Digital Extremes · Game Design · 2018
Improving onboarding in a systems-heavy live service game
Helping new Warframe players build understanding of a decade of layered systems without losing the depth veteran players value.
- Role
- UI/UX Designer
- Timeline
- 2018
- Responsibilities
- Research, wireframes, platform UX
The Problem
Warframe is a fast-paced, systems-heavy online action game with years of layered mechanics, currencies, progression systems, and customization options. New players faced dense systems and unfamiliar terminology, unclear progression paths, UI elements lacking context, feature discoverability issues, and mechanics introduced too quickly or inconsistently.
The challenge was not simplifying the game. It was helping players build understanding without losing depth.
Strategy & Execution
Research included player feedback review, identifying specific onboarding breakdowns, and mapping opportunities for clarity across tutorialization, progression communication, UI clarity, feature discoverability, and system readability.
Outcome
- Wireframes and UI proposals for new-player flows
- UI art and iconography
- Platform-specific UX work for the Nintendo Switch release
- Interface adjustments for complex, interlocking systems
Learnings
Complexity is not the enemy. Unclear communication is. Deep systems need progressive disclosure and hierarchy, live service games accumulate UX debt over time, and platform constraints meaningfully influence interaction design.