Ubisoft Singapore
2022 - 2025
Skull & Bones
Delivering player-facing UI systems for a AAA live-service title from pre-launch through 4 Seasons of post-launch content.
Overview
Shipping Skull & Bones from development into live service
My time on Skull & Bones spanned development, launch and post-launch content, working primarily as a UI Technical Artist between UX, art and engineering.
I implemented and maintained player-facing UI across systems including naval combat, progression, ship customisation, crafting, notifications, maps and equipment, while working with local and overseas teams to bring designs into the game.
Naval Combat HUD
World Event Contract Cards
My Role
UI Technical Artist
UX / DESIGN
Design intent
User flows
Interaction behaviour
UI TECHNICAL ART
Implementation - Integration - Iteration
ENGINEERING / ART
Technical constraints
Assets
Data
Engine requirements
Working between these disciplines meant implementation was rarely a straight handoff. Designs evolved, technical constraints surfaced, and existing systems often had to be adapted to accommodate new requirements.
Skull & Bones had been in development for years before I joined the project. That meant working with systems, assets and workflows created by multiple teams and predecessors.
As development progressed, new content and player feedback often exposed limitations in existing UI.
A screen that worked for its original purpose could become difficult to maintain once new gear, statistics, interactions or seasonal content were introduced. Which meant that changes driven by development priorities and player feedback could require substantial revisions to already-implemented features and implementation needed to satisfy the immediate feature while remaining flexible enough to support future content.
Branching out
Rigger and Technical Artist (Generalist)
Led post-launch character head rigging efforts to help develop 8 new character heads for in-game customization.
Collaborated with artist from oversea studios and external vendors - Liaising on visual standards between teams and delivering on fully rigged heads to be used in game.
Implementation and Iterated of new heads into game engine - cross checking against standards and constraints of existing cosmetics and facial feature assets.
Took up mentorship and guidance programs from senior members of other teams to upgrade skillset as a Generalist to prepare for future roles in other job families in Tech Art.
Case Study
Creating Scalable UI For Growing Inventory
Working Between Design and Engineering
Perks of having prior background in UI/UX development meant that i could contribute during earlier discussions with UX designers, raising implementation considerations while ideas were still being shaped.
That helped preserve design intent while identifying technical constraints early and creating smoother iteration between design and implementation instead of waiting for the completed design file handover.
One of the Prominent issues:
More equipment meant more information to communicate.
The existing presentation relied heavily on raw numerical statistics, making it harder to quickly understand the differences between options. At the same time, the UI needed to remain flexible enough to accommodate future equipment and content without requiring major restructuring.
I worked on restructuring the presentation of player statistics into more glanceable visual indicators, while implementing the UI as flexible, modular components. Turning many raw numerical values into visual indicators which made comparisons easier to scan while allowing the underlying components to remain reusable across different equipment.
Through the new data driven system and redesign, the tooltips and displays became more adaptable to new gear types and future content, reducing the need to rebuild the screen whenever the information it displayed changed.
Reflection
Shipping and supporting a live-service title was certainly an eye-opening experience. Working on my first AAA title showed me that great player experiences are rarely the result of a single discipline or team working in isolation. Instead, they are shaped through continuous iteration, close collaboration, and the collective effort of many teams working alongside one another to evolve the experience.
"Working on a live-service title changed how I think about implementation. A solution isn't finished simply because it works today; it needs to remain understandable and adaptable when the game changes tomorrow."
I’m incredibly thankful for the experience and lessons I gained throughout my time at Ubisoft. The countless interactions with developers, designers, and senior team members challenged the way I approached game UI and gave me a much deeper understanding of the craft. More importantly, the experience gave me more than just a taste of what I had been studying and dreaming about since I was a kid playing games on the PlayStation 1.
It reinforced my love for UX, accessibility, and the process of making complex experiences feel clearer and more intuitive. It also gave me a stronger drive to seek out opportunities where I can make experiences more understandable, scalable, and ultimately, more enjoyable for the people using them.
