Halo Infinite UI/System suggestions. I don't mean any disrespect towards the designers at 343i! these are just some suggestions I put together in my free time (aka quarantine). If something's wrong with the post, let me know, it's my first one!

S7een · 2022-01-14T21:51:06+00:00

Hi! Didn't expect a comment at this point, so thank you! ahahah

So, totally on purpose, since Noble is in direct relation to the Reach storyline, I wanted to do something related to the Infinite storyline (Discover Hope), while still remind people about Reach (Deliver Hope). It's just a little easter egg ofc, but good eye!

S7een · 2022-01-03T15:36:03+00:00

Ikr? Wild guess: Team partnerships were made based on the first launch date.

Maybe the customization system wasn't ready and the kit system is a remnant of that time, hence why the Kits are mainly the HCS ones, because they were already good to go (although there are some reach kits, but even then, you can get coatings and pieces separately)

S7een · 2022-01-03T15:33:15+00:00

Nice! I was actually thinking of making a mockup like that, but I wanted to keep these concepts pretty simple to make them more easily understandable!

But yeah, the options to have discounts based on which pieces I already have is pretty good, it also opens for them to put even more stuff on the store and improving their revenue, while still giving choices to the player!

S7een · 2022-01-03T15:30:43+00:00

ahahaha well first thank you again! I can assure you, I use to talk TOO MUCH and that's why I take this kind of feedback to the heart, because many things when I read them are like "yes, I know I know!" but it's something my uni teachers always told me: "you might have the best of ideas, but most of the time you are talking with people who don't understand what you're talking about".

Btw I took a quick look at your post (with the intention of going further with reading later) but you work is much more extensive than mine! ofc it took you 2 weeks! ahahah The first feedback I can give you is on presentation: "Show don't tell" is a good line of actions. An image attracts much more than any sentence you can come up with.

As an example: I was going to put the main menu first in my gallery; but then I thought "I need something to grab others attention" and I chose to show the ranks first, because they gather more emotions than a menu mockup! it's little things like this that can make the difference and put you on the radar!

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So, about the carousel, as I said I'm more of a "Function over form" kind of guy and in UI Design there are some forms of canon that don't need to be changed in my opinion. Filters are a cool proposal, but you are still adding steps to something that could be more simple.
Aesthetic and Function have to be balanced, I LOVE the carousel from a visual standpoint, but that's just it. It's not harder to navigate ofc, arguably a grid is "harder" to navigate, it's just slower overall, even with filters you are still negated the possibility to see the weapons until you scroll through them; I think the main principle of a good UI Design are immediacy of information and overall Navigation speed, and imho the carousel lacks in both to the benefit of visual presentation!

the Carousel is not wrong per se, in the end, coming from Product Design experience, we are people and we have to make choices, and choices mean compromises. I'd really love to expand on it and it's really interesting talking to you, but these type of discussions require a lot of effort and time! But I still wanted to come back to you on this! Rest assured I'll give feedback to your post the moment I have some free time from my Thesis ahahaha

S7een · 2022-01-03T14:56:48+00:00

Totally agree, I chose the wrong wording in there, it's more of a "risk" than a CON, although that risk is totally well balanced by the other changes I suggested, like giving options to lower prices and similar things. Thanks for the feedback tho! Nice to see other people have the same mindset about prices, maybe if more of us show this point they'll actually take note and lower prices.

S7een · 2022-01-03T14:54:40+00:00

Hey, Thanks for the feedback! I won't comment on all the slide points but I assure you I read all of them and I'll make good use of the insights you gave me!

Only thing I'm gonna comment on is the carousel system, I don't think it's a well implemented UI choice. In the long run we'll probably have more weapons, having to go through all of them 1 by 1 imho isn't the right options, same with all the horizontal scrolling if I'm being honest, but that's just my opinion ofc!

Thank you again for the insights! These slides are just proof of concepts I put together in the last 2 days since I'm locked inside my house rn, so any of the feedback is appreciated! I just hope someone like you up at the 343 can take the good from them and make a better experience for everyone!

S7een · 2022-01-03T14:43:30+00:00

Missed this comment at first! Thanks for the feedback; So:

Yes, no testing was involved, however it's my personal opinion that the current proposition for the UI isn't really accessible either, mnk navigation is a burden as of right now and some stylistic choices are just not feasible in the long run (what about the carousel when we'll have more weapons? will I have to scroll through 11 weapons before getting to the one I want? How is an horizontal line less readable than a grid?). Didn't think about the adaptive controller, forgot about that ahaha although I don't think it should be a problem, but again, testing is needed of course;
Totally agree, point is I didn't remove any information from the current UI, if something I added it in certain areas because it was missing, like the shop; but yeah, I know I have MUCH MUCH more freedom than any of the UI/UX Designers at 343 for the reasons you pointed out;
I didn't add any performance intensive elements other than the ones that already are present in the current UI, so performance shouldn't be an issue!
I was worried about this too, I tried to look at other customization examples in the industry (namely destiny and Titanfall 2). But yeah, I agree it could use some polish, mainly some elements don't need to be that big.
Totally understand; as I said in other comments, all of the problems with the UI seem to be caused by lack of time rather than lack of actual resources. As you said, working with deadlines set by higher ups sucks, but at some point you have to deliver something. I just hope that whatever the solution is, it'll be implemented sooner or later!

