How UX/UI design could learn from otome games
Romancing your users through designs aimed at making their hearts go doki doki.
Playful Romance and Creating A Sentimental Experience
The otome game story belongs to a subgenre of popular fiction (in Japanese anime, manga, and game world) that is a hybrid between LitRPG and visual novels. With its dating simulator setup, the players (usually female but not exclusively so) take on the role of a character in the game to create their reverse harem of primarily male romantic interests (though sometimes, it could also be female romantic interests), this subgenre has taken on multiple permutations, with versions that appeal to (straight) male audiences interested in the possibility of romancing the female protagonist of the story, therefore cuckolding the male love interests. Of course, there are also versions that cater to the taste and interest of fujins/fudanshis/fujoshis (those who are into the boyslove, and sometimes, also the girlslove genre), though unfortunately, their target market has not included the swathe of the LGBTQI community (though you may have the omega-beta-alpha representations of gender set in the omegaverse). Regardless of the permutations, its structural formula remains recognizable and is easily comprehended, hence contributing to its popularity as a story-telling format for interactive romance.
This article is not meant to account for the history of otome games nor of its sociological impact, good or bad. This is indeed an emerging area of scholarship, where one would find more dissertations and academic articles on the topic (there is a Medium article on the topic, and a visual analysis on the UI of the otome game). However, the ability of this subgenre to link up with so many other areas of popular culture production, the transglobal receptivity of its narrative aesthetics in games, comics (both western and Asian originated), and internet genre fiction, as well as its ascending popularity despite catering to a niche market, made it a fertile ground for UX designers who want to do a better job at courting their clients and target audience. Moreover, this subgenre is neither culturally nor geographically confined, as we see amateur writers from different cultural backgrounds and continents appropriating tropes of the subgenre to create their own localizations without losing sight of the subgenre’s formula. For instance, social story-telling platform Wattpad has more than 1000 variations of such stories, ranging from well-done to works with inconsistent story-telling and characterization, written in English and languages other than English.
I admit that my observations come from my involvement with otome-game themed animes, mangas, fan fiction, and webnovels that usually involve isekai (transmigration into the story world) or rebirths (as part of a reincarnation story line) from Japan, South Korea, and China (although the latter third version often involved Chinese-localized fantasies such as xianxia and xuanhuan whereas the former two would involve particular forms of western ‘medieval’ fantasies), rather than coming from the perspective of a gamer. That said, I had also watched a number of ads that tried to sell different variations of otome games to me (particularly the Chinese ones) and had also attended conventions where I get to experience the play-through of these games. Here are my observations, divided into three sections, on why UX/UI designers (or anyone interested in narrative design) could learn from the otome game’s story-telling format.
- Experiencing Tender Tinder Moments
For women with experience on dating apps, they may have encountered a range of interactions ranging from cheesy pickup lines to outright propositions (of a primarily sexual nature). Of course, apps, that came after Tinder may try to finesse the experience and increase the substance by putting in more narrative-driven hurdles that most of the users attracted to using these apps neither enjoy nor care about — literally these ‘creative’ connections are seen as hurdles by a majority of the app users who are not entirely keen on romancing their targets (with the exception of romance scammers). Given the original objective of dating apps has been about connecting users who might otherwise face social difficulties due to either their personalities or personal circumstances, these apps, instead, often remind their users of their loneliness.
Enter dating sims and otome games, critical not only for its romance but for how one could explore different types of romantic relationships, or even relationships in general. Capturing your dreamboat(s) is not the only goal of these games. Rather, the players have missions to accomplish and allies to obtain. While some otome games may be weak in story-development with contrived romances (and Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters), the larger goal of the game is to use your imagination and problem-solving skills to get through the different routes of the game, and the game is set-up in such a way that would motivate and reward players willing to overcome the challenges of the chosen ‘romance’ route. Outside the game world, and through genres inspired by the game, some authors emphasise the character development of the main character (who is usually the human transplant into these worlds) are able to leverage on their strengths and overcome weaknesses to create a respectable presence for themselves in these story-worlds. Some scholars have also suggested that these story-worlds are attractive to women and girls looking for strong role models.
When you think about this, there are such engagement precedence in Web 1.0, especially prior to the 21st century. Before there were private messaging or dating apps, there were MUDs (multi-user dungeons) and IRCs (internet relay chats), where users logged on to hangout, socialize, play games, and build communities with their online ‘comrades’ along the way. These apps were not designed to achieve a specific social aim beyond making it easier for the netizens to communicate. Through their special interests and being free from a need to ‘impress’, the early adopters of these technologies were able disinhibit themselves, communicate freely, and group together to converse freely on their interests. Moreover, they were able to continue their community building and connections across different digital domains, whether while playing games together or debating details specific to their shared fandom. Along the way, some of them developed romantic attachments, but without the same kind of pressure and expectations induced by dating apps. Moreover, in engaging with different kinds of roleplaying online, either through how they construct their cyber personas or through engagement with particular communities, romantic connections were formed through a myriad of ‘world-building’ activities that these web 1.0 users had engaged in.
In relating this back to the world simulated in an otome game story, the otome game design allows the player (or reader) to construct their romantic what-ifs by equipping the player with agency and control over the narratives constructed within the delimitations of the game engine and with sufficient uncertainty without breaching the grounds of the familiar. The experience offered through the game is one of what-if plot lines, challenges that are sufficiently engrossing, and wish-fulfillment that offer the players their own pathways to romance or self-realization as they learn to accept their less-than-perfect selves while becoming the self that is desirable not only to themselves but to others. Imagine what an otome game with real-world dating affordances could be like.
