Humankind is a historical strategy game, where you can create your own civilization by combining 60 different cultures from the Ancient to the Modern Age. You can face historical events, make moral decisions, and discover scientific breakthroughs. You can also master tactical battles on land, sea, and air. Your goal is to gain fame by leaving your mark on humankind2.

Some additional information that you might find interesting are:

• Humankind was developed by Amplitude Studios and published by Sega.

• Humankind was released for Microsoft Windows and Stadia in August 2021, and for macOS in November 2021.

• Humankind has received generally favorable reviews from critics and players.

• Humankind has various downloadable content (DLC) packs that add new cultures, wonders, and features to the game.

Cryptic Design undertook a collaboration with Aspyr Media to enhance the user experience design for the product "Humankind" for gaming consoles such as XBox, Playstation, and Nintendo. The primary objectives include absorbing existing user experience design patterns, conducting an audit of the current component library, and refining the visual design within the Humankind PC product.

I operated as Principal User Experience Designer and project lead from Cryptic Design.

Some of the unique challenges we faced were mostly around legacy design patterns; it offered up challenges at adapting and integrating new design improvements while aligning with existing legacy design patterns.

Our solution was in conducting a comprehensive audit of legacy design elements and carefully crafting a transition plan for seamless integration.

Methodologies

• The approach was in Adopting a User-Centered Design (UCD) approach within an Agile Scrum environment.

• Implemented UCD principles to ensure designs aligned with user needs and expectations. Agile Scrum methodologies facilitated iterative design and development cycles for rapid, adaptive progress.

User Research and Feedback

• My approach was to conduct a combination of online research and internal playtesting.

• Engaged in comprehensive online user research to understand user behaviors, preferences, and industry trends. Internal playtesting sessions provided valuable feedback from firsthand user interactions, aiding in refining design elements.

Tools and Technologies

• Utilized Adobe Creative Suite and Figma.

• Leveraged Adobe Creative Suite for graphic design, visual elements, and asset creation. Figma served as a collaborative platform for design prototyping, real-time collaboration, and seamless communication within the cross-functional team.

Main Responsibilities

• Primary Focus: Absorbed existing user experience design patterns and audited the component library and visual design within Humankind.

• Core Task: Generated comprehensive wireframe documentation supporting feature design needs to facilitate efficient development efforts.

Contribution to Design Strategy

• Strategic Involvement: Played a pivotal role in shaping the overall design strategy for the project.

• Approach: Aligned design decisions with user-centric principles, ensuring a seamless and intuitive user experience.

• Impact: Contributed insights and recommendations that enhanced the design strategy's effectiveness, fostering a holistic approach to user-centered design.

Specific Achievements or Milestones

• Achievement: Successfully absorbed and integrated existing design patterns, optimizing the user experience.

• Milestone: Completion of detailed wireframe documentation, a critical step in the design process that laid the foundation for subsequent development phases.

• Outcome: Facilitated a smoother transition from design to development, ensuring the efficient implementation of features and functionalities.

Collaboration with other team members involved close coordination with Aspyr Media, and Amplitude’s development team.

Effective communication was ensured through regular status meetings, daily stand-ups, and a shared project management tool.

Notable teamwork experiences included brainstorming sessions to address design challenges and cross-functional collaboration to align design decisions with technical requirements.

The final outcome of the project was a refined user experience design for the console versions of Humankind.

The design improvements positively impacted end-users by enhancing usability, accessibility, and overall enjoyment of the game.

Measurable results included increased player engagement, reduced user friction, and improved user satisfaction ratings.

Design tools and software used included Adobe Creative Suite for graphic design and visual elements, and Figma for collaborative design prototyping.

Unique technologies employed for this project included custom design libraries and style guides tailored for console gaming platforms.

Growth and Adaptation

• Every project serves as a catalyst for personal and professional growth.

• Humankind offered an opportunity to explore innovative design patterns in strategy gaming.

• Continuous evolution of communication skills and collaboration with team members was a key takeaway.

Technical Proficiency

• Extensive work on Humankind enhanced proficiency in Figma, a vital tool for design and prototyping.

• Creation of a robust Figma library and components contributed to technical skill development.

User Experience Insights

• In-depth research and reverse engineering of gameplay provided valuable insights into user experience design.

• The project fostered a deeper understanding of design patterns for strategy games like Humankind.