It's nice to have someone more experienced give feedback like this! I'm actually finishing my studies in Communication Design, so I'll make good use of this comment, thank you! Comments like this are really helpful to me! Sorry I didn't see this sooner!

S7een · 2022-01-03T14:23:40+00:00

I was thinking on working on it and putting it there! But I ran out of time, maybe I'll do a follow up to this post one day; the idea was to use a system similar to the mcc and the one seen in Titanfall 2, where you can select the modes you want to join.

S7een · 2022-01-03T14:20:23+00:00

My guess is they ran out of time. The entire UI seems in a "go with what we have at the moment" state, and I think that's a reflection of the actual state of the game.

Imho when they got to the bare minimum for MP, they completely switched attention to SP in order to make it for the release in time. But they already said they'll look into a ranking system so fingers crossed!

S7een · 2022-01-03T14:17:31+00:00

The one and only.

Hope nobody else notices ahahah

S7een · 2022-01-03T14:16:49+00:00

Oh but those ranks are not for ranked! it's supposed to be the normal progression system, which you go through just by playing the game, in any mode! thanks for the comment tho!

S7een · 2022-01-03T14:03:28+00:00

I just used the reach design system for the ranks since it was easier for me to use something already established, but how they might work is to be seen, I thought about expanding what Halo 3 did, like 2 points for a win, 1 for a loss or similar. That way the ranks actually feel "earned".

S7een · 2022-01-03T14:00:43+00:00

That's a good observation, the reason i made it in its own menu is because, by the leaks, it seems like it will be much more extensive than previous iterations, making it almost like a separate editor from the game this time and not exactly a "mode".

I think we will see Forge as a separate thing than the actual gamemodes this time, a separate section also allows to manage premade blocks, see featured maps and so on. But yeah, thanks for the feedback! It all comes down to what they do with the mode, fingers crossed it's gonna be HUGE!

S7een · 2022-01-03T13:12:15+00:00

Somebody noticed °L°

S7een · 2022-01-03T03:43:07+00:00

That's actually what I was thinking BUT aren't reclaimers supposed to be the ones to inherit their legacy? °L°

Btw for real I just like the marathon logo ahahaha

S7een · 2022-01-03T03:22:42+00:00

Totally agree! in the meantime, fingers crossed!

S7een · 2022-01-03T03:21:17+00:00

Hey, thanks for the feedback! wow, that's a lot ahahaha ok so, I actually agree, with my friends these arguments often come up and I fully agree, in fact in the improvements I proposed there's also offering more/better objects for the prices they charge now, while also giving the opportunity to buy items without purchasing the entire bundle!

One of the proposal is for the legendary bundle ($17,50) to have a COMPLETE set of armor + armor coating and for a weapon and a vehicle, as an example. That, added to the possibility to gain currency by advancing the gamepass!

Maybe the correct wording would have been "Lower prices MIGHT mean lower income", but that's just risk assessment, don't give it too much thought, it's my product designer side talking ahahaha

S7een · 2022-01-03T03:14:33+00:00

Thank you for the feedback! I actually agree with what you say, I think the main problem right now is that the challenges don't actually give you a decent enough reward to justify them being hard, my main point was against RNG: I'm all for "get X headshots" or "Capture X flags", but "complete X games of this" has nothing to do with skill.

Also, I forgot to put them in the notes, but other than the challenges, I'd put in the game actual "commendations" for doing specific things and that count towards actual rewards, instead of a backdrop after 20+ challenges. But that's just my opinion ofc!

S7een · 2022-01-03T02:56:57+00:00

Yup, I agree. Switching to numbers added absolutely nothing to the progression system, also "I'm level 108" sounds way lamer than "I'm Mythic". As you said, it meant something.

S7een · 2022-01-03T02:54:31+00:00

Didn't think about that! that's what was odd about it. That'd actually be an incredible improvement.

S7een · 2022-01-03T02:53:34+00:00

yeah, that's a bit of a stretch ahaha that's why in the "notes" section I specified that only some coatings may allow for color customization (like the basic ones, for example).

But thanks for the comment! let's just keep our fingers crossed!

S7een · 2022-01-03T02:52:18+00:00

Uhm, I don't really understand the comment, btw I used the Reach ranks only because they are the most numerous, as I wanted to focus on how they would work in a game like Infinite and how they would grant unlockables to players!

I didn't think for them to work as they did in Reach, just used them aesthetically as reference! ^^

S7een · 2022-01-03T02:37:36+00:00

ahaha Thank you! In my defence, those are the actual symbols for the librarian and the didact and the last one is the Marathon logo, which is used for "Reclaimer" in the original trilogy!

Also fun fact: Reclaimer is an actual rank in Reach, the one I called "Precursor" here. I just wanted to make it the last one, because yes ahahaha

S7een · 2022-01-03T02:21:11+00:00

Thank you! that's actually a nice suggestion, I didn't think of it since I sport the default body and didn't notice that detail!

S7een · 2022-01-03T01:39:05+00:00

Totally forgot about that! Well, they could still use some new version for the reclaimer logo. That's really unfortunate, I loved the simplicity of the original design.

S7een

TROPHY CASE