Breath of the Wild: Heuristics Evaluation
A Heuristics Evaluation on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild based on Nielsen Norman Group’s 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design Applied to Video Games.
01. Visibility of system status
The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within a reasonable amount of time.
Breath of the Wild, like all Zelda games, uses hearts to visualize how much life the player has.
The player can use items in their Inventory to heal Link’s hearts. Hovering over different items shows how many hearts they will recover and what sort of additional buff abilities they can give.
The overall menu itself is good at keeping track of where the player is on its pages by highlighting the icon that goes with it and displaying what pages come before and after.
02. Match between system and the real world
The system should speak the users’ language, with words, phrases, and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
Although weaponry might have game-specific names like Savage Lynel Shield, the name ending in what it is—a sword, shield, or bow—helps the player relate it to an existing, real-life weapon.
Using recognizable names and icons for the different menu UI pages also helps familiarize the player with what they’re looking at even though they might have game-specific names.
03. User control and freedom
Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked “emergency exit” to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.
“Return to Title Screen” has a dialogue box that asks if the user is sure that they want to return to the title screen.
Overall Options have a “Restore to Default Settings” option.
The “Back” and “Select” buttons are always present throughout the UI.
04. Consistency and standards
Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing.
Quick controls for switching weapons are simple enough with the controls present in the HUD.
However, switching swords and shields is different from switching bows and arrows which requires the user to press and hold an extra button. This extra action can get confusing in-game, especially during an intense fight.
05. Error Prevention
Even better than good error messages is a careful design that prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.
“Return to Title Screen” defaults to the “Cancel” option in case the player accidentally reaches this screen.
Ability Icons need to explain how they are used. Often, users use these abilities by mistake and then need to wait out the ability’s long recovery time to use them again.
In the Album, the “A” button needs to be pressed to choose to delete an image. The “A” button is commonly used as a selection/action button—it does not fit well as a delete action button.
06. Recognition rather than recall
Minimize the user’s memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.
The inventory UI has clearly defined instructions for navigating through it. A user does not need to think about how to do anything.
Ability Icons do not explain how they are used. Oftentimes, users use these abilities by mistake and then need to wait out the ability’s long recovery time to be able to use them again.
Throughout the UI, there are various examples of Sheikah text, the in-game language. In the Map, some data points take a bit to understand. Rather than having titles in English, they are in Sheikah text.
07. Flexibility and efficiency of use
Accelerators - unseen by the novice user - may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
Quick controls for switching weapons are simple enough with the controls present in the HUD. Doing this mid-fight is a great way to act quickly without breaking player immersion too muxh.
If a player is unaware of these quick controls or prefers to do this another way, they can always open the inventory, navigate to the sword, shield, or bow page, and choose a new weapon.
08. Aesthetic and minimalist design
Dialogues should not contain information that is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.
The in-game HUD is simple and out of the way, showing only necessary game elements like hearts, map, weather, time, etc. Players also have the option to hide all of these if they prefer it.
09. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.
On the Album, if a player accidentally chooses to delete an image, an error message appears, prompting the player to select delete a second time. The selection defaults to cancel to ensure no mistakes are made.
If a player chooses to load save data a dialogue appears - “Load save data? Unsaved progress will be lost.” The selection defaults to cancel to ensure no mistakes are made.
10. Help and documentation
Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user’s task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.
The Ability Controls section in the System Menu documents different abilities and how to perform them. It explains them clearly through diagrams and steps.
Basic Controls are visually explained through a diagram of the Nintendo Switch.