing out relatively quickly.)
I agree with you overall though, as if it is only pie in the sky suggestions it does not do much good. However, even if I did include a lot of technical information: I would be guessing somewhat as to how StarCraft 2's back end did things; so my proposals might not be very good anyways if I am incorrect in my understanding of how things work.
I should probably point out that this position is for a User Interface Artist anwyways, and I am not sure how much they have to do with coding things on the back end anyways. (The job listing makes no mention of any language knowledge or coding experience; so I think it is just graphical design and modeling layouts... which is what I did.)
The problem is that you sound like an "idea guy" instead of someone who "gets shit done". If you're applying for a low level position, chances are that your employer is not looking for someone with fresh ideas that can bring someone new to the table and fix their shit, they are looking for someone who can do whatever they're told to do in the best way possible.
If you're position is artist, i'd expect to see more of buttons designs, icons, maybe tables / grids, ways to implement images and effects etc. Functionality is not what artists do.
Everybody has ideas, but only the good people actually make those ideas happen.
When you're applying for a job at a BIG company, if you come in and say "Wow, you guys really missed the mark on this. Your game 14 years ago has better UI than this piece of crap." You're not going to get the job at that company, unless you have some great credentials to back you up.
EPT
that's not a bad thing though. Probably not a good idea to tell blizzard how awful their UI is in your application video.
I'd actually say the interface is pretty damn bad, I mean your solutions are sooo simple, yet would be such an incredibly awesome improvement. Gl, hope you get it 
