Animal Crossing: New Horizons Usability Exploration
Role: UX Research, UX Design | Time: 8 Weeks | Tools: Adobe Xd, Miro Board, Google Sheets, Google Forms
Designs for a proposed solution to found terraforming problems
01. Understand 🍃
The Challenge
Animal Crossing: New Horizons players have been very vocal about their dissatisfaction with various aspects of the game. They’ve gone as far as creating fan-made Nintendo Direct updates showing the various quality-of-life improvements they would like to see. The more considerable frustrations seem to be centered around performing repetitive tasks that get in the way of their in-game goals - crafting items one at a time, buying items one at a time, and even terraforming one unit at a time. These frustrations have caused players to give up on their plans for their island and even the game as a whole. It’s clear to see that these issues are severe enough that the game is losing some loyal players who were playing daily from the release of the game.
Project Goals
Reduce player frustrations
Reduce unnecessary disruptions
Reduce timing for activities
Schedule
This project spanned a total of eight weeks, with the majority of time spent on the research and analysis phases to ensure a detailed approach at the design phase.
Eight-week schedule
Problem Statement
Animal Crossing: New Horizons players are frustrated by the quality of life in the core game design. They find it tedious, time-consuming, and inefficient due to the need for repetitive actions and want more streamlined processes for actions that would be better done in bulk.
In other words, how might we improve on specific repetitive actions within New Horizons to save players time and give them room to focus on their game lives?
02. Research 🍃
Research Methods
The research methods for this project were chosen to help understand players. They helped visualize what features to focus on and how to best propose solutions.
Research methods used throughout this study
03. Analysis 🍃
Player Survey
Player surveys helped gain insight into the players' personalities and play styles. Thanks to an Animal Crossing group on Reddit, 63 players participated in this initial survey.
The survey consisted of fifteen questions that asked players about their age, their first Animal Crossing game, and what features they found especially frustrating, among a few others. This brought about some key insights into who the players were:
New Horizons players are typically between 25 and 34, most likely because they grew up playing previous games in the series.
More than half of the players surveyed played a previous title as their first game and reported having an easier time understanding gameplay in this game.
One of the most surprising findings was that about 40% of players played New Horizons as their first game. The differences and similarities between old and new players were particularly intriguing.
Over 50% of players bought the game within the first month of its release.
Approximately 75% of players demonstrated their dedication by playing the game either every day or a few times a week, a testament to the game's popularity and the community's engagement.
An affinity mapping also helped identify the core usability concerns that players had:
Core usability concerns discovered via player surveys
Player Interviews
“The past has been good and I haven’t been let down in any serious sort of way with this game. If they released another game tomorrow, I’d probably buy it.”
Player Interviews helped gain further insight into both old and new players and any potential differences between their experiences. The interviews were separated into sections by the core usability concerns identified from the surveys, which helped to better understand how players approach each concern - what about them specifically was frustrating and what type of workarounds they’ve found to alleviate them.
The core usability concerns were then narrowed down to four specific features:
Core usability concerns discovered via player surveys
Both old and new players were interviewed, and while there were differences in how both approached the game due to previous experience or lack thereof, both types of players experienced their pain points in very similar ways. The only real differences were in features that aren’t specifically mentioned in-game or through tutorials, like burying money to grow money trees, for example.
Overall, it became clear that players really value the game's simplicity and calmness and their ability to do things at their own pace.
Usability Surveys
Usability Surveys were conducted to gain further insight into the four identified features. The surveys went into more detail, asking questions like how much time users typically spent doing each, what they like and don't like, their biggest pain points, and if there were any games that did the mechanic better. This helped solidify the core issues within each feature and confidently move on to designs.
Heuristics Evaluation
For the heuristics evaluation, the four identified features were explored through Nielsen Norman Group’s Usability Heuristics. The goal was to view each feature through both a positive and negative lens to not only verify the interviewees’ pain points but also recognize what elements in the game did well in order to potentially use them in designs.
Results of the heuristics evaluation done on the four identified features
Severity Rating
The major pain points from the heuristics evaluation were examined through Nielsen Norman Group’s Severity Rating for Usability Problems scale, which helped identify which frustrations to focus on for each feature. It also helped visualize the distribution of the overall issues across the scale and really understand the impact of each.
