New Ui Feedback From Ui/ux Designer: Visually Nicer, Slower To Use, More Clicks To Do The Same Task

[Caernarvon]

This is everything wrong with the new UI.

It's made for consoles rather than PC.

[WereSpectre]

I completely agree with each point laid out by the original poster.

 

Most of these issues can be rectified by removing the need to hit ESC and simply putting the list of alerts/operations back on the main screen along with the icons for the various functions.

 

in this way those few people who enjoy navigating a sea of UI options to do things that were once one click away can still do it.  The effort to make a slick and graphically nice 'personal ship' isn't wasted but the utility of the older interface is returned to the game.

 

This change needs to happen FAST though, or those of us who can't stand the inefficiency of the new UI may well find something else to do with their time.

 

 

[Llyssa]

Was going to post this elsewhere, but hey, why not megathread it:

The UI is far too clumsy now.

 

For example: If I want to check my messages, I have to exit out of my party, exit out of my planet, exit out of the navigation system, exit out of the liset lobby mode, and THEN(after all those escape button presses)....

 

I have to click comms, click inbox, and THEN select the message.

 

Previously, I could click the inbox button and see the newest message immediately.

 

I don't see how this is an improvement.

[Brasten]

Talk about feature reduction. You used to be able to see the resources dropped from a planet just by mousing over. Pictures say it all.

 

[BurntKitten]

This change needs to happen FAST though, or those of us who can't stand the inefficiency of the new UI may well find something else to do with their time.

 

Way ahead of you, unless something is done I'm moving on for reasons I've already stated in several posts.  It's very sad to see this is the direction the developers have chosen to take the game in, and I'm desperately hoping this isn't an indication of things to come but just a massive oversight and ambition run rampant.  I'm really hoping that someone at DE has noticed what we have all been saying and is making at least an effort to have functionality restored.  The quickest way to alienate your end userbase is to mess with basic interaction, the simple act of moving a button for example can have a completely undesired outcome.

[WereSpectre]

Well this is allot more than moving a button... its clearly an ambitious amount of coding but in the process they removed much of the one stop shopping for information available with the old UI and have made it into a button pushing marathon to get to the same information.

 

To those who say "you will get used to it" sure no problem.. its not HARD to use the new UI... its INEFFICIENT... and saying so doesn't make someone lazy, stupid, or incapable of uttering a coherent thought.  Fact is "you will get used to it" and "get over it" are nonconstructive replies that add no utility to the information being presented.

 

Like it or not UI 14 is vastly more time consuming to achieve the same task than its predecessor... even just the Hit ESC to see a menu is MORE WORK than before... why not just have the icons right on the screen? yah know like they were before? why make 1 click into 1 click, navigate, and click again? 

 

More clicks, less information per click, and longer navigation times = WORSE UI.... no matter how pretty you personally find it or how "immersive" you feel walking around the ship is.... 

 

In the end returning the Alert/ops list to the main screen for 1 click access...

 

returning the icons for the various functions (mail, foundry, etc) to the main screen for 1 click access...

 

returning the Online selection options to the main screen for one click access...

 

ALL help return the functionality of the U13 UI without throwing away or ruining all the work the U14 UI makes in terms of "immersion"... more immersion and menu navigation for those that want it... and LESS for the rest of us that want to spend less time "immersed in our ship" and more time "immersed in the blood of pesky Infested vermin"

[StrahlTiger]

A agree with everything OP said. I love the ship, I love the ambitious nature of making a more immersive menu system, but after the shine wears off, it actually becomes a headache (not only from the jiggling menu view motion sickness). What it does for immersion, also smacks you back into reality as you take so much longer to even simple tasks.

 

Just changing weapons an loadouts takes far longer. While I LOVE the comparative stats when switching, everything takes time to load. Double-click equipping weapons is non-existant. You need to click, let it load and then wait for the equip icon to pop up. Then you can click equip, or double click. ABC loadouts also take time to respond and load as well as every added mod lags and takes time to load the appropriate stat comparison.

 

The foundry and mods UI are just...they're just a mess. I had to go into fuse and select "Show maxed mods" to be able to see them in the all section. I have such a tiny view of all my mods for such a massive window, and I can't even see the ones on the left clearly because my warframe is in the way as I fiddle around. Same with the foundry. It's hard to see things on the left clearly, as OP pointed out, and the side-bar of resources that's now gone was way more useful than you may have realized. I'm not sure why this new UI is so obsessed with hiding things behind clicks and more clicks.

