If we evaluate the past twenty years of UI design in BGS games, we’ll see a common theme: progressive simplification. Item details and visual designs were drastically simplified for mass appeal, often at the expense of different usability experiences between console and PC game versions. As such, the problems to tackle are the following:
Create an interface that falls more in line with traditional RPG UI designs
Make usability similar if not the same between PC and Console
Simplify navigation between different menu screens
Redesigned User Flow
"Middleground" - Witcher/Destiny Mix
"Minimalist" - Destiny Inspired
"Full Functionality" - Witcher/BG3 Inspired
Design Iterations
I made three separate mockups of the initial inventory screen with various layouts.
Inspired by The Witcher, Destiny, and Baldur'S Gate 3
Community Feedback
I presented all three mockups on the Starfield subreddit with explanations of their inspirations and was immediately flooded with a few hundred comments of feedback.
The takeaways from my designs were the following:
“Middleground” and “Full Functionality” proved to be the most popular because they appeared management-focused. However, the layouts also felt cluttered.
“Minimalist” liked the clean look and layout and intuitive nature.
People preferred data readouts of their items as opposed to icon/slot representations.
There’s a small minority who prefer Starfield’s stock/vanilla UI with its singular list style
FINAL IDEATIONS
