UX/UI & Board Games, Ep. 2: The Rulebook Test

Some games hand you a 60-page rulebook and a headache.

Others teach you in two minutes and you are already playing.

Guess which ones hit the table more often.

Now swap “Rulebook” for “Onboarding”.

I have set up a game for half an hour, only to realize we misunderstood a core mechanic.

I have also wandered inside an app for the same thirty minutes and wondered if I was the problem. (Spoiler, it was the UX.)

The feature is not the whole story.

How you introduce it, explain it, and help people remember it, decides if it survives.

The Rulebook Test:

Can a new player learn enough to make a confident first move in under two minutes?

If not, your onboarding is still a draft.

Quick checklist for product teams

📘 Show the path, not the encyclopedia

🧩 Teach by doing, tiny steps with visible wins

🔁 Repeat key patterns so they stick

🧠 Use plain language and reveal details only when needed

🎯 Every interaction is a mini tutorial, whether you planned it or not

Great design feels like a favorite game, quick to learn, hard to master, easy to pick up again.

No one should need a 60-slide walkthrough to click Get Started. Read this on LinkedIn