 

The planet map looks amazing, but as OP said, there's no labels and Brasten pointed out, no resources at a glance. I won'T just rehash what OP said, so I would say my biggest complaint would be that all the planets are SEPARATE again! We had this problem back in...U8 or whatever. Where you had to keep zooming out to look at other planets. Then you fixed it! You fixed it, damn it! You could look at all the planets and all the levels with click and drag! It was wonderful! Then....you un-fixed it, I guess. That, coupled with the spinny nice-looking, but painful to navigate level selection leaves me to my final point.

 

This entire UI has the unmistakable stink of console and controller influence. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty, and console gamers shouldn't be neglected. This entire UI was built with the idea of console in mind, though. From what I can tell, it was that way from the ground up. Almost nothing is mouse-friendly anymore on what is supposed to be a PC game that's been ported to console. The way the screen sways with the mouse makes clicking menu icons with precision more difficult, the planets have no freakin' clue what a mouse wheel is, and so many mouse-over things like the resource pop-ups that Brasten mentioned are gone.

 

I really want to like this new UI, I really really do, but with this sub-sub-sub menu stuff and the delay/lag with the gear has really turned equipping my frame a chore. I'm far more prone to make a build and keep it with an entire sitting rather than freely move between factions, mission types and weapons for fun.

 

It was an ambitious update, but you need to keep polishing it up. And for god's sake, remember the PC players. We use a mouse, not a thumbstick. I still have confidence in the dev team, though. This was huge, and I know you'll listen to people like OP. Because of that, I want to finish with what I love about the update.

 

Ship? Frickin' awesome, though you need to fix Ordis as he keeps spamming about the kubrow egg hatching. He has a great sense of humor, and the new player experience and tutorial is spot-on and enjoyable. I love how alerts are right over the navigation and the news is off to the side where I don't have to care about it. It feels weird now, but the new squad system is fun and it's nice to keep talking to people after a mission or key and have an actual lobby where it doesn't force-start the game. Already made a new friend because of this! The ambiance of transmissions help me feel like I really am hovering around a planet, monitoring what's happening around me. All in all, I'm excited and enjoying the update, we just need to get the UI ironed out.

[Jade.Mountain]

I came to the forums to cry out loud about all the issues I have with the UI, but, this thread does it neatly and elegantly. All I would like to add is that imo, the priority should first be to get rid of the shaky animations and rescale the windows since atm, I get nauseated to such a degree that I'm not gonna bother changing equipment or mods until this gets fixed. This isn't something I'm going to get used to, and even if I could, I shouldn't have to. 

 

The issue with colorblindness is also a big issue, and just beyond me that this issue wasn't brought up during the development process at DE. 

[StrahlTiger]

I came to the forums to cry out loud about all the issues I have with the UI, but, this thread does it neatly and elegantly. All I would like to add is that imo, the priority should first be to get rid of the shaky animations and rescale the windows since atm, I get nauseated to such a degree that I'm not gonna bother changing equipment or mods until this gets fixed. This isn't something I'm going to get used to, and even if I could, I shouldn't have to. 

 

Definitely. I didn't touch on this much in my post, but it does affect me physically. While it's nowhere near as bad, it's the same reason I could never play Fable III. The camera jostled around so much I got sick after 5 minutes. The menus don't really make me feel ill like that, but I do get a light headache after a while and I want to spend at little time in them as possible which makes all the new menu work even more frustrating. I can watch shaky movies like Blair Witch or Waking Life, I can deal with in-game explosion shakes and zipping around everywhere, but there's something about the new UI that just affects me. Nothing is static. At all. Everything I read or am looking at is swaying around.