2. Experiencing the Self-Insert Storyline
For those wanting to take control of the story further but could not make direct alterations to the game world, they would turn to recreating their own otome stories world through the use of fan fictions and original stories on digital social story-telling platforms, such as Wattpad. In writing these stories, they create a new following among readers who are able to experience the stories vicariously (never knowing twists, turns, and endings to expect as some of these works are often serialized or devoid of an actual ending), often by leaving their comments and reactions.
There is a formula to otome stories, with influences and references none too dissimilar from a Mills and Boons lineup, but revised to fit the format of a role-playing videogame with an Asian spin. While ethnic representations of otome stories are fairly limited, with emphasis on Caucasian like-Asian characters, this story-telling form is still able to capture the interest of a rather broad swathe of demographics from across cultures, ethnic, and language groups, if Archive of Our Own, the subreddit community, and Wattpad are any indication. Moreover, this form of story-telling appears to have a wide appeal across ages since the story-telling could be cater to different levels of readerly maturity. This flexibility stems from how the stories are written to allow for self-insertion into the stories, whether directly or as a witnessing bystander. The stories could range from basic predictable romances targeted at middle-schoolers to adult romances. Often, when stories are developed to show the growth of the characters over several years, particularly tracking their evolution from childhood to adulthood, what started out as a story of innocent love could turn darker and more complex over time.
Some authors intentionally write stories that encourage direct interactions between the reader and characters through the use of the ‘Y/N’ (read as ‘your name’) format in ways that simulate the style of visual novels. This creates sufficient ambiguity for the readers to imagine another storyline that could take place beyond the digital text they are consuming. The otome game story-telling format could also be used to gamify user experiences for other content, even content that might appear unexciting and incapable of instigating the the fluttering of hearts (doki doki). For instance, the end goal to a good otome game’s story is to flirt with, and provoke the emotions, of its human users. Therefore, the stories are designed less with a grand narrative arc in mind (even if this could still exist), but rather, with multiple side moments (some might even say, side stories) involving characters, or the human user interacting with the characters, to build up the tensions necessarily to keep the user engaged. Hence, even an author who is less experienced and not particularly proficient in story-telling, could still create stories that could provoke the readers and consumers of such stories, because the props and tools for doing so already exist within the narrative template of the otome game story. Imagine if it was done by a masterful storyteller.
At the end of the day, readers and consumers of any content would not be interested in any content for which they remain a remote bystander to, devoid of any opportunity to have their say.
3. Experiencing Romantic Therapy
If there is something one might have noticed with the visuals of such stories is how unrealistically attractive the characters appear to be. But rather than seeing this preoccupation as something toxic, one could consider the desire for particular visuals as a desire for feeling beautiful and confident, and also to live in a world of beauty (without ignoring that darkness exists even in beauty). After all, beauty is part of romance, and romance is created through a connection with an aesthetic that makes one hopeful and ecstatic. That said, a recreation of a pleasing aesthetic that could also promote diversity in aesthetical preferences could create a romantic environment that is not only about romantic love but about the value system driving certain preferences.
Therefore, romantic therapy involves the customization of an experience for an individual even when that customization might have been lifted out of a general pool of experiences. Others have written about why the reading of romances have been good for their mental health or why romance as a genre overall (with multiple sub-genres) remains unremittingly popular. The otome game and its derivatives encourage the user to be more pro-active in the development of their romantic alternatives while allowing them to experience the rush of reading a romance story. Within popular culture, there had been variations on the theme, sometimes of a more adult variety, such as in BDSM role-playing or sexy experience emulators (that you can search out yourselves if interested). For some, it is probably parallel to the experience of getting girlfriends/boyfriends-for-hire. For those who want to experience romantic what-ifs within a safe space devoid of real-world entanglements, they may turn to otome games. This safe space simulation could also be used to explore other forms of real-life entanglements such as that involving domestic violence, toxic relationships, and romance scams. Even the toxic elements found in such games could also be used to explore the players’ own value system and ideologies in a less combative setup.
Given that romantic therapy is about replicating sentiments associated with the euphoria and excitement of a romantic prospect, there are many ways in which one could develop a user experience, beginning with what were proposed in the previous two sections, that simulate the feel-food factor. Since the structure of the otome game is developed, precisely, to amplify that factor through how it simulates choices, what-if potentials from the route choices, and how characters and scenarios across routes could interact to provide outcomes that are both emergent and ambiguous, the user experience designer could adapt some of these strategies to the specificity of the content developed, especially if the aim of presenting the content is to create an environment of a customizable ideal or customizable narrative mood.
En Fin
Narrative design is a big part of otome game story design, regardless of whether one is creating a visual graphic or plotting out an interactive game through this genre. Moreover, the romantic provocations that otome games do so well have been utilized in smaller doses across different commercial content aimed at selling products (especially high-end brands) and through the choice of visual and even sound aesthetic. If one wants to understand why romance as a genre, regardless of its presentation platform, has such a draw that consumers are willing to spend their hard earn dollars in ways they would otherwise not do for other cultural, intellectual, and even creative products, unpacking and even experimenting with the narrative design of an otome game would afford one a glimpse into why the experience of romance is so sought after. At the same time, the designer could learn from the limitations of the otome game’s ideology of romance and exclusivity to design experiences that are more inviting and more inclusive of a range of aesthetics.
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