Results of the severity rating
Player Persona
Maple has been playing Animal Crossing since the first game in the series and loves its relaxing, self-paced nature to the point of using it as a form of self-care. There are a few things about New Horizons that she finds disappointing due to how repetitive they can be, but overall, she has really enjoyed the game and still consistently plays it a little bit each day.
Maple has been in the Animal Crossing series since the first game came out in 2001!
Her goals have remained pretty consistent throughout her time with the series but have adapted somewhat as each game is released. Her frustrations, however, are individual to New Horizons as things like crafting and terraforming are new systems introduced with this game.
Despite Maple being an experienced player, her persona can also represent new players since goals, frustrations, and tasks are generally experienced pretty similarly by both types of players.
Player Journey Map
For the journey map, we follow Maple, who is working hard on designing her island and is about to go through her personal set of daily activities, which include shopping, using tools to find necessary materials, crafting new items, and terraforming new areas to decorate.
Journey map outlining Maple’s experience with each of the four identified features
Here, you can see the steps she takes within each phase, how she feels about each one with a quote, and the pain points and opportunities that came up.
04. Outcomes & Solutions 🍃
The Approach
Designing with what exists
The design approach was to start by exploring the game’s various UI elements and taking advantage of what currently exists. This way, designs could not only follow the game’s styling but would also ideally reduce development time if these solutions were to be implemented.
Tools
The main problem here is tools breaking when players are in the zone and creating inconvenient disruptions to the flow of the game. Players feel frustrated when this happens and have opted out of crafting tools almost entirely because there’s no sense of attachment. This becomes really repetitive when players are unable to prepare for this and have to constantly, without notice, stop what they’re doing to get a new tool.
“It’s extremely annoying, especially if they break at inconvenient times like when you’re in the middle of a fishing or bug-catching spree or when you’re traveling to mystery islands.”
Because of this, players have created a few workarounds, some of which are:
Keeping extra tools in their pockets (which take up inventory space)
Buying tools instead of crafting them (which might not be possible if players don’t have enough bells or if Nook’s Cranny is closed)
Creating makeshift “tool sheds” around their island (which takes up island space)
To solve this main tools problem:
Used the existing Tool Ring system and added durability gauges to each tool space. Gauges are colored red, yellow, and green to show when tools are at 0-25%, 26-50%, and 51-100%, respectively.
Hovering over tools now tells players the exact amount of uses that the tool has before it breaks.
[Current Design]
The tool ring is how players quickly switch out tools
[Proposed Design]
Added durability gauges show how close tools are to breaking; hovering over tools shows an exact number of uses elft
The durability gauge also appears at the top right of the screen to show players their tool’s durability in real-time. The gauge’s icon would change color after each use to call attention to the player and show how many uses are left.
[Proposed Solution]
Including the durability gauge to the top right of the screen shows players their tool’s life in real-time
Gauge flashes its color to call attention to the user after each use and shows them how many uses are left
Extra Tools Problems
Some extra problems related to tools:
Tools take up too much pocket space - they can easily take up an entire row if they’re not managed properly. A dedicated space can be added to clear up eight spaces. Current pockets already have a tab dedicated to the clothing the player is wearing, so using this system similarly for tools is an easy fix.
[Current Design]
Tools take up the entirety of the first row
[Proposed Solution]
A dedicated pocket space can be added to clear up eight spaces for more important items
Tools can also be pretty imprecise and players often miss their target. A visual indicator can be added to create a more precise experience. This grid is only visible for the eight spaces that surround the player in order to maintain the game’s real-life style, and players can toggle the grid on/off if they choose to. A more evident indicator is placed in front of the direction the player is facing to indicate what grid space they would affect with their tool. Currently, players often miss their target if they’re standing at the intersection of multiple grid spaces, and this would hopefully alleviate that. This visual indicator exists elsewhere in the game when players decorate their homes.
[Current Design]
Players often miss their target usually because they’re standing at the intersection of multiple grid spaces
[Proposed Solution]
A visual indicator that players can toggle ensures more precision
Shopping
Shopping experiences in New Horizons differ from character to character.
