Иностранный язык в профессиональной деятельности (английский язык). Учебное пособие

But that’s also part of the fun of working at an agency. You get to work for different clients and come up with concepts that they’ll like. Sometimes they won’t like your concept but can’t articulate why, and then you just have to come up with different versions.

This is where it’s crucial to be able to justify your design decisions. Clients view you as the expert, as someone who’s experienced in building apps and knows best practices and understands user behavior, so they trust you, but they also have their own ideas and visions. They might insist on something and then realise, two months down the line, that it’s not really necessary, and then we go back to square one. That’s just how the cycle works.

A typical day in the life of a UX designer is… fast-paced!

Deadlines

There are various deadlines to meet, especially when it comes to concept alignments with the client. There’s definitely some level of pressure to deliver, as we need to have something to show the client. However, if something is truly impossible to deliver within a given timeframe, we’ll communicate that to the project manager.

Time flies!

The best thing about my day is that the time goes by so fast, it’s incredible! I don’t find myself looking at the clock. I’m looking at my to-do list, learning new tools, discovering new ways of developing products. This is all really new to me, and I’m always learning. I’m given responsibility to deliver and to communicate; no one is babysitting me. I’m really on my own, and this gives me a chance to grow.

(from: https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/a-day-in-the-life-of- a-ux-designer/)

Task 14. Match the terms with the definitions:

1 sprint

2 scrum

3 quality assurance

4 proxy product owner

5 ticket system

A someone who is representing the role of a product owner without actually being that person themselves

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B a method used when developing a new product in which a team is allowed to organize itself and make changes quickly as they are needed. It also involves having short meetings every day

C the things a company does to make sure that its products and services are as good as they should be

D an intense 5-phase process where user-centered teams tackle design problems

E a management tool that processes and catalogs customer service requests

Task 15. Put the following words into the gaps: hectic, in-house, come in handy, wind down, intimidating, crucial, validate.

1 We’ve had a few very ___________ weeks.

2 Memory and storage are _________ – your system won’t work without them.

3 The director has been found guilty of sending __________ emails to his employees.

4 Our ___________ Division provides support and device on key issues. 5 You can always _________ during New Year holidays.

6 Does science ever __________ in everyday life?

7 Please, send us a photo of your document to ___________ your account.

Task 16. Search the Internet and make short presentations on the topics of Agile software development, Scrum, Kanban, and Sprint.

Task 17. Read the text about UI design and answer the questions:

1 What is UI design?

2 What is the goal of UI design?

3 What are the features of a good user interface?

4 Why is it important to make the UI aesthetically pleasing? 5 What are the most important elements of UI design?

6 What are the three main parts of UI design? 7 What are UI design patterns?

UI Design

The user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. UI is an integral aspect of user experience (UX) that consists of two major parts: visual design, which conveys the look and feel of a product; and interaction design, which is the functional and logical organization

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of elements. The goal of user interface design is to create a user interface that makes it easy, efficient, and enjoyable for users to interact with a product.

UI design prioritizes the user’s visual experience. A good user interface is functional, reliable, and enjoyable to use. User interface design should minimize the effort that the user has to invest interacting with a product and help users accomplish their goals with ease.

Designers use methods of user-centered design (user interviews, direct observations, etc.) to learn about their target audience and ensure that the visual language they introduce in the UI is well-tailored to them. It’s important to make the UI aesthetically pleasing because interfaces that have great aesthetics are perceived as more usable by end-users, according to the aesthetic–usability effect.

What Are the Most Important Elements of UI Design?

Good UI design is critical to a product’s success. Without it, users may find a product to be unusable. Most designers follow a set of user interface design principles to guide their designs and ensure their products are successful.

The most important elements of UI design are: • Place users in control of the interface

• Make it comfortable to interact with a product

• Reduce cognitive load

• Make user interfaces consistent

What Are Three Main Types of UI Design?

