Open 3D Engine

Overview

Open 3D Engine (O3DE), formerly Amazon Lumberyard, is an open-source 3D engine for building games and simulations. This project focused on engine tooling and design systems that help developers configure, extend, and ship experiences faster.

Problem

Engine tooling had grown organically across teams, leading to inconsistent patterns, duplicated components, and a steep learning curve for new contributors.

Fragmented workflows

Developers moved between multiple tools with different interaction models, making common tasks harder to discover and repeat.

Design debt

UI patterns varied widely across editor surfaces, slowing both development and user onboarding.

Research

We interviewed engine developers, technical artists, and internal tool owners to map critical workflows and pain points across the editor.

Workflow mapping

Sessions identified the highest-friction tasks in project setup, asset import, and scene authoring.

Component audit

An inventory of existing UI patterns revealed overlap and gaps in the design system coverage.

Approach

We established a shared design system and applied it incrementally to high-traffic tooling surfaces.

System foundations

Typography, color, spacing, and component specs were aligned to engine branding while supporting dark-editor contexts.

Pilot surfaces

Two pilot tools validated the system in production and surfaced gaps before broader rollout.

Outcome

The design system reduced UI inconsistency across pilot tools and shortened design-to-implementation cycles for new features.

Learnings

Open-source contributors need documentation and examples as much as components — the system had to ship with both.

Next steps

Extend coverage to remaining editor modules and publish contribution guidelines for community maintainers.