“Overall, the inconsistencies between each shopping experience and how vastly different they all are is extremely frustrating. None of them are perfect, but they should be similar to some extent, especially since it’s the same functionality.”
Despite the inconsistencies, it seems the main problem with shopping is the entirety of the Able Sisters’ fitting room experience. While the clothing is great, players find the overall system frustrating for various reasons. They are unable to:
Buy items in bulk,
Buy multiple items from the same category (so two hats, for example) or
Quickly review their selected items before purchasing.
This can get repetitive because players often have to leave and re-enter the fitting room multiple times to ensure they get all the items they want. To solve this, the original UI was maintained with a few changes:
A cart section was added to the top navigation bar where players can now review all the selected items.
[Workflow to Buy Multiple Items]
Start shopping, select items, can’t buy in bulk, buy one, leave fitting room, start new shopping session to buy items
[Proposed Solution Pt. 1]
Added a cart section to the top navigation bar where players can review their selected items
When players select an item, they are now able to choose how many of that item they want to buy with the total visible. This UI element was taken from the main crafting UI by adding the plus and minus buttons and the total cost of the selected item.
[Proposed Solution Pt. 2]
When players select an item they are able to choose how many of that item they want to buy with the total visible
In the cart, players can see all of their selected items and their quantities. Selecting an item gives them the option to wear it, edit its quantity, or remove it. This maintains the design’s original fitting room style while creating a simpler experience.
[Proposed Solution Pt. 3]
Players can see all of their selections in the cart. Selecting an item gives them the option to wear it, edit quantity, or remove it.
[Proposed Solution Pt. 4]
Overall cart view with the total cost of all items.
Extra Shopping Problems
Some extra problems related to shopping:
At Nook’s Cranny, players don’t know what items they’ve already bought, nor do they know how much items cost. Both of these can be fixed with the addition of a thought bubble that appears when the player is standing near an item. It tells players the name of the item, its cost, and whether they currently have the item in their pocket or in their storage through the use of icons that currently exist in the crafting UI.
[Current Design]
Players have to talk to Timmy and Tommy about each individual item to get any information.
[Proposed Solution]
A thought bubble appears that lets players know the name of the item, its cost, and whether they already own it.
Another problem at Nook’s Cranny is not knowing how much items sell for. Here, the original UI is slightly stretched to fit a total amount beneath the player’s items. Players can also view an individual item’s selling amount by hovering over them.
[Current Design]
Players don’t know how much individual items sell for, they just know the total of all selected items after they hit confirm.
[Proposed Solution]
The UI is slightly stretched to fit a total amount indicator and players can see how much items sell for on hover.
Crafting
Crafting, in general, is not a very liked mechanic; rather, its outcomes are what keep players engaged. The main problem here is not being able to craft items in bulk as this can get extremely frustrating if there are items that the player needs multiples of. They have to not only craft one at a time but also wait through approximately six-second animations for each one on top of the added seconds it takes to button-mash their way through the dialogs. To do some quick math - if a player wants to craft 50 items, they’d have to button mash for about five minutes straight.
“I think, for the most part, what’s best about crafting is the product of it and not necessarily the process of it. I really only do it when I absolutely need to.”
To solve this, the original crafting UI is used with the addition of the plus and minus buttons that were included in the bulk shopping design. Ideally, if players want to craft larger amounts of items, they would be able to hold the plus button, and the quantity would increase at a faster rate. Items that don’t fit in the players’ pockets would also be sent directly to their storage.
[Current Design]
The original UI only lets players craft one item at a time which can get very tedious and time-consuming for larger quantities
[Proposed Solution]
Added plus and minus buttons to increase and decrease amount. If players want to craft larger amounts, hold the plus button to increase quantity at a faster rate.
Extra Crafting Problems
Some extra problems related to crafting:
Players need to go through separate branches of menus to craft and customize an item. To solve this, I took the original screen that shows an item’s details and added a “Customize it!” button to it. This would then take users down the original customization workflow.
[Current Design]
Here you can see the separate workflows for crafting and customizing. If players want to craft then customize an item, they need to close the system and reopen it.
