StretchLearn Course

Design game interfaces that stay clear under pressure and feel great to use, from the HUD to the inventory screen

A complete beginner workflow for HUD layout, health and resource indicators, menu systems, diegetic UI choices, feedback states, and the engine handoff

Preview Curriculum Back to Catalog

Beginner9 hr 30 minSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

This course teaches the layout, hierarchy, feedback design, and engine handoff that separate a professional game UI from a cluttered overlay. You will learn the four-part diegesis matrix (diegetic, non-diegetic, spatial, meta) and use it to decide where every element belongs, design HUDs around safe zones and the player's combat focus, and make health bars, ammo counters, and minimaps legible at speed and on a TV across the room. You will structure inventory grids, radial menus, and pause screens around real interaction costs, then bring it all to life with state feedback, screen shake, hit-stop, and tween timing that designers call juice. Finally you will prepare clean specs and 9-slice assets so your work survives the handoff into Unity or Unreal. By the end you can take a game from a paper HUD sketch to a readable, responsive, good-feeling interface ready to build.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Classify any interface element with the diegesis matrix and choose diegetic or non-diegetic treatment on purpose

Lay out a HUD around title-safe zones, the player's focal point, and a deliberate reading hierarchy

Design health, resource, and ammo indicators that stay legible at speed, at distance, and for color-blind players

Structure inventory grids, radial menus, and pause flows around real interaction cost and navigation patterns

Add feedback states, juice, and game-feel using tween easing, hit-stop, and screen effects with restraint

Produce a developer handoff with 9-slice sprites, anchors, and specs that build cleanly in Unity or Unreal

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: Foundations: What Game UI Is and the Diegesis Matrix

Understand how game interfaces differ from app and web UI, learn the four-part framework that classifies every element a player sees, and master the layout fundamentals (safe zones, hierarchy, and the player's focal point) that everything else builds on. Get these foundations right and the HUD, menus, and feedback in later modules fall into place.

3 lessons

How game UI differs from app and web designContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

The diegesis matrix: diegetic, non-diegetic, spatial, metaContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Layout fundamentals: safe zones, hierarchy, and focal pointContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Designing the HUD and Core Indicators

Turn the layout fundamentals into a real heads-up display: design health and resource bars that read instantly, ammo and cooldown indicators that communicate state at speed, and minimaps and objective markers that guide without overwhelming. This module is where most of a player's moment-to-moment information lives.

3 lessons

Health bars and resource meters that read instantlyContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Ammo, cooldowns, and the language of feedback statesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Minimaps, objective markers, and spatial UIContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Menus, Inventory, and Interaction Flow

Move from the live HUD to the screens players open deliberately: inventory grids and equipment screens, radial and context menus built for a gamepad, and the pause, settings, and onboarding flows that frame the whole experience. These screens are where interaction cost and navigation patterns matter most.

3 lessons

Inventory systems and grid-based layoutsContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Menus, radial wheels, and designing for the gamepadContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Pause, settings, onboarding, and interaction costContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Game Feel, Feedback, and the Engine Handoff

Make the interface feel alive and then ship it: design the feedback and juice that reward every action, build a coherent visual style and asset set, and prepare a clean handoff into Unity or Unreal so your work survives contact with the build. This module turns a static mockup into a responsive, buildable interface.

3 lessons

Feedback states and juice: making UI feel aliveContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Visual style, art direction, and consistencyContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Preparing assets and handing off to Unity or UnrealContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

game ui designhud designdiegetic uigame feelui feedback statesinventory uiuser interface designux for games