PlayStation Vita
Here I reimagined the operating system for the PlayStation Vita; a hand-held gaming console from Sony originally released in 2011. I found the version that they released slightly clunky and unintuitive in certain instances, so I embraced a mobile-first design sensibility and set out to create something more direct and fun myself.
Originally posted in 2014.
This is the Safety Information screen that displays at system boot-up. There wasn't much to change from the original here aside from making the text larger, and using a more playful typeface.
This is the system Lock Screen. I designed it so that you get some glanceable system information in the top left-hand-side of the screen, a notification badge indicator in the top right-hand-side of the screen - and the current date and time. Tapping anywhere on the screen brings up the passcode input screen.
This is the passcode input screen. I designed the keyboard so that the touch targets are nice and large so that input is less frustrating
This screen shows what the passcode input indicators look like as you type numbers in.
This is the PS Vita home screen. Here, in the Games section, you have all the games listed that you currently have installed to the system, sorted automatically. You can swipe left and right to scroll between Games pages, and up/down to access different app groups. More on that later...
Holding on a Game or App icon reveals controls, such as the ability to view information or to delete it from the system.
Tapping on a game icon brings you into the respective Game Hub with a wallpaper and music specified by the developer, to entice the player into launching into the game and to help the UI feel more alive. This was inspired by the PS3 and PS4 system's approach to game hubs. Under the Start button (which changes based on the artwork accent colours underneath it) are controls for accessing game settings, searching the web, game help, checking for a game update and cloud saves.
If a game is currently running in the background, the system intelligently changes the button prompt to 'Resume' to reflect that.
Game activity related activities such reaching milestones, news and more are all grouped together in the Activities hub.
Tapping on one of these activities reveals more information on it, and allows the user to interact with it specifically by 'Liking' it or leaving a comment.
This is what leaving a comment would look like, as well as representing what the full-size keyboard would be.
Pulling down from the top of the screen reveals Notifications, where you can take action on system features such as checking the status of an update, recent trophy unlocks, friend requests, messages and more.
You can swipe left-to-right in order to delete the notification.
Swiping right-to-left on one of these would reveal timestamp information.
Earning trophies has a new flyout experience.
Holding the PlayStation button on the Vita console reveals Control Centre, allowing you to quickly toggle certain connectivity services on and off, adjust volume and brightness, take action on background music playback and more.
If a backwards-compatible game is running when you invoke Control Centre, there will be an icon you can tap to take you to game-specific controls.
Here are some examples of settings for a backwards-compatible game.
Here you can customise control schemes.
Tapping on something that needs your choice of option, reveals this menu that slides out from the right-hand-side of the screen.
When your Vita system runs out of battery and needs charging, this screen is displayed.
When adjusting the system volume using the buttons on top of the system, this flyout is displayed.
When a game unexpectedly crashes, this message is displayed. Providing the error code so that if the user wants to search it online, they can - as well as an easy way to quickly report the issue to PlayStation, try to alleviate some of the headaches caused by a software bug.
The 2nd section of grouped-together applications on the Vita home-screen is called 'My PS Vita' which includes features that come as standard with the system, such as Trophies and PS Store and Messages... among others.
This is the main screen of the PS Store app.
Scrolling downward causes the nested navigation to lock into place underneath the central navigation.
Searching for items on PS Store provides results in-line, whereas they didn't before.
Search results without the keyboard. Notice the ability to quickly clear the search query, as well as being able to see ratings for each product page.
This a product page. I tried to include lots of important information to this first page.
This is the purchase screen
Scrolling through your list of games within the Trophies app
Tapping on a game will take you into its respective trophies list, complete with a header that takes an accent colour from the game artwork.
Here is a Trophy detail view.
This is the Friends app
Looking at a player's online profile
This is the Messages app
Here is a messages thread within the Messages app
Swiping right-to-left on a message reveals timestamp information.
Group Chats also exist within the Messages app.
A Party is a group that persists between different games... almost like a posse. This is the Party app.
You can use your Vita to control and stream games from your PS3 using the Remote Play app.
This is how you choose which system you wish to commence Remote Play with. PS4 is also supported.
When tapping the PS4, Second Screen functionality is also present.
Here, Parental Controls are made easy to access.
The Settings app has been redesigned to make it more colourful, and allows you take action in-line for certain settings like Flight Mode.
'Apps' is the third group on the Vita home screen.
You can also create your own folders -- here is how they are presented to the user.
Facebook-branded app hub.
YouTube-branded app hub.
Flickr-branded app hub.
Music Unlimited-branded app hub.
Taking a photo within the Camera app.
Taking a video within the Camera app.
Here is what the system internet browser would look like.
Apps can provide certain context-specific shortcuts. A message appears in the title bar when this functionality is available.
After a certain time, the text disappears and is replaced by this iconography.
Examples of quick functionality within the Friends app.
Holding on the power button on the Vita reveals the ability to turn the system off with a simple button press.
Examples of quick functionality within the Trophies app.
Examples of quick functionality within the PS Store app.