This document summarizes Gena Drahun's experience as an interaction designer and UX designer for World of Tanks from 2009 to 2011. It outlines her educational background in physics, economics, and user research/interaction design. It then provides an overview of the growth of Wargaming.net during her time there and some of the game's achievements and awards. Finally, it describes aspects of her work on the game's UX design, including battle and non-battle UIs, development pipelines, testing approaches, and enabling player customization and community involvement.

1. World of Tanks
UX Design 2009 - 2011
Gena Drahun
2015

2. Interaction Designer, Information Architect
Master in User Research & Interaction Design
(User-System Interaction program)
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e)
Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 2002-2004
Master in Physics
Belarusian State University
Minsk, Belarus, 1994 - 2000
Bachelor in Economics
Belarusian State University
Minsk, Belarus, 1996 - 1999
Gena Drahun
[ˈɡə-na dra-ˈgün]

4. Wargaming.net, 2009 – 100 people

5. Wargaming.net, 2014 – 3 500 people

6. Wargaming.net, 2014

8. 110 000 000+
players by the end of 2014
Almost
or

9. Guinness World Record
“Online Game of the Year” D.I.C.E. 2014
"Best Online Game“ Golden Joystick 2013
“Best MMO” Golden Joystick 2012
“Best European Online Game” 2011
Top Awards

10. 4th online game in the
world by revenue in 2013
5th in 2014

12. Development
pipeline

13. Game
Design
Concept
UX
Design
Visual
Design
Front-End
Development
Back-End/ Server Development
Testing
Game Development Pipeline

14. Game
Design
Concept
UX
Design
Visual
Design
Front-End
Development
Back-End/ Server Development
Testing
Game Development Pipeline
Tank Design Pipeline
Map Design Pipeline
Historical /
References Research
Tank Modeling
(Outsourced)
Testing
Level
Design
Level
Prototyping
Prototype
Testing
Level
Modeling
Testing

15. Battle UI

16. Early α-test battle UI, summer 2009

17. Late α -test battle UI, autumn 2009

18. Closed β–test battle UI, spring 2010

19. Battle UI, Global Release, winter 2011

20. Non-battle UI

21. α-test non-battle UI, summer 2009

22. Mid α-test non-battle UI, autumn 2009

23. Battle Lifecycle/ Player Journey

24. First Wireframes, late α-test

25. Iterations
v. 0.3 v. 0.5
v. 0.7
v. 1.0

26. Later Wireframe, Open β–test

27. Release Non-battle UI, summer 2010

28. UI Patterns

29. Game Testing &
Evaluation

30. Game Development Stages
Internal
Testing
Alpha
Testing
Closed Beta
Testing
Open Beta
Testing
Local
Release
Global
Release
Few hundred
invited users
Only
developers
Few thousand
invited users
Free access to
the game, no
payments
Free access to
the game +
payments

31. Feature Development Stages
Internal
Testing
Super Testers Local Release Global Release
Few hundred
invited users
Only
developers
Players of a
Local Market
All players of
the game

32. Reviews, Focus Groups,
Lo-Fi Proto testing
Play-, Usability testing
Analytics
Community testing, User self-report
Evaluation Methods
Reviews, Expert Evaluations

33. Internal testing & Evaluation

34. Play- and Usability testing

35. Testing by Community

36. Design by
Community

37. Customizing Tanks I

38. Customizing Tanks II

39. Customizing Tanks III

40. “Golden” Tank

41. Customizing Maps

42. ...Customizing Sounds...

43. Customizing UI!!!

44. Customizing UI!!!

45. Creating add-ons…

46. Gena Drahun
Thank you!