STOCK UP - GROCER SIM
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Role: UX Design
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Genre: Vocational Simulation
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Engine: Unity 3D
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School: DigiPen Institute of Technology
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Total Dev Time: 2020 - 2021; 5ish months
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Platform: Windows
Stock Up! - Grocer Sim was a school project that had the goal of designing an engaging and authentic experience from a real vocation. I decided to draw from my time as a grocer and build something from what I appreciated about the experience. The initial challenge was coming up with a gameplay loop that many other people would enjoy and still felt authentic. I would later pick the project back up a year later to improve the UX features of the game.
The goal of the game is to stock as many shelves as you can before your shift is over, using your eyes to match up product boxes and barcodes while cleaning up spills and helping customers all so that you can get enough money to go on a road trip to save your romantic relationship with a long distance partner.
TASKS / RESPONSIBILITIES
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Sketching and blocking out wireframes in Adobe XD
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Transferring assets from Adobe XD to Photoshop to Unity 3D
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Animation of UI assets
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Authoring of all code in C#
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Constructing the UI within Unity 3D
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Editing and implementation of all audio assets
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Perform and record announcer voice audio
DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
First step is to establish the specs of the project such as what it is and who it's audience is.
Establishing the core pillars of the project with using market research as supporting descriptors.
Putting in place wireframes into the prototype, utilizing as simple of a version of them as possible.
The point of the project is to be immersed in a role, so as much of the HUD was implemented into the environment as possible.
To help players keep track of and learn where products went, a variety of icons and colors were designed to put the store into easily digestible chunks.
Many of the menus were inspired by the kinds of interfaces and work sheets real grocers interact with on a day to day basis.
To keep scope in control as well as keep players from getting overloaded, the scale of the store was greatly reduced. Cognitive load was a delicate balance.
Testing proved that the readability of the icons and designs on products and signs was critical. There was constant adjustments to placement, contrast and layout.
Making fictional brands with varieties of a single product added to the authenticity of the experience while lowering cognitive load, scope, and becoming a landmark within the store.
The polished version of the UI was to lean even harder into mimicking real life grocery store stationary, with the receipt here being 'printed' from off screen.