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✨ Kia ora! ✨
Calling all User Experience Designers, Interaction Designers, Service Designers, Graphic Designers, UI Designers, Information Architects, Product Managers, UX Developers, Digital Strategists, Product Designers, Copywriters, and Unicorns! 🦄
UXCHCH events are a great way of networking with others in the UX community. We host regular events in Christchurch including presentations, socials, workshops, activities & more 🤠
For anyone who can’t make it to our meetup or who’s tuning in from outside Christchurch, we’ve created a YouTube channel where you can catch all of our event recordings.
Upcoming events
1
UXCHCH: When bad UI isn’t a failure: rethinking UX in games and complex systems
100 Carlyle Street, Christchurch, NZGame interfaces are often visually stunning, immersive, and packed with features, but they can also be surprisingly difficult to understand, especially for entry-level players. Starting with overloaded maps, multi-layered menus, hidden mechanics, and overwhelming screens, many modern games expect players to learn how to use the interface as part of the main gameplay. From a traditional UX perspective, that sounds like failure.
In the tech world, we regularly design and use tools that require training, tutorials, and experience to master. Complexity is often seen as a problem that needs intense design attention. But what if it’s not always supposed to be this way?
In this talk, we’ll explore the surprising idea that not all friction is bad design, and that sometimes complexity can feel rewarding. Let’s explore the parallels between complex game interfaces and professional software, looking at how different industries handle onboarding, cognitive load, and user learning. Together, we’ll reflect on what UX for games and UX for complex tools can learn from each other, especially when designing for newcomers entering deep, powerful systems.
Together, we’ll discuss:
- When complexity is not a UX failure and when it can be beneficial
- How non-user-friendly interfaces become part of the extended user experience
- How UX goals differ between games, SaaS tools, and everyday digital products
- What this means for how we think about friction, mastery, and meaning in designThis session is for UX and UI designers, researchers, product designers, and curious people who want to think more deeply about the role of effort and challenge in user experience.
Let’s unpack it together.About the Speaker
Anastasia Zotov is a Senior UI/UX Designer with 10 years of experience designing a wide range of digital products. Her work spans SaaS platforms, data-rich systems, and game interfaces, where she works at the intersection of usability, accessibility, and user experience.Currently working at Auto Trader, Anastasia brings a diverse perspective to UX, connecting practices from product design, enterprise tools, and user interaction.
Agenda
5:00pm • Doors open, networking + refreshments
5:30pm • Presentation starts
6:30pm • More networking
7:00pm • Event closeA big thank you to MadeCurious for providing the event space for us to meet - if you’re interested in what they do, check out their LinkedIn page.
MadeCurious HQ information:
- We have x2 mobility car parks available and wheelchair access into the building
- If you have any accessibility needs, please let us know so we can make sure to cater for them
- Limited car parking will be available onsite (MadeCurious. labelled signs) and ample street parking close by the office
- There is a bike shed at the back of the parking lot where you can park your bicycle.
We have a limited capacity, so please only RSVP if you can definitely make it.
23 attendees
Past events
46
