Situation
Frostbite is EA’s in-house game engine used across major AAA titles. The internal tools that developers relied on — for Cinematics, AI, and Physics — had become overly complex, inconsistent, and difficult to navigate. Developers were losing time due to unclear layouts, redundant workflows, and steep learning curves for new hires.
Task
As a UX Designer on the Frostbite Tools team, I was responsible for improving the usability and efficiency of these developer-facing tools. The goal was to create a more consistent, intuitive experience without oversimplifying the advanced technical capabilities needed by engineers, artists, and level designers.
Action
I conducted 1:1 contextual interviews with game developers across multiple studios to understand their workflows and frustrations. Using Dovetail, I synthesized key insights into themes around navigation pain points, labeling confusion, and interface overload.
Working closely with product owners, engineers, and technical artists, I:
Working closely with product owners, engineers, and technical artists, I:
- Created journey maps and user flows to visualize bottlenecks and time sinks.
- Designed and tested wireframes and interactive prototypes in Figma, focusing on clarity, hierarchy, and reduced cognitive load.
- Facilitated usability testing sessions, tracking metrics like task completion time, context switching, and error rates.
- Partnered with engineering during implementation, iterating on designs for performance and technical feasibility.
- Contributed to the Frostbite design system, improving consistency and scalability across hundreds of tool modules.
Result
The redesigned tools significantly reduced onboarding time for new developers, improved efficiency in core workflows such as scene setup and AI debugging, and strengthened UX–engineering collaboration.
Feedback from the Behavior Tree team highlighted the success of the initiative:
Feedback from the Behavior Tree team highlighted the success of the initiative:
“Your assistance over the past two months, particularly in evaluating and redesigning our components, has been essential to our progress. The end result is exactly what we were expecting — and it turned out really awesome!” – Frostbite AI Team
“The results are beyond incredible, way better than anything we could have hoped for. Your commitment and outstanding work have been praised daily in our stand-up meetings.” – Frostbite Cinematics Team
These improvements made the tools more intuitive, reduced friction in complex workflows, and established UX as a key partner in Frostbite’s development pipeline.
Tools & Methods
Figma • Dovetail • Prototyping • Journey Mapping • Contextual Inquiry • Heuristic Evaluation • Agile Collaboration • Design Systems