Week 10 Session: The HUD-subtraction workshop

Redesigning a cluttered HUD screenshot Souls-style, by removing elements rather than adding better ones

3 May 2027

Before the session#

Bring (or use one supplied in the session) a screenshot of a busy MMO or open-world HUD: quest tracker, minimap, objective markers, buff icons, the works.

In the session#

Redesign the screenshot by deletion only — no new elements, no repositioning as a substitute for removal. For every element you cut, write one sentence naming what the player now has to remember or notice in the world instead of on the HUD. If you can’t name a replacement, the element wasn’t scaffolding a memory task, and cutting it may just be a loss.

Afterwards#

Compare your “at most” HUD against an actual Souls-like’s — health, stamina, equipped item, nothing else running. If yours still tracks an objective in any form, it hasn’t made the subtraction this week’s material argues for.