top of page

Minecraft Inventory Rework

Just me!

This assignment was a part of a UX class I took at DigiPen Institute of Technology. Minecraft's iconic and efficient UI is well known and beloved, especially to those who grew up playing Minecraft. So it was an interesting challenge to try improving the inventory UI for this class. I decided to focus on the recipe book 

November 2024

Minecraft's
Recipe Book

wooood.png

Step 1: Research (Users)

I did 4 user interviews through a survey. The users had varying playstyles and experience with Minecraft.​ Throughout, it seems like people appreciated the recipe book as a concept, but didn't really use it. Experienced players who had already memorized the recipes were especially against it.

Step 2: Research (Analysis)

Allignment section.png

There is a slight alignment issue with the recipe book in the player's inventory. The button is also supposed to look popped out, while the armor and crafting slots are indented. The recipe book window opens on the left of the inventory, while the button is on the right.

When trying to use the recipe book, I found myself confused about where to find certain items. The tabs are represented by some odd items that sometimes make it difficult to process. 

Compass makes sense for "searching", its the same for the creative menu.
Tools. Makes sense.
Bricks are only decorative in-game but associated with building? Blocks only?
??? Apples aren't craftable. Neither is lava. Only thing that makes sense is the bucket
Only redstone things that only a portion of the player base use.

Wooden items automatically scroll through the types of wood that the player currently has. This makes it difficult to use the auto-placement feature of the recipe book. You could argue that the recipe book is only for reference, but I do think the auto placement is a valuable feature. 

I wasn't sure how items were sorted within their tabs. I had to scan through the items several times before finding the item I was looking for. The items I can craft are mixed in with all the items that I can't. 

 

Having some kind of logic to the sorting that the player can easily interpret would help make this feature feel useful. It might also help to move craftable items to the front instead of having a "craftable" filter.

Group 1.png

I can't reference all recipes while in my inventory because most recipes need a 3 x 3 crafting space instead of a 2 x 2. This means that I can't look at certain recipies  when I'm on the go without building a crafting table. 

IronThere.png
IronNotThere.png

When using the "Craftable" filter, I can see the iron recipes that I can craft. However, when I pick up the iron to use the recipe, the recipes disappear as if the iron were not in my inventory.

 

In practice, this doesn't prevent me from crafting the item, and once the item is in the crafting zone, the recipes reappear. I think this was done to prevent users from clicking on a recipe while holding an item with their cursor, and having the item get autoplaced, thus taking it out of the player's cursor.

 

However, I would argue that the experience of having recipes disappear is confusing enough to justify still having the recipes there.

Step 3: Proposal

  • Change the location of the recipe book button within the player's inventory.

  • Add a variant window to remove the need for the auto-scroll​.

  • Choose different items that represent each tab.

Step 4: Inspiration

Hypixel Skyblock is an MMO that is a part of the popular Minecraft server network, Hypixel. They use Minecraft-style menus throughout the game, including crafting and their version of a recipe book.

Skyblock_screenshot.png

Recipes are categorized by skill types. Farming, mining, combat, fishing, foraging, etc. This makes it easy to find items. 

Skyblock_screenshot2.png

Craftable recipes are shown automatically on the side for easy use. Clicking on these also auto-places the items needed for crafting. 

Step 5: Changes

Inventory and Book Together.png

  • I changed the position of the recipe book button to make more sense with the position of the window that the button opens.

​​

  • I added a variant window so players can click on the recipe and use the autoplacement feature without worrying about it scrolling.

​

  • I removed the magnifying glass icon to make more room at the top.​​

​

  • I moved the arrows that control the pages to the top as well for easy navigation and to make room for the variant window.

​

  • I removed the craftable filter and sorted the items so that craftable items are put in front of uncraftable items. 

​

  • I changed the items that represent the tabs to be a little clearer. (Planks = not only building but generic blocks, Sword = Combat, Pickaxe = Tools, Cake = Misc.)

Other uses for the variant window and add more info.

Player inventory when the recipe book is inactive.

random background-6.png.png

Reflection: 

I had a lot of fun with this assignment as a long-time lover of Minecraft. At first, I had no clue how I was going to improve the UI at all because I loved the original look so much. However, the recipe book was a feature that I had always wanted to use more, so I'm glad I took a stab at it. I don't think my final design is perfect. For example, the pickaxe as the symbol for "tools" might be a little confusing. However, I think the changes I made were an improvement. 

bottom of page