There are various types of UI design, but three of the most popular are graphical user interface (GUI), voice user interface (VUI), and menu-driven. In GUIs, users interact with information by manipulating visual objects on a digital screen using a device or touch. The elements of a well-designed graphical user interface should be designed to support good learnability and findability. When users see familiar visual elements and interaction patterns, they can understand how to interact with the UI just by looking at it. It’s also important to make sure that elements in a GUI are uniform–UI should be consistent to create a sense of control and reliability.

Voice user interfaces (VUI) are quickly gaining traction. The rising number of voice-enabled assistants being sold across the world prove that users find such devices valuable. Voice user interfaces require a different design approach. Designers need to create an efficient, conversational UI in which words and syntax play a crucial role. To create more human interactions, designers need

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to invest in learning human psychology and put even more focus on validating their design decisions using voice-based prototypes.

Another main type of UI includes a menu-driven interface, which provides users a range of commands in menu or list form via a drop or pull-down, fullscreen, or pop-up.

What Are UI Design Patterns?

UI design patterns are a fundamental part of UI design. These best practices are general solutions to common problems in UI. Design patterns help organizations by designing reusable, reliable solutions to a user interface problem.

(from: https://xd.adobe.com/ideas/process/ui-design/)

Task 18. Match the word-combinations with their definitions. Translate them into Russian.

1 visual design

2 interaction design

3 user-centered design

4 cognitive load

5 graphical user interface

6 voice user interface

7 menu-driven interface

8 design pattern

A a design practice that allows the user to interact with a system using their voice

B design of interactive products and services in which a designer’s focus goes beyond the item in development to include the way users will interact with it

C a type of user interface through which users interact with electronic devices via visual indicator representations

D the use of imagery, color, shapes, typography, and form to enhance usability and improve the user experience

E the amount of information that working memory can hold at one time F a collection of processes that focus on putting users at the center of

product design and development

G general repeatable solution to a commonly occurring problem in software design

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H an interface consisting of a series of screens which are navigated by choosing options from lists, i.e. menus

Task 19. Use the questions in task 17 as a plan to retell the text.

Task 20. Read the text about 8 UI design trends for 2020 and suggest the trends for the coming years. Make a plan of the text and retell the text in pairs.

Eight UI design trends for 2020

1.Animated illustrations. Illustrations have been in digital product design for a long time. Their evolution in the last years is very impressive. Illustrations as very popular design elements add natural feel and “human touch” to overall UX of our products. Illustrations are also very strong attention grabbers: at the top of that by applying motion to these illustrations we might bring our products to the life and make them stand out— adding extra details and personality. Another benefit of applying motion is capturing users’ attention and making users engage with your product. Animations are also one of the most effective ways to tell the story about your brand, product or services.

2.Microinteractions. Microinteractions exist pretty much in every single app or website. You see them every time when you’re opening your favourite app —for instance Facebook has tons of different microinteractions and I assume that the “Like” feature is just the perfect example. Sometimes we are not even aware of existence, because they are so obvious, natural and “blended” into user interfaces. Although, if you remove them from your product you will notice very quickly that something really important is missing. Generally speaking, in UI/UX design sometimes even really small and subtle change might make huge impact. Microinteractions are the perfect proof that details and attention to them might greatly improve the overall user experience of your digital products and place them on the next/higher level. Every year, every new device brings new opportunities for creating brand new and innovative microinteractions. 2020 wouldn’t be exception for sure.

3.3D Graphics in web&mobile UI. 3D graphics exists pretty much everywhere — in movies, video games, adverts on the streets. 3D graphics has been introduced few decades ago and since then has improved and evolved dramatically. Mobile and web technology is also growing rapidly fast. New web browser capabilities have opened the door for 3D graphics allowing us as designers to create and implement amazing 3D graphics into modern web and mobile interfaces. Creating and then integration of 3D graphics into web and

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mobile interfaces requires some specific skills and tons of work, but very often the results are very rewarding. 3D graphics allows to present the product or services in a lot more interactive and engaging way: for instance 3D graphics could be viewed in 360 degree presentation improving the overall UX of the product. In 2020 even more brands will use 3D models to present the product or services in order to emulate the real world (in-store) shopping experience.