[Methanoid]

out of interest, do the design council only see images and stuff thats incoming, do they ever see animated previews of whats to come?  personally id prefer it if these "new exciting features" were ran past the design council or anyone tbh via a small test server, surely someone at DE actually tried to use this stuff beforehand and thought "its less intuitive, has stuff missing, lets go back to the old one for now" and slap the UI revamp on the backburner for UI2.5

[StrahlTiger]

out of interest, do the design council only see images and stuff thats incoming, do they ever see animated previews of whats to come?  personally id prefer it if these "new exciting features" were ran past the design council or anyone tbh via a small test server, surely someone at DE actually tried to use this stuff beforehand and thought "its less intuitive, has stuff missing, lets go back to the old one for now" and slap the UI revamp on the backburner for UI2.5

 

For the most part, we vote on things. From time to time we will get the option to voice open ideas and such, that's how Carrier and the new Sword and Board were developed, but that's not as often lately.

 

We voted on things like what new infested sounds went to new ancients, what types of new mods we thought were needed most...things like that. I admit I don't watch it as close as others, so I may be wrong, but I never saw anything on the new UI aside from maybe a sneak peek screenshot.

Edited July 19, 2014 by StrahlTiger

[Guest Tehnoobshow]

out of interest, do the design council only see images and stuff thats incoming, do they ever see animated previews of whats to come?  personally id prefer it if these "new exciting features" were ran past the design council or anyone tbh via a small test server, surely someone at DE actually tried to use this stuff beforehand and thought "its less intuitive, has stuff missing, lets go back to the old one for now" and slap the UI revamp on the backburner for UI2.5

Well the game is still in beta. So, really, everyone here is supposed to be DE's lab rat.

[Methanoid]

For the most part, we vote on things. From time to time we will get the option to voice open ideas and such, that's how Carrier and the new Sword and Board were developed, but that's not as often lately.

 

We voted on things like what new infested sounds went to new ancients, what types of new mods we thought were needed most...things like that. I admit I don't watch it as close as others, so I may be wrong, but I never saw anything on the new UI aside from maybe a sneak peek screenshot.

 

then personally i think the devs should get the council more involved with testing major game changes and used at least for their opinions in a test server before the stuff goes live (or just watching some fraps'd previews), what DE currently thinks is a good idea obviously isnt solidifying with what a lot of us regular players think, hense the backlash on the current degraded UI functionality.

 

get some early player feedback before the big updates land in the lap of the masses.

[WereSpectre]

The UI could largely be salvaged if they did the following

 

1. Alerts/operations/invasions - 1 click to enter list on the main HUD... that was a good thing and should be put back in use.

 

2. Icons for all the available actions - ESC to view the menu is just an unneeded extra step... put the icons back on the main HUD

 

3. ONLINE/SOLO/INVITE option - just put it back where it was

 

None of these things should be huge changes for them... they clearly have the code for the lists already complete and well tested.  The Processses launched by clicking on an a menu item work just the same if you navigate the various levels of the menus or just click on the icon on the main screen.

 

The utility issues with the maps, foundry, inventory, etc.... these don't get "fixed" with the above changes and definitely still need to be addressed.  BUT alot of the loss of utility from the previous UI would be regained in a way that should be of minimal impact on the development budget.

[Tocs]

Right so the UI change probably has a lot to do with the launch of a PS4 version.

 

No more option to 'mouse' over something because that's the same as selecting it.  No more buttons off to the side where a mouse could easily reach them, you want them cramped up close where it's obvious which item a d pad will select next.

 

I'm not stating this so we can argue with the Devs about the decision to make a UI that's highly accessible to a PS4 user, just so that when we give them constructive feedback, we can recognize their interests. 

 

Devs:  the new UI is cramped and the bright glares with white text on a gray background... is really terrible.  As the OP said, information availability just isn't what it used to be...  and while I know it's not what you'd like, the mission selector is r-e-a-l-l-y a step in the wrong direction for PC users, if you can't think of a good compromise could you put it on the table to maybe have this section be different for PC and PS4 users?

[Methanoid]

Well the game is still in beta. So, really, everyone here is supposed to be DE's lab rat.

very true but public test servers are often a pita to run, using a smaller playerbase like the design council might help reduce the madness and chaos while giving the council guys some extra worth and input.

[Eredoc]

The New UI barely benefits controllers in all honesty and sometimes it's just plain glitchy, I play with an Xbox One controller, since I have a lapto but back on topic the UI is definitely needing a tweak or two

 

For one: I don't want to see my warframe in every menu, make it like the market, I see the screen and only the screen, I shouldn't want to see my warframe because it's not essential, instead the warframes obstruct vital info. For example, my most recent 2-3 mods or my foundry items on the top 2 left hand side panels, which you went over.

