This case study is an independent UX research project based on my knowledge of UX/UI design and my perspective as a product designer who enjoys video games. The analysis and recommendations reflect my own interpretations, supported by community feedback where relevant. The fictional design brief was created solely to demonstrate my UX research and design thinking process.
Skill trees have existed for decades, yet they continue to evolve alongside player expectations. This research explores how different games approach progression, freedom, readability, and long-term engagement to identify design patterns that can inform future systems.
"We're thinking about adding a skill tree to our RPG, but we're still exploring the best direction. Our game has a large number of skills, and we'd like some to evolve while others can combine into unique synergies. Before we start designing, we'd love to see how other games handle progression systems, what works well, what doesn't, and what ideas could inspire our own."- Fictional Clients
- Identifies proven UX patterns from existing RPGs.
- Reveals common pain points and player expectations.
- Validates insights with community feedback.
- Produces clear, actionable design principles.
- Provides feature recommendations that can guide the future skill tree design.
1. Define Research Goals
Establish the design challenge, objectives, and success criteria.
2. Select Reference Games
Choose RPGs with diverse progression systems to study different approaches.
Review player discussions, Reddit threads, and game reviews to understand common praises, frustrations, and expectations.
3. Analyze UX Patterns
Compare skill tree layouts, progression flows, visual hierarchy, synergies, and player decision-making.
4. Benchmark Supporting
Features Identify complementary features that improve the progression experience, such as skill previews, build planners, and search tools.
Before exploring reference games, I established a clear research objective to ensure every finding would contribute to solving the design challenge. The goal was to understand how successful RPGs design skill progression systems, identify common UX patterns and pain points, and uncover opportunities that could inform the design of our own narrative-driven skill tree.
Research existing RPG progression systems to identify UX patterns, best practices, and common pain points that can guide the design of a skill tree that:
- Encourages meaningful choices and player expression.
- Clearly communicates skill progression and synergies.
- Remains intuitive and easy to navigate, even at a large scale.
- Supports experimentation without overwhelming players.
- Creates a rewarding sense of progression throughout the game.
After exploring a wide range of RPGs, I selected the following titles as primary references. Each offers a unique approach to skill progression, from simple and accessible systems to highly complex progression networks, providing valuable insights into different UX patterns and design philosophies.
One of the most recognizable and approachable RPG progression systems. It demonstrates how strong visual metaphors and simple navigation can make a large skill tree feel inviting.
UX Highlights
- Clear branching structure makes navigation intuitive.
- Strong visual hierarchy helps players identify progression paths.
- Consistent iconography improves scanability and recognition.
Community Feedback
Positive
- Difficult to compare perks across different constellations.
- Some perk descriptions are vague and don't clearly explain their gameplay impact.
- Relationships between different perk trees are not obvious.
Negative
- Difficult to compare perks across different constellations.
- Some perk descriptions are vague and don't clearly explain their gameplay impact.
- Relationships between different perk trees are not obvious.
Key Takeaways
Strong visual hierarchy improves discoverability.
Prioritize readability and clear navigation.
Make it easy to compare available choices.
An industry benchmark for large-scale progression systems and information architecture.
UX Highlights
- Excellent information architecture for a massive skill network.
- Powerful search and zoom tools support navigation.
- Visual connections clearly communicate dependencies.
Community Feedback
Positive
Incredible freedom to create unique builds.
Search and highlighting make navigation manageable despite the tree's size.
Long-term planning is rewarding for experienced players.
Negative
Extremely intimidating for first-time players.
Too much information is presented at once.
Many players depend on external build guides and third-party planners
Key Takeaways
Large systems require strong navigation tools.Introduce complexity progressively to reduce cognitive load.
A modern example of balancing accessibility with character customization.
UX Highlights
Compact tree structure.
Clear progression flow.
Simple navigation reduces onboarding friction.
Clear distinction between active and passive skills.
Flexible respec lowers the anxiety of making mistakes.
Community Feedback
Positive
Easy to navigate and learn.
Respec system encourages players to experiment.Skill upgrades are presented in a clean and organized layout.Players can quickly understand progression paths.
Negative
Limited filtering or search tools for larger builds.
Difficult to compare different build options without manually switching between branches.
Skill synergies rely heavily on item descriptions instead of the skill tree itself.
Players would like better visualization of future progression and build planning.
Key Takeaways
Reduce the fear of commitment.
Support planning and experimentation with better visualization.
An excellent example of a progression system evolving through post-launch iteration.
UX Highlights
- Clean layout improves readability.
- Clear grouping helps players locate related perks.
- Meaningful icons and descriptions improve comprehension.
Community Feedback
Positive
Perks are easier to understand because they describe gameplay changes rather than percentage increases.
Categories help players quickly locate relevant abilities.
Players appreciate that progression feels more impactful.
Negative
Some perk interactions are still unclear until tested in combat.
Synergies between perks are not always visually communicated.
Players sometimes struggle to predict how a build will perform before investing points.
Some information is hidden behind tooltips instead of being visible at a glance.
Key Takeaways
Clearly communicate how skills interact.
Use concise descriptions supported by strong visual cues.
Live Skill Preview
Shows a short gameplay clip of the skill before unlocking it, reducing uncertainty.
Build Planner
Shows a short gameplay clip of the skill before unlocking it, reducing uncertainty.
Synergy Highlighting
Shows a short gameplay clip of the skill before unlocking it, reducing uncertainty.
Flexible Respec
Reduce commitment anxiety and support player exploration.
1. Information Architecture
The organization of a skill tree directly impacts how easily players understand and navigate the progression system. Successful RPGs group related abilities into logical categories or archetypes, allowing players to build a mental model before making decisions. A well-structured information architecture reduces cognitive load, shortens search time, and makes large progression systems feel approachable even as they expand.
2. Progressive Disclosure
Rather than presenting every possible skill at once, many modern RPGs introduce new branches and mechanics as players progress. This approach prevents information overload, supports the learning process, and helps players focus on decisions that are relevant to their current stage of play. Gradually revealing complexity creates a smoother onboarding experience and builds confidence over time.
3. Visual Hierarchy
Players typically scan a skill tree rather than reading every individual node. Effective use of spacing, size, color, iconography, and connecting lines creates clear visual hierarchy, allowing players to quickly identify progression paths, major milestones, and available actions. Strong visual hierarchy improves readability and enables faster decision-making within complex interfaces.
4. Decision Confidence
Investing skill points often represents a meaningful commitment, making decision confidence an important part of the user experience. Systems that provide gameplay previews, clear descriptions, and immediate feedback help players understand the impact of each choice before committing. Reducing uncertainty encourages experimentation while minimizing the fear of making irreversible mistakes.
5. Discoverability
In progression systems that feature interconnected abilities, players need to understand how skills relate to one another without relying on external guides. Clearly communicating dependencies, upgrade paths, and synergy opportunities makes exploration more intuitive and rewarding. Improving discoverability encourages players to experiment with different builds while maintaining a sense of ownership over their progression.
This research reinforced that an effective skill tree is more than a progression system. It is a tool that helps players understand their choices, express their playstyle, and confidently shape their own journey. Across the reference games, the strongest experiences shared common UX principles: clear information architecture, intuitive navigation, meaningful progression, and effective decision support.
By combining competitive analysis, community feedback, UX pattern analysis, and feature benchmarking, this study established a set of research-backed design principles that can guide the creation of a skill tree that is both engaging and easy to use. More importantly, it demonstrates my approach as a UX designer: using research to understand user needs, identify opportunities, and transform insights into practical design decisions.