[Proposed Solution]
Took the original screen that shows an item’s details and added a “Customize it!” button to link the workflows. The system would then go through the customization workflow as normal.
Another problem was having to check and recheck what materials are needed for DIY recipes to make sure they have all of them. When players are looking through DIY recipes, they can now select a specific recipe and pin it to their in-world screen.
[Current Design]
Currently players can’t do much on this screen other than see what materials they need - there is no further functionality other than looking for information.
[Proposed Solution]
Players are now able to pin recipes to their in-game screen and are able to see what materials they need in real-time to craft the items they want.
Here, players can see what materials they need to find to craft an item. The pinned recipes are removed when all materials are found or when the player unpins them.
[Proposed Solution Pt. 2]
Players are able to see pinned recipes at the corner. Pinned recipes are removed when all items are found or when the player unpins it.
Terraforming
Terraforming is an extraordinarily repetitive and time-consuming mechanic that brings a lot of rewards at a high cost. Players generally don’t spend too much time on it because starting can be intimidating. Those who have taken the time to dive into the feature, more likely than not, are reclined to accept their islands as is rather than spend too much time on the feature.
“[After trying terraforming once] I’m never terraforming ever again. I’m taking the natural landscape and just working with it. I literally have not terraformed a single thing since that first experience.”
The main problem is how frustrating it is to work one grid space at a time. Large-scale projects can take weeks to complete, and any potential errors only add to the time.
The fix here is twofold - there are now two modes of construction that players can use: Live Mode and Big Picture Mode
Live Mode is essentially the same as the original design; the only difference is that they can now affect larger areas simultaneously. If the player hits the A button, they affect one unit at a time like always. However, if the player holds the A button for two seconds, they affect the three spaces in front of them, and if the player holds it for three seconds, they affect the nine spaces in front of them. The mini-grid is always present when terraforming to ensure a more precise experience.
[Current Design]
Can only affect one unit at a time
[Live Mode]
Hit the A button to affect one unit at a time like always
[Live Mode]
Hold the A button for two seconds to affect the three spaces in front
[Live Mode]
Hold the A button for three seconds to affect the nine spaces in front
This diagram is meant to show how the grid changes when affecting larger areas
Big Picture Mode is accessible through the terraforming menu and gives players a more zoomed-out view of their island with a complete grid. Players have the same visual indicator as before, but this time, they can hold and drag to select the spaces they want to affect.
[Big Picture Mode]
This is a more zoomed out, gridded view without the player’s avatar in the way - more robust way to terraform
[Big Picture Mode]
By holding the A button and dragging the indicator players can select the spaces they want to affect
[Big Picture Mode]
When they let go of the A button they can see how the area was affected (here the waterscape was removed)
Extra Terraforming Problem
An extra problem related to terraforming:
Players cannot quickly undo and redo their changes, and mistakes add a lot of extra work time to larger-scale projects. To solve this, undo and redo buttons were added that can be easily accessed using the L and R buttons.
[Current Design]
Players have no way of undoing or redoing their work and have to go through lengthy, time-consuming steps in order to undo their work if they don’t like it. Long animations play a huge role here.
[Proposed Solution]
Adding an undo and redo button that can be quickly accessed by the L and R buttons adds
05. Conclusions & Next Steps🍃
Conclusions
New Horizons is a video game that takes players out of their daily lives and into a more ideal existence. However, several usability issues within core gameplay mechanics take players out of that perfect existence and create frustrating environments. Improvements need to be made to maintain the game’s integrity—that self-paced experience that players are looking for—and as long as these solutions do not impede that integrity, then there’s value in further investigating them.
Reflections
This project has really taught me what it’s like to go through the UX Design Process. I’ve experienced what it’s like to create a schedule, stick to it for the first few weeks, have everything snowball out of control, and somehow get it all together at the end. If I were to do this again, I’d definitely try to stick to my schedule a lot better and accept changes and roadblocks a lot sooner.
Next Steps
The next steps for this project would be to validate my solutions with real players to get feedback and iterate on the designs if necessary. I’d also like to create more refined prototypes with animated delighters and even potentially make my own fan-made Nintendo Direct to create more excitement for these solutions.