mikemedia

Released in late 2014, Halo Channel provides interactive programming and supplemental content for the Halo community. I worked as the primary interaction designer on the project, providing design solutions and wireframe documentation.

Unlike traditional video environments where the division between active and passive use is more clearly defined, the interactive Halo experience blurs the distinction in user modes. When is the user relaxing ‘back’ in content consumption vs. leaning ‘forward’ to interrupt and interact with the primary programming? Design solutions needed to account for these ‘known unknowns’ by understanding and anticipating user needs, and with tools that keep the user in control.

A UI framework was created to allow for responsive design across multiple platforms, including Xbox, Windows and mobile. A key challenge was figuring out how to support variable window sizes in Windows 8 while still relying on a common design framework across platforms.

Use-case scenarios were defined, and early designs were prototyped to allow for rapid user testing. User feedback fed into iterative designs throughout the process.