Web Design Lessons We Can Learn From Video Games
When I’m not developing websites, I can usually be found before my computer or game console. You would possibly think that one has nothing to try to do with the opposite, but I’ve got actually learned plenty of valuable lessons about website development from playing video games. Allow me to explain.
User Experience
The best interface is the one nobody knows they’re using. In gaming, the interface is often a keyboard or a controller. If you’re not a gamer, you may think it might be hard to understand which buttons you’re pressing which you’d keep looking down, but that’s not the case. Video games actually help people develop great hand-eye coordination. Consider it this fashion – when’s the last time you ever had to appear at your mouse before you left or right-clicked something?
When Sony or Microsoft create a controller for a console, they are going through several revisions and studies before they choose a design.
For example:
- Can the user access all the buttons when holding the controller?
- What if they need small hands?
- What if they ate too many chips and therefore the controller is slipping out of their hands? (I know, let’s add rubber grips!)
With web development, the identical care and research should get in developing the right interface. Websites shouldn’t just look pretty. They also must be easy to use so users keep coming. This can be achieved by developing your website in a very way that doesn’t require users to think. It should be intuitive, like employing a controller or a mouse.
Accessibility
Another thing I really like about video games is that I can play them on nearly any device I would like. Within the past each console had an exclusive list of games, meaning gamers had to buy an entirely new console for sure games. While exclusivity still exists for a few titles, most new games are available on multiple devices. For instance, a game that I’ve been playing lately, Genshin Impact, is obtainable on PlayStation and PC, so gamers can choose how they need to play.
How does this relate to web development? Well, users want to be ready to access content from any device they require – desktops, laptops, tablets, phones, and even consoles. Each device presents its own set of limitations and users expect your website to deliver an excellent experience regardless.
BUT responsive design is over just mobile-friendliness.
What about larger screens? 4k televisions are growing in popularity and nearly all of them include web capability out of the box. To not mention that computer monitors have continued to urge larger over the years. If a screen is 1920 pixels wide and your website is merely 1200 pixels wide, what about the opposite 720 pixels?
Disregarding larger screen sizes is like advertising on an advert but using only half the space.
In the gaming world, everything uses the complete screen – there aren’t black or white bars on the side. Genshin Impact, specifically, has an incredible interface that uses the whole screen to supply gamers with all of the data and capabilities they may want.
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User Engagement and Community
Lastly, strikingly just like brands within the digital age, the most important consider whether or not a computer game is successful is player engagement and community. A part of this involves giving gamers the flexibility to play games in several ways to fulfill different goals. Again using Genshin Impact as an example, this game provides the main story that users can play alone or with others. Once players complete this story, they will like better to participate in player-versus-player battles or complete missions solo or with a celebration. There are such a large amount of ways to interact and progress within the game – whether alone, with friends, or with people you meet on the web – that players always have an incentive to come back.
The same applies to websites. While you may imagine that everybody who involves your site wants to interact and interact, this is often rarely the case because people need the motivation to require action. Providing an immediate line of contact is extremely important, whether it’s an email address, signaling, or live chat. And on the opposite hand, if a prospective customer wants more information without actual speech from a salesman yet, your website should incorporate a blog for effective content marketing.
If you would like to make sure website engagement, put your users first and provide them choices.
Now that we’ve customer support covered, what about the community aspect?
Videos games build communities through social media, on-site forums, external forums, and community sites like Reddit. They often have one or several Community Managers whose job is to achieve bent new users and help the community function smoothly. Building a website community works the precise same way. Forums may or might not be useful betting on your industry, but social media and email outreach are extremely important for attracting and retaining new customers. In fact, 33% of marketers gave social media a medium-high to high rating for effectiveness consistent with a study by Similar Web, Smart Insights, and JBH.
Whether you’re trying to make the most popular computer game or launching a spanking new product or service, your success is directly impacted by the sort of experience you deliver. This experience includes everything from modern website design and responsiveness to overall user experience and community engagement. As a gamer, I’ve got high expectations for the games I select to play and spend money on, and as an online developer, I strive to satisfy those self-same expectations for every website I help create.