Scott Jon SiegelInterview
Game designer
Adapted from Scott Jon Siegel's interview on Uses This, published 25 October 2018. The kit is drawn from their answers and each reason is an excerpt, lightly edited. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full interview ↗
Is this you? Claim this kit →Hardware
My main computer is a 13" 2014 MacBook Pro, which I strongly feel is "peak Apple": Fantastic back-lit keyboard (that doesn't get jammed); Trip-proof MagSafe power connector; glowing Apple logo on the lid.
At home I have a 21.5" 2017 iMac with a second monitor, which acts as home base for all my media, and for more memory-intensive projects like music and video.
My phone's an iPhone 7, since I've become somewhat allergic to early adoption.
I haul my gear around in a Timbuk2 Command Backpack, which has a gloriously excessive number of pockets and compartments.
Productivity
Recently I've actually been using Google Slides for simpler specs, since it forces me to organize the documentation into sections on different slides, and encourages me to use more visuals and fewer words.
(Though I'll always use Apple Keynote for actual presentations.)
Notes
Security
1Password remembers my umpteen-million logins so I don't have to.
Design
Sketch has quickly become the most important piece of software I have.
Since I design most often for mobile, I use Sketch Mirror to see how the designs look on my phone, and use Sketch's simple prototyping features to test UX flows.
For sharing prototype flows with others I use Marvel, which lets me easily send direct links to prototypes that can be easily viewed on desktop or devices.
I use OmniGraffle when I need to visualize how game systems connect together.
Storage
I save most of my files in Dropbox to keep them synced between my desktop and laptop, and to give me easy access to everything from my phone.
Since my desktop also has all my media I use BackBlaze to run regular backups.
I use Wunderlist to keep track of all my tasks.
And I've been using Simplenote to take notes on literally everything for the past ten years (which reminds me I really should backup my Simplenote archive.