Sandbox

Designing the workspace behind game development.

The Sandbox editor sits at the heart of the development pipeline. It brings together dozens of specialized tools into a single environment where teams create everything from environments and gameplay logic to lighting, animation, and interactive systems. The goal of this project was to improve the overall editing experience by creating a more cohesive, efficient, and scalable interface that supports the complex workflows of professional game development.

Product Design / UX Research / Information Architecture / Prototyping / User testing

2020 - 2021

Crytek is a Frankfurt-based video game developer and publisher known for creating first-person shooters and game development technology. CryEngine is Crytek’s proprietary game engine, used to develop their own games and licensed to other studios.

New design

The challenge:

The Sandbox editor had evolved into a powerful ecosystem of tools, but this growth also introduced inconsistencies in navigation, layout, visual language, and interaction patterns. While experienced users understood the system, newcomers often faced a steep learning curve, and even experts encountered unnecessary friction when moving between different tools.
The challenge was to modernize the overall experience while preserving the speed and flexibility required by experienced game developers.

Understanding the users:

The Sandbox editor serves multiple disciplines working simultaneously throughout the development process:

Level designers build gameplay spaces and iterate on level layouts.
Environment artists create visually rich worlds using terrain, vegetation, and assets.
Technical designers configure gameplay systems and interactions.
Programmers test features and debug game behaviour.

Although each discipline uses different tools, they all depend on a consistent interface that enables rapid iteration without interrupting their creative flow.

Browse the gallery to explore the research findings, in collaboration with Lead Researcher Alex Card

Design principles:

Create one cohesive ecosystem: Rather than treating each editor as an isolated application, the redesign focused on creating a unified visual language across the entire Sandbox environment.
Reduce interface friction: Frequently used interactions were simplified through clearer layouts, improved navigation, and more consistent interaction patterns, allowing users to remain focused on creating content.
Improve scalability: The interface was designed to accommodate increasingly sophisticated tools without sacrificing clarity or usability.
Respect professional workflows: Experienced users develop strong habits and muscle memory. Improvements therefore emphasized refinement over disruption, ensuring productivity was maintained while usability increased.

The solution:

The redesigned Sandbox editor establishes a more consistent and structured workspace across the entire application. Visual hierarchy was strengthened through standardized typography, spacing, icons, and component behaviour, making different tools feel like parts of a unified system rather than separate products. Navigation between editing environments became more intuitive, while interface elements were reorganized to better reflect common production workflows.

Reorganised information architecture: Elements were reprioritised between primary and secondary areas for a more intuitive structure.
Enhanced user guidance: The learning curve for new users was reduced by making affordances more accessible and structured while limiting excessive interface customisation.
Optimised panel content: Unnecessary hierarchy levels were removed to maximise the content displayed within panels.
Streamlined workflows: Sub-editors were redesigned with a more intuitive and direct approach to simplify key workflows.
Improved accessibility: Better colour contrast, fewer background layers, and semi-transparent overlays in the perspective view were introduced for a clearer and more user-friendly experience.

The result is a cleaner and more focused workspace that reduces cognitive load without limiting the flexibility required by professional game developers.

Design impact:

The redesign aimed to improve the daily experience of everyone working inside the Sandbox editor. Expected outcomes included:

Faster navigation across complex editing tools
Improved consistency throughout the editor
Reduced cognitive load during extended work sessions
Easier onboarding for new team members
A scalable design foundation capable of supporting future editor features

Previous interface