[UI Design] How do you train your characters?

Unknown

It occurred to me this morning that I almost never use the Train button located on the main screen. Given that real estate on a tiny screen is always in high demand, I wondered if the Train and Roster buttons shouldn't be consolidated (or in my mind, replace the Train button with an Alliance button, and add some of the info from the Train screen to the Roster screen). Before doing any major UI design though, it's best to see how people currently use the system.

From the main Events screen (where you can see the Recruit Heroes, Train and Roster buttons at the bottom of the screen), and assuming that the character you want to train is on the first page of your roster, the Train button takes 3 taps to get you to the screen that actually lets you level up your character, while the Roster button would take you 4 taps. Additionally, the screen that the Train button takes you to has additional information such as whether that character is able to be trained with your current ISO reserves.

Despite the advantages of the Train screen, I have almost never used it (currently on day 325). I find that I just prefer the layout of the Roster screen. I thought it might be useful for the devs to see if other players do the same thing and whether we really need 2 different ways on the main screen to accomplish the same task.

The purpose of this poll is to find more room for buttons that I'd like to see get higher visibility, such as the Alliance button.

y2fitzy

I tend to go through the roster button myself. I've never, ever gone through from the battle page.

GrumpySmurf1002

I voted for during the fight, because that's the most common of the 3 choices.

My real answer is that I tend to do it when I add an earned cover, which dumps you into the character screen. Now that I think about it, I guess that's technically through the roster screen, so maybe I chose poorly.

Infrared

I do use the Train button when I want to see an overview of all of my characters' current health points.

I don't use the Train button to do training, because that takes slightly longer to load on my iPad. A common occasion to level up a character is when I have received a new cover for it. Thus I would want to train the power and then invest ISO in the same place. I can do that with the Roster button. But with the Train button there are still two further sub-buttons on the next screen (Raise Level, Train Powers), each of which add slightly over a second in loading time. Not that big a deal, but the extra delay is enough to make me go the other route.

I mostly do not use the Train button in the rewards list either, because I like seeing the before & after effect of the new level of power.

loroku

Absolutely use all 3 options in their current form, but you're right that there could be fewer.

"Train" is nice because you can actually get to the thing you want quickly, which is typically "what damage on X color does this person do?" But it's otherwise a poor choice and doesn't do much.

"Roster" is great but gives WAY too much information on too many screens and takes forever. BUT it's the only way you can actually find out things like whether or not the next level in X power is worth it.

The "when you're about to fight" button is good because it's just a hassle to keep going into and out of menus.

There are definitely too many menus to navigate and WAY too many pop-ups (seriously, EVERY time I go into a PvP match I need you to pop up and tell me who is featured?). What I'd like is for the Roster button to be re-arranged so that the "train" screen is the first one, and all the pictures / description / fluff is at the end and you have to scroll through to get it. Put "train" first, then the power-leveling screen, then the power descriptions, and then the cover and all that junk. Then you could take away the "Train" button because it'd be redundant.

h4n1s

Honestly I find the training pretty ineffective disregarding a screen used for it.

For example - you get new cover, you have to apply it - either going to Roster, covers and there clicking train, or in Train or in battle screen - then you need to do couple of taps before you end up on the screen where you add ISO. You still need to do multiple useless taps from wherever you apply cover (Train, Roster or fight screen). But I can live with that at the end of the day....

BUT here comes the real pain -> Dumping ISO to level up a character.

Imagine you don't have enough ISO to fully level him up. You have the ISO to level him up by lets say 6 levels. So you need to press the button, hold until it reached the desired level (few seconds), raise your finger and repeat 5 more times....
There is a shortcut - the max level training button. However that one offers you single click 'max level up' not based on your current ISO level but based on your current ISO + the mot appropriate ISO pack you can buy in the 'shop'. So if you don't wish to use your credit card you need to do the same exercise as described above to partially level up your character based on your ISO stash.

That is, ladies and gentlemen, bigger issue to me personally

Unknown

h4n1s wrote:

Honestly I find the training pretty ineffective disregarding a screen used for it.

<snip>

That is, ladies and gentlemen, bigger issue to me personally

I'm not disagreeing that the actual process of leveling up a character is inefficient. However, from a usability perspective, your navigation should be the equivalent of brightly flashing neon signs that clearly indicate where you are about to go and what you can do there. On the iPhone, the alliance button and Daily Rewards buttons are nearly unusable (and the Event Rewards and Shield icons). The navigation at the bottom of the screen is redundant and it's unclear why you'd want to use Roster since Train shows you your roster. And yet, the vast majority of people in this poll say they use the roster screen rather than the Train button to level up, despite the button being labeled with the task you want to accomplish.