4.Virtual Reality. 2019 has been a big year for VR. In the last years we have seen a lot of progress and excitement in VR headsets — mostly in gaming industry. We need to keep in mind that gaming industry very often brings innovation and new technologies into digital product design. Research proves that VR is no exception as after Oculus Quest in 2019 launch many opportunities have opened for other industries. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already tested exciting hand interaction feature and officially announced hand-tracking update for Quest, coming early 2020! Sony and Microsoft will release their new generation consoles in 2020 holiday season. These would bring a lot of opportunities and room to growth for VR technology.

5.Augmented Reality. In the last years we have seen a lot of progress, excitement and improvement of AR. The world’s leading tech companies are investing millions into AR development, so we should expect to expand and grow this technology in 2020. Even Apple has introduced their own AR toolkit called ARKIT 3 to help designers and developers build AR based products. There are endless opportunities to innovate and create brand new and exciting experiences in AR space. UI design for AR will be one of the major trends in 2020, so as designers we should be prepared and eager to learn new tools and principles when creating AR experiences.

6.Neumorphism. Generally speaking, Skeuomorphic design refers to the design elements that are created in a realistic style/way to match the real life objects. The growth of VR/AR technology and latest design trends shown on the most popular design platforms (Dribbble, Behance etc.) might make skeuomorphic design comeback in 2020 — but this time with a lot modern fashion and slightly modified name: “New skeuomorphism” (also called Neumorphism). As you’ve probably noticed, Neumorphism represents very detailed and precise design style. Highlight, shadows, glows — attention to details is very impressive and definitely on spot. Neumorphism has already inspired a lot of designers from all over the world and there is big chance that Neumorphism will be the biggest UI design trend in 2020.

7.Asymmetrical layouts. In the last years we have noticed huge grown of asymmetrical layouts in digital product design. Traditional / “template” based

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layouts are definitely going away. 2020 will not be any different as this trend will continue. Proper usage of asymmetrical layouts adds a lot of character, dynamics and personality to our designs. There is a lot of room for creativity as the number of options and opportunities when creating asymmetrical layouts are endless. Although, creating successful asymmetrical layouts requires some practice and time — placing elements randomly on the grid wouldn’t work. Also, they should be used and implemented with care — always keeping in mind users’ needs: we do not want to get them lost when using our digital products — do we?

8. Storytelling. Stories play a very important role in overall UX in the digital product design. You might see them very often on the landing pages as introduction to the brand, product or new service. Storytelling is all about transferring data to the users in the best possible informative and creative way. This could be achieved by copywriting mixed with strong and balanced visual hierarchy (typography, illustrations, high-quality photos, bold colours, animations and interactive elements). Storytelling really helps to create positive emotions and relationships between your brand and users. Storytelling might also make your brand a lot more memorable and make users feel like they are part of our products or services, so they would like to associate with them. Having said that, storytelling is also an efficient marketing tool that might greatly increase the sales of your products/services. Storytelling as the very successful tool will continue and expand in 2020.

(from: https://uxdesign.cc/8-ui-ux-design-trends-for-2020-68e37b0278f6)

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UNIT 4. GAME DESIGN

Task 1. Before your read the text, talk about these questions. • What is game design?

• How can you become a game designer?

Task 2. Read the text and check your answers. Look up the words and expressions in bold in the Glossary at the end of this book.

What is Game Design and How to Become a Game Designer

Game design belongs to the broader field of video game development and refers to the use of creativity and design to develop a game for entertainment or educational purposes. It involves creating compelling stories, characters, goals, rules and challenges that drive interactions with other characters, users or objects.

Game design is an exciting, rewarding and multi-faceted field with promising job prospects. However, becoming a game designer can be a challenging journey. Passion, patience, and persistence are essential!

What does a game designer do?