 

Second: The Arsenal with a controller is incredibly buggy, say I want to look at my weapons, but I don't feel like using my touch pad to scroll over the weapons, well before I could just go through them perfectly fine, now however the UI seems intent on wanting to pick my guns for me, as it auto picks every couple of seconds

 

Third: Mod fusing is incredibly annoying now without have the "Installed" tab, it was perfect for quickly leveling up a mod I have equipped and it feels like a step back to not have it

 

Last thing I want to cover is how right you are with the star map, it's more aimed to controller environment, choosing missions is far easier on controller than it is with a Touch pad/mouse however if I may dive into what the thoughts for this design was that Veteran players know where they want to go and where it is mostly, while new players move around that chart and learn the nodes, however I whole heartedly agree that a Label is needed for each planet, it's a little confusing.

[StrahlTiger]

then personally i think the devs should get the council more involved with testing major game changes and used at least for their opinions in a test server before the stuff goes live (or just watching some fraps'd previews), what DE currently thinks is a good idea obviously isnt solidifying with what a lot of us regular players think, hense the backlash on the current degraded UI functionality.

 

get some early player feedback before the big updates land in the lap of the masses.

 

Agreed, I would be happy to test earlier builds and give opinions for free. I feel like being part of the council had more sway many updates ago, now we're really just tossed a poll here and there. The creative ideas are few and far between now. The Sword and Board melee we just got had a final poll vote on....Jan 14 2014 according to the archive. Thenwas finally named on May 6th.

 

I have a feeling that being more transparent with things like this new UI would give them a chance to get more opinions from outside the DE Dev "bubble" to people who will be blunt, unbiased, and help give constructive feedback about major changes like this.

 

I'm confident that DE will listen to feedback, as they always have, and will eventually polish this thing up. I just wish the feedback wasn't always obtained after these updates went live. Especially on silly things like not being able to close the login screen at first without F4. I would attribute this mistake to a PS4 build as well since what they had in mind would be players using the XMB to quit the game.

[StrahlTiger]

For one: I don't want to see my warframe in every menu, make it like the market, I see the screen and only the screen, I shouldn't want to see my warframe because it's not essential, instead the warframes obstruct vital info. For example, my most recent 2-3 mods or my foundry items on the top 2 left hand side panels, which you went over.

 

Oh my god, I didn't even notice this, but you're right! i had to go back just to look at it again. The foundry is by far the worst culprit, and the store is damn near full unobstructed view. I know DE needs to make money, that's how the game survives, but it really says something when it seems like someone went "Oh wow, move everything over, I don't want that warframe blocking the store window at all." Meanwhile, the foundry is covered a good 1/4 by your warframe depending on the frame and stance.

[Blerg]

OP is right about pretty much everything. I don't mind consolizng the UI, but even my controller-using friends hate some of this stuff, like the less useful mod and foundry screens, etc.

 

One concern I didn't see addressed here (lots of posts to read through) is how to equip gear while in a mission screen. When I am in a party (or even solo) i can't seem to go into the arsenal to make changes to my equipment. I pop up the menu, click equip, click arsenal, and it goes straight back to the map. If it is a bug, then I can overlook it as you get the new patch ironed out, but if this is intentional it is an incredible oversight.

[Eredoc]

Decided to get a couple of Screen shots of what I was talking about, in both these Screenshots I'll show just the worst culprit for what I was talking about

 

 

And

 

 

So basically if I want to scroll down the foundry I lose 2 [ Possibly 3] Panels of what I'm building, This definately needs a change

Edited July 19, 2014 by DarkHybridWolf

[Max7238]

I've seen this mentioned over and over, and even DE is operating under this concept:

"The game is a beta."
Aside from a final boss type thing, that's just not true. There are games with far less features that are "official release." Just because DE is still adding features and updating does not make this a beta. Don't use "it's a beta" as an excuse. To take a popular example, Minecraft continued to add features after official release, bug fixes, and so on.

That said, it also seems that many people commenting didn't see the dev stream about U14. They state a few times that there needs to be changes, and the UI is specifically mentioned at least once.

