Summary
Type: Professional Experience
Completed: Unreleased (In-Development)
My Role: UI Programmer
Studio: Gameloft (Brisbane)
Time at the studio: November 2021 - March 2024
Overview
I worked on Carmen Sandiego at Gameloft Brisbane as a UI Programmer focused on Blueprint implementation, systemic UI behaviour, and cross-platform functionality.
Although the UX direction and UI art were created by the design and art teams, I was responsible for translating their mockups into fully functional in-game interfaces across Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS/Android, and the Netflix Games platform.
Although the UX direction and UI art were created by the design and art teams, I was responsible for translating their mockups into fully functional in-game interfaces across Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS/Android, and the Netflix Games platform.
This role placed me at the intersection of design, engineering and production. I ensured that UI behaviour was responsive, clear, and aligned with the player experience the designers intended, while also implementing platform-specific requirements and solving edge cases across multiple devices.
Audience & Platform Considerations
The audience for Carmen Sandiego includes:
• Younger players encountering the franchise for the first time
• Long-time fans of the original show/games
• Netflix mobile players expecting instant accessibility
• Switch users playing in handheld/docked modes
• PC players using keyboard/mouse
This required UI behaviour that was:
• Readable and responsive
• Consistent across control schemes
• Stable under platform performance constraints
• Met various Netflix Games
Understanding this shaped how I implemented transitions, interaction rules, and navigational behaviour.
My Role
I did not create UI art or direct UX design.
Instead, my work centred on the technical realisation of design intentions:
Instead, my work centred on the technical realisation of design intentions:
• Implementing UI mockups into fully functional Blueprint systems
• Ensuring navigation logic matched intended user flows
• Hooking UI behaviour into underlying gameplay systems
• Supporting designers by identifying interaction issues and proposing technical solutions
• Maintaining cross-platform behaviour consistency
• Solving device-specific usability edge cases (Switch vs mobile vs PC)
• Interpreting design intent and making it work in production constraints
This is deeply aligned with Technical Game Design, where clarity, behaviour, and systemic logic matter more than visual styling.
Key Contributions
Blueprint Implementation of Complex UI Flows
I implemented a wide range of UI behaviours including:
• Menu interactions and transitions
• Conditional screen states
• Input hierarchy for Switch, PC, and mobile
• Narrative and gameplay-driven updates
• Reusable UI Blueprint components for future feature work
This required a strong understanding of game state, player pacing, and how UI communicates moment-to-moment information.
Collaboration Across Multiple Disciplines
The team spanned multiple time zones and departments, so I worked closely with:
• UI artists, ensuring layouts matched the provided mock ups
• UX designers, aligning interactions to the intended flow
• Gameplay programmers, synchronising UI with systemic logic
• QA testers, validating behaviour across all platforms
This built strong communication skills — essential for technical design roles.
Multi-Platform Development (Switch, PC, Mobile, Netflix Games)
I implemented and validated UI across diverse platforms with differing constraints:
Nintendo Switch
• Joy-Con navigation behaviour
• handheld readability
• performance-based interaction timing
• platform expectations and certification considerations
Mobile / Netflix Games
• Touch gesture behaviour
• Readability on variable screen sizes
• Memory/performance constraints on mobile devices
Steam/PC
• Keyboard/mouse support
• Fine-grained input responsiveness
• Scalable resolution behaviour
Supporting this matrix of platforms reinforced careful system design and robust implementation patterns.
What I Delivered
• Fully implemented UI behaviours for multiple new and updated features
• Blueprint systems matching UI mock ups across all supported platforms
• Reliable input handling for controller, touch and mouse
• Platform-specific behaviour fixes and optimisations
• Clean, maintainable Blueprint structures used by the team in the final release
• Technical support that accelerated designer iteration
Why This Shows My Design Strengths
Although my title was UI Programmer, my work was heavily design adjacent. My work demonstrates:
• Systems thinking (understanding state, interaction logic, and clarity)
• Player-oriented implementation (matching behaviours to intended pacing)
• Multi-platform design understanding
• Communication with designers to achieve intended outcomes
• Technical execution of design concepts using Blueprint
• Problem solving within constraints
I consistently delivered interactions that aligned with design goals, supported narrative pacing, and remained stable across a complex platform ecosystem.
This strengthened my capability as a Technical Designer who can interpret, implement, and refine design intent at a production level.