A game designer is the creative driver responsible for bringing a game to life. They are generally a cross between a writer, artist and programmer. It’s a multidisciplinary job that often requires you to understand a little of everything. It’s not just about playing games and having ideas. You need to not only understand how to apply your ideas into many different, and often conflicting, areas of game design; you must also understand HOW to design, WHAT to design, WHEN to design each feature, and WHY you are designing what you are designing. Every game is comprised of a number of different gameplay systems, mechanics and features which all work together to create a fun and engaging experience for players. Almost EVERYTHING in a game is a conscious choice by a designer or someone on the team. Understanding how to develop game systems, the theory of what makes something fun, plus how all these systems work together are the most fundamental requirements for being a game designer. Not every designer is super technical, but to get a job on most teams you need a strong background in some basic aspects of technical game design and game programming.

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Besides technical skills, you must also be an excellent storyteller with some level of artistic ability. At the heart of most games and player experiences are the worlds, maps and levels which players interact in. These are the magical places which capture our imagination, the places we love to explore, sometimes battle through, take on challenging quests as we adventure and eventually slay the evil villain in our hopes of saving the Universe from some terrible fate.

To go from a ‘good’ to ‘great’ designer, learn how art and game design intersect and what art skills you will need to do your job well. Art and visual skills are not only important for ideation and concepting, but have many different uses beyond just looking pretty in the final product.

While the job varies depending on the size of the studio, responsibilities may include:

• Developing the storyline, character back-stories and dialogue • Developing gameplay, rules and the scoring system • Determining the level of difficulty

• Building interfaces and environments • Level and world design • Programming/scripting

• Digital editing

• Image rendering • Testing.

You also need to be a great communicator who can clearly convey a story or message that engages your player and motivates them to take action. You must know how to express simple ideas, convince people of your ideas, and give and take feedback. It’s a cliché, but great ideas are a dime a dozen. Being able to execute those ideas and do it well is really more important. You need to learn how to not just have an idea, but how to validate your ideas and express them for your teammates to help you build it on time and with any restrictions you will face.

As a game designer, you are usually in the middle of everything, and most people think they know how to make games, which means that almost everyone on the team and outside the team will likely try and give comments, advice and feedback on your work.

An understanding of marketing will also help you excel in this role. At the end of the day, the product has to make money. You need an understanding of marketing and sales, especially how to sell and market a game. Consider how to attract people to your product, how to keep them playing, and how to monetize your product. This is applicable to everything from indie to mobile to AAA.

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Genres and sub-genres

Action, shooter, combat, MMO (massively multiplayer online), sports, adventure, RPG (role-playing games)… The list is long, especially when you consider sub-genres! Designers tend to specialize in a certain genre. One of the biggest challenges is that every platform, genre and type of game has a different set of rules, requirements and game language. While it’s not uncommon to move between genres, someone with 20 years of experience with shooter style games who then moves to sports will face a big learning curve and need to invest the time to learn a new language, do research, figure out the rules etc.

Job opportunities

Getting a great job in the industry requires hard work and dedication. The reward is of course, getting to make video games for a living! You’ll be required to have some technical knowledge and artistic skill, as well as an understanding of how to make something fun, appealing, monetizable and addicting to players. Being such a diverse industry, you may be required to wear many hats. In a large studio, your job focus may be narrower than at a smaller studio with a handful of employees. For example, a team of 5-10 employees is going to run very differently to a team of more than 1,000 people like at Ubisoft or Electronic Arts. It’s also important to note that if you’re studying game design, you won’t necessarily become a “game designer”. There are many different jobs to choose from, and with technology evolving so fast, new jobs are being created all the time.

Some of the roles include:

• Game writer • Storyline developer

• Game artist • Content designer

• Programmer/system designer • World or Level designer • User interface designer • Junior or lead designer • Creative director

Software (game engines)

There is a range of software to choose from, some requiring more coding skills than others. However, if you want to make games professionally, aim to learn industry-standard game engines that major studios are using, like Unreal

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