Based on the first hour of this poll, my eventual suggestion is going to be to replace the Train button with the Alliance button and then streamline the character screens to get to the stat / leveling page for that character. Additionally, on the main roster page, just having the "up-arrow" icon overlaying a character that can be leveled would convey most of the important information I could get out of the Train page (and honestly, I know my roster well enough, what level each character is and how much ISO it generally takes for him to get another level that the icon is almost superfluous as well - however from a usability perspective most people will probably still benefit from it).

Unknown

I chose the Roster button on the main screen because there wasn't an option for what I actually do. I typically hit the roster button within an event...which really isn't different than the Roster button on the main screen so I don't think it will skew the results any.

Unknown

I usually use the Train button. I rarely train a character via the Roster button, I mostly use that one to happily ogle my collection.
But I agree, the Train option could simply be part of a Roster sub-menu.

Unknown

Mondo wrote:

I chose the Roster button on the main screen because there wasn't an option for what I actually do. I typically hit the roster button within an event...which really isn't different than the Roster button on the main screen so I don't think it will skew the results any.

The 3 buttons on the main screen are the same regardless of whether you're looking at the list of events, if you're looking at the 3 possible fight nodes of a versus event, or if you're looking at the available nodes within a Story event. In all those scenarios, each of the 3 buttons functions the same as it would on any other screen. That's actually an example of good UI design - nice consistent behavior for your navigation.

So you're correct in that it won't actually skew the results - the changes I'd like to propose will actually affect all screens where the Train and Roster button show up side by side.

Unknown

I actually use the train button not just for training, but for most roster activities, since it tends to have more information (health recovery, hit points, etc.) a little more at the ready than the roster button.

HairyDave

I'm probably a 50/50 split between the roster screen and in-battle. I do use the flashing training arrow as an indicator though.

I find the roster screen a little more convenient because I can quickly see what covers I have in the stash and can apply them from there (or more usually sell them). That and it's a little faster to navigate if I'm looking for someone buried deeper in the roster.

I should add it's almost a non-issue on steam though - plenty of space to go around

BearVenger

I use the Train button to train, but I like the "pass-through" format of the Roster screen (going from fullscreen comic cover to ISO/match damage/health to cover abilities, using arrow buttons), rather than using the edge of my thumb to select the correct cover (and hopefully not the "purchase a cover for 1250 HP" button). If I have covers and ISO to use, I'll use Roster, usually.

I think I'd be happier with the Roster and Train screens combined into one button, using the Roster-style passthrough design, and the extra space used for alliance stuffs or other game info.

And while I'm at it, as a dude who just upped eleven characters from 132 to 133, any leveling-up that takes more than 1000 ISO takes too darn long.

Kolence

Infrared wrote:

[...] A common occasion to level up a character is when I have received a new cover for it. Thus I would want to train the power and then invest ISO in the same place. I can do that with the Roster button. But with the Train button there are still two further sub-buttons on the next screen (Raise Level, Train Powers), each of which add slightly over a second in loading time. Not that big a deal, but the extra delay is enough to make me go the other route.

I mostly do not use the Train button in the rewards list either, because I like seeing the before & after effect of the new level of power.

BearVenger wrote:

[...] I like the "pass-through" format of the Roster screen (going from cover to ISO/match damage/health to cover abilities, using arrow buttons) [...]

This. Thank you for expressing exactly what I wished to say.
Also, after upgrading the cover and adding some levels, I can then go left to the cover screen, enjoy the art and feel good about improving my roster.

Unknown

I'd say about 60%-70% of the time I use the Roster button, the remaining 30%-40% I use the train button before a fight. If I'm on a push in PvP and find myself with 10,000 iso to dump into the featured hero, then fight button. Otherwise Roster button.

0% of the time do I use the Train button on the main page. I feel it's redundant, as it goes to a specific spot on the roster page anyway, with much less flexibility.

stevenbrule

I was thinking the other day that this might be designed a bit more efficiently, given the overlap between the two. That said, it's not super intrusive as is, so I don't see this as something that needs to be a high priority - even if modification would be welcome.

rixmith

I use the Train screen 95% of the time. Occasionally I'll use the in-fight method, but that is usually only in the first PvP fight after I've just gotten a cover from the last PvP. I wouldn't be offended by combining the screens, nor do they bother me the way they are. I like the aesthetics of the hero headshots on the Train screen, and only use the Roster screen when I need to sell covers or get an overview of which covers I need.

FaerieMyst

Two ways -

In a featured character PVP, I level up the featured character using the little train button during the lineup.

For general training, I use the Train feature. I like that it gives an instant snapshot of the character.

Moral

I was looking for a voting option: "There's a 'train' button?"

Seriously, I've used the roster so exclusively for training I'd forgotten there is a third button along the bottom.

mjh

How do you guys not have this data already? Most apps can deliver data such as click rate and action flow

GothicKratos

HawkeyeSucks wrote:

How do you guys not have this data already? Most apps can deliver data such as click rate and action flow

Uhm, Riggy is a volunteer moderator. He doesn't work for anyone, thus has no access to this data, if it exists.