[Toztman]

Beta vs not beta doesn't matter i suppose now that I think about it. What will matter is if DE loses money by changing things all of the time.  This is what DE will do to warframe for all time.  It will evolve regardless of our desire to keep the status quo UNTIL it isn't profitable.

 

So hold on tight and enjoy the ride, or get off before it gets too rough for you.  Ill be sticking around :)

Edited July 19, 2014 by Toztman

[MeduSalem]

I also agree to OP and some other people's feedback thoughout the thread...

 

The new UI looks nice and more consistent, but the usabillity suffered greatly. Most of the stuff takes like 3 times longer to do because it's inaccessible when it should be right up in your face all the time. I know the playership enhances immersion, but we shouldn't forget that in first place it also serves as the main menu.

 

I've no fancy pictures to show my thoughts/feedback, but here's a list of things I noticed, some of them covered by OP already:

 

Main Menu/General:

 

• The main menu found under "ESC" is waaaay too nested. It's especially ugly for stuff like the Arsenal/Mod-Screen which some of us access nearly after every mission. It's just a nightmare to switch between weapons fast now and I don't want to create 1000 different loadouts for a weapon I only use for leveling purposes.
• There should be key-bindings for some of the most-used sub-menus like the Arsenal so you can directly bring it up with a single button press so you don't have to use the ESC menu at all if you know the key-binding.
• Probably there should be a bar on top of each open menu-window with small buttons that also give direct access to any other menu without always backing out to the main menu. The way it's been before U14. Direct access is much more intuitive than having to remember nested menus.
• The menu-sway throughout all menus is just weird. Add an option to make it rigid like the one for the HUD.
• The UI is too close up... everything is as big as on a tablet computer... it wastes so much space and it feels cramped right into my face. It could show so much more items in parallel but it doesn't because of that.
• Also the shoulder/head blocking some of the far left UI elements is... annyoing.

 

Planet Selection:

 

• The ring... well there are NO permanent lables on the planets. Easy to guess Saturn/Void/Dojo... but the rest is just a confusing mess of equality.
• When hovering over a planet there should be the major faction(s) displayed, the resources available and the level range so you get a feeling what's in there without actually going there.
• Also it's a nightmare to know which planet unlocks the next one. If the progress is linear from the most inner planet (Mercury) towards the outer boundaries of our solar system (Derelicts, Void, Dojo) it would make somewhat sense, but the progress throughout the Solarsystem isn't linear at all... it starts on Earth & Mercury for a new player, so there are multiple paths.

 

Mission Selection UI:

 

• That's one hard thing to navigate. There are just too many problems with that 3D design, it has to go. Unread-able text without bending your head, unread-able text because it's blocked by the planet, no clear pattern on which mission unlocks the next one... it's a mess that looks nice, but it's usability is doubtful.

  My recommendation would be:

  Make it a 2D top-down view on the planet (the planet can stay 3D, only make an unblocked 2D missions-plane) and place all the missions in a static circle around the planet so you can allways see all of the missions at once and make the text-flow read-able. That or a simple grid like pre-U14, because it worked wonders. Also highlight all nodes required that you have to unlock for a certain node to become active so you can see a clear path you have to take in order to get somewhere.

• The resources list on the side is nice, but it would also be nice to have the level-range and the dominating faction(s) to be shown there as well without having to hover over any mission.
• Add click-able shortcuts to go to the connected planets... Solar rails connect various planets... so lets show that. It's hard to know which ones are connected from the Planet selection screen and I don't want to back out to the planet selection all the time. It's especially ugly because those  connected planets are often not even placed next to each other on the planet selection screen.

 

Most other stuff is I can think of is already covered by OP. I may come back and add some more stuff while I experience the new content.

Edited July 19, 2014 by MeduSalem

[Xarian]

Fully support the OP. UI design is a lost art these days.

 

Nested menus are a step backwards in UI design. They are necessary when you are limited in your display size (I have to use a nested menu on a very small device display that only has 4 lines of 20 characters, for example). Modern PC monitors and TVs, however, can display very efficient UIs.

 

Please, DE, stop trying to make Warframe look like a bad console port. The game is wonderful. You have the capability of making other companies understand that PC-like UI is superior.

 

And please give us some customizability. I want to turn off a lot of the new features.