I recently purchased an Xbox Series S because I wanted to experience the next-gen console. I have always been a PlayStation user, my original plan was to get a PS5 but there’s no chance of winning when competing against bots. Therefore, I decided to try out Xbox first. I will write another post when I’m lucky enough to beat bots and score a PS5 🤖.

I wanted to share some early thoughts on Xbox Series S after spending a weekend on it. Just a caveat, the image resolution is not ideal because Xbox doesn’t allow me to capture non-game screens 😔.

First-time Experience

As a brand new user who has not been in the Xbox ecosystem before, I think the first-time user experience is straightforward, but with a few hiccups along the way.

Controller paring experience

The very first thing I wanted to do was to pair my controller with the console. I long pressed the Xbox button on my controller to power it up expecting the machine would magically detect my controller (like how iPhone detects AirPods). However, nothing happened. All I saw on my TV was a full-screen blurb selling the mobile app. There was no guidance on the screen to help me figure it out.

The landing screen

After getting stuck at my first task for a couple of minutes, a physical manual salvaged me. It turns out there’s a pair button on the controller and the machine, both need to be pressed for connection. I wouldn’t have thought I would ever need a manual to learn how to pair a controller in 2021.

The experience could have been a delight if there was an on-screen tutorial for pairing a controller.

Sign in

I downloaded the mobile app which did facilitate the signup flow because I didn’t have to clumsily type in all the information with my controller. After I created my new account, I was prompted to sign in on TV. My first reaction was to pull up my phone thinking I could complete the task with the Xbox app (like how Apple TV leverages iPhone to simplify the setup). Disappointingly, the handoff experience ceased with the sign-up flow.

Sign-in screen

Distractions

There were many necessary steps during the onboarding flow, such as selecting a language, privacy preferences, etc. However, there was something that could’ve been deferred to a later point to keep the flow succinct, such as personalization settings and subscription selling.

There was no context around these two options. There was no live preview for switching colors, and I wouldn’t commit before seeing what games are included with the subs.

There must be better touchpoints to bring them up later on when players start engaging with the experience.

Audio

Audio is one of the key pillars when it comes to user experience. It was very quiet and dull throughout the Xbox onboarding flow. The experience would be better if there was richer audio support.

🔗 Switch audio experience

🔗 PS4 audio experience

Hierarchy

In my opinion, three layers make up the Xbox experience.

1st Layer: Multitasking sidebar

Multitasking sidebar in game

The multitasking sidebar can be conjured by pressing the power button on the controller. It appears as the very top layer no matter where you are. It is a miniature of the system where you can stay up to date with system info such as download progress, you can perform lots of essential tasks without leaving the current screen, and you can also navigate to many major screens from here.

2nd Layer: Game

The game layer is the core layer of Xbox. People come here to play games. The game experience is full-screen and immersive.

3rd Layer: System

The foundation is the system layer where people perform all the tasks except playing. For example browsing games, downloading games, managing games, etc.

Home screen

Between these three layers, some small components act as lubricants to make the experience smooth and seamless.

Notification

A toast notification will pop up at the bottom of the screen with a crisp tone to briefly steal your attention when something important happens, such as receiving a party invite, a game is ready to launch, etc.

Notification toast

System status

The system information icons in the top right corner keep players in the loop of key info including mic status, controller’s power, time, etc.

System status

Contextual assistance

The contextual assistance provides players with extra information with minimal distractions. They show up at multiple locations depending on the screen.

The Home is a modular space that is dynamic and tailored to players.

The very top row is designed for quick access to recently launched experiences. In the second row, My games & apps is a persistent entry point to your library, followed by three merchandising tiles.

The most exciting part is the customization(Customize is being featured at the right bottom corner). Except for the top two utilitarian rows, everything else below them is changeable. You can add a game you want to follow to Home, you can also pin a friend on Home so you can keep track of their activity.

Store

Browsing experience

Unlike Switch and PlayStation, Xbox provides players with good enough context around the games, but it comes at a cost of splitting the screen into two halves vertically.

In the gaming world, gamers are so used to associate the cover art with the game because it is a representative visual identifier that keeps showing up everywhere virtually(Twitch, social media) and physically(GameStop). While browsing, players would need to constantly scan up and down to build the connection between the description and the game cover art. In the meantime, players would also need to pay attention to navigating the cursor, because when it reaches the last game tile of the row, instead of continuing to move the thumbstick right, players need to move it down to send the cursor to the second row. Moreover, this layout is not friendly for people who appreciate scannability. It doesn’t fully utilize the lavish TV real estate to house more games per scroll.

Path to game

Having multiple editions for one game is a tradition in the gaming industry. The more expensive edition comes with special perks. When getting into a game details page of a game with more than one edition, Xbox forces players to pick one before seeing the game. In my opinion, this screen can be placed behind the “Buy” button to avoid early confusion.

Check out

Setting up a payment method with a controller is obnoxious. Here’s another reason I think Xbox mobile app is underwhelming. I expected the app would come into play, but it turned out there was no payment setup in the app. I ended up adding my credit card on the Xbox website because for some reason the console wasn’t able to recognize my billing address.

Random

Search-first experience

I can tell search is baked into Xbox’s DNA, because there is a dedicated button just for search. As long as you are not in a game/app, pressing Y will instantaneously bring up the search overlay.

Legibility

I couldn’t remember how many times I had to walk up closer to the TV to see a line of text or a glyph because they are way too small in the context of 10-foot UI.

Can you tell what those highlighted icons are in the image above? They are LB & RB representing left bumper and right bumper.

Conclusion

Compared to my PS4, I can feel the next-gen lightning-fast speed. The ability to quickly switch between different running games is very impressive. In terms of the user experience, I think it’s straightforward in general. But some small things didn’t quite live up to my expectation of the next-gen experience. As I stated in the beginning, this is by no mean an in-depth review, it is just my observation over the weekend. I believe there’s a lot more to be discovered after I deep dive into it. I hope I will write another follow-up post after few months of engagement 🙌.