Triumph is a vibrant postmodern fantasy adventure that welcomes everyone and doesn't take itself too seriously. Our goal was to create a franchise that was broadly appealing, but still felt cool and had an edge. Early in development, the team was struggling with UX Design. They were trying to run fast by hiring a talented artist contractor to create the look of the UI without defining the underlying visual principles and applying a strategic design approach.

The creative director, Blake Lyons, asked me to provide leadership and help the team through this process. Over the course of a few weeks, we scheduled a series of multi-hour working sessions. We jammed on ideas real-time and captured insights along the way. This yielded a set of principles that solidified the design direction for the UI, and the overall Triumph brand.

Early in the process, we discovered our key insight—we could make Triumph unique and appealing by moving beyond the standard fictionalized user interfaces made of stone and metal. Instead, it's a window into the world, framing the characters and environments without competing visually. It would also make the game more usable, allowing us to leverage UI patterns from apps our users were already familiar with.