Building an Efficient Interface: Part 0 — Introduction

Customised or otherwise, we all require an interface to interact with the game. The basic WoW UI may be an easy introduction to the game — as the designers most likely held as the highest priority — but it is sorely lacking for high-performance gameplay. In this feature I will offer some rather specific advice to building a fully-functional UI from the ground up.

I’m a sworn devotee to the principal of centrality. Centrality — at least, that’s what I call it — is the practice of compressing information into one main space of the screen in order to reduce eye movement and therefore lend easy access to all major information hubs. I originally picked up on this principal from playing Quake, where it is possible to press a button which will incrementally reduce screen size by reducing the effective gameplay area and placing large borders around it. Players often used this feature in order to see more of the screen at once and therefore take in more information.

Because we play a game where information is key, players often seem to think that more information they display, the better and more function their UI. While there is some truth in this, it can quite easily lead to redundancy. The UI may be overly cluttered with displays that are used rarely enough to warrant removal. Finding a critical piece of information becomes harder and harder in the clutter. Remember: minimalism is just as important — if not moreso — from a functionality standpoint as it is aesthetically.

A good UI should allow the player to see everything they need in heated combat with minimal eye movement and effort. Where on the screen this information is placed is up to the user, though I would recommend toward the center as it is where the majority of the in-game action takes place.

Another of my personal preferences is in keeping the UI as similar as possible between alts. Certain classes require one or two very specific addons, but other than this there should be no difference between a tank and healer UI. Raid frames should be unintrusive enough not to hinder your gameplay yet display enough information for full-blown healing. Threat meters should be displayed in combat no matter the role. This all helps to keep a better overall interface and reduce the time it takes to re-learn to play an alt.

I will begin to explain building a UI piece by piece in the next part.