Thanks to the wide-ranging influence of video games on a global scale, its mature human-computer interaction mode and user interface design are often referenced and referenced by other fields.

An example most often mentioned before is that the US military has the Xbox handle as a controller for certain weapons. . This is not only because of the low cost, but also because of its low threshold and ease of use. After all, anyone who has played the game knows what the arrow keys and joysticks mean.

▲ Image from: Gamesblog

In early 2018, the Formula E electric formula contest teamed up with design company DixonBaxi to showcase several conceptual TVs. The screen packaging, you can also see the UI elements and layout of many racing games.

It can be said that the use of game elements to transform real-world products is no longer a fresh concept. Recently, Harlan Elam, the designer of the well-known network security company JASK, shared his development experience. What he did was to introduce the common HUD interface in science fiction movies and games into the company’s security tools.

Before that, Elam worked for Blizzard Entertainment for four and a half years and has a deep research on game interface design and user experience.

In an interview with Venturebeat, Harlan Elam emphasizes that unlike enterprise products and game-making software, most of the security information and event management software like JASK does not target ordinary consumers, so there are stricter requirements on functionality than design. .

▲ On the left is the old design, the new design on the right

But because of this, such products are often only responsible for providing information, but rarely pay attention to how to present information, and interactions are often rigid, and Elam wants to simplify it and make it easier for new users to understand. .

“This is like a novice tutorial for games. Some games will give you a manual, and some games will integrate the tutorial directly into the first few levels, allowing players to understand the gameplay during the game. The latter is what I want to achieve in JASK.”

▲ “Battlezone” game interface

It is reported that he was inspired by the shooting games such as “Missile Command” and “Battlezone”, trying to introduce a circular radar chart into the main control page. The red triangle on the periphery of the radar represents the highest priority in the current network. Risk events to remind the monitoring staff to resolve.

▲ Radar chart designed by Harlan Elam.

“Color and shape are one of the most important indicators in passing visual information. Just like when you see a red light on the roadside, you will stop consciously. We use the red triangle as a warning sign to tell customers that they should What to do first.”

At the same time, Harlan Elam is still working on how to convert simple numbers into more intuitive dynamic infographics.

He found that many competing companies’ monitoring tools only display a variety of numbers, or just a few graphs, which may be enough for gamers, such as a “Call of Duty” gamer may be just I want to see my K/D rate; but for professional analysts, the simple numbers are obviously not enough for them.

How to distinguish between other products with the same function and be recognized by professional users? Introducing the game mechanism may be a feasible direction. In the game, we will embody players through Daguai upgrades, rankings and other means. The difference between the two makes the goal more specific and quantifiable, which is what I want to do in the future,” Elam said in an interview.

Interestingly, Harlan Elam also found in the previous survey that most of the JASK users themselves are gamers, which is an important reason for the success of this transformation.

Source of the title: Harlan Elam