How game research will change the face of

software applications

Engineering Master in computational visualistics

Technology developer (EU FUGA project)

Game design researcher

Investigating quality of fun in gameplay

BTH Game and Media Arts Laboratory

Player experience and interaction studies

EU-funded project: “Fun of Gaming”

Game Usability

Consulting in psychophysiological studies

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1) Definition of game usability

2) Experimental player studies

3) Interaction and fun

4) Conclusion

We start with a general definition of

usability and games. Then we explore

the concept of game usability.

We get some hands-on insight into

psychophysiological study of game

experience and its implications.

Subsequently, we take a brief glance

at new interaction forms in games.

We summarize and conclude the

potentials of game usability studies.

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Achieve goals with… (ISO 9241) Efficiency

Effectiveness

User satisfaction

Nielsen (1993) Learnability (easy-to-learn)

Efficiency (high user productivity)

Memorability (easy-to-remember)

Errors (low error rate, rectifiable)

Satisfaction (subjective fun of use)

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“The usability of a product is not an

attribute of the product alone, it is an

attribute of interaction with a product

in a context of use.”

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Empirical usability evaluation Performance tests

▪ Task effectiveness (speed, accuracy, errors)

Attitude surveys▪ User satisfaction and perception (questionnaires, interviews)

Common examples▪ Think-aloud protocol

▪ User-data collection (cf. performance test)

▪ Psychophysiological experiments (eye gaze, heart-rate, EMG, EEG)

▪ Surveys and questionnaires

▪ Interviews

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Inspection methods

Heuristic evaluation (rules of thumb, expert review)

Cognitive walkthrough (learning of tasks)

Design walkthrough (scenarios for design elements)

Consistency inspection

Feature inspection

Theory-based reviews

Standard inspection

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Usability forms basis of user experience

Can be broken down into measurable items

Time (tasks, completion, movement)

Errors

User Initiated Events (UIEs)

Evaluating user satisfaction is difficult

How do you measure “fun” (of use)?

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Kim et al. (2008) of Microsoft User Research

“The most complex systems imaginable for a

usability practitioner –

human interaction with

video games.”

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Structured activity of enjoyment

Goals

Rules

Challenge

Interactivity

Skill development

Learnable

Satisfaction

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Game studies deeply rooted in cultural studies

Aarseth, Mäyrä, Juul, Järvinen

Early research using

Reflections

Humanities approach

Qualitative evaluations (e.g. Consalvo)

Education (Jenkins, Squire, Prensky, Egenfeldt-Nielsen)

Few to none empirical studies (e.g. Yee)

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Empirical studies (using scientific method)

Surveys (Yee, Tychsen)

Psychophysiology (Ravaja, Salminen, Kivikangas)

All of the above (Lindley, Nacke)

Behavioral (IJsselsteijn et al.)

Communication sciences (Klimmt)

Researching “FUN”

Objective and subjective measures

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Study the activity of playing a game

Towards measuring fun

Combination of scientific approaches

Is the game

Learnable, fun to play, memorable, fail-safe

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Formulate Theory

Design experiments

• Empirical validation

Create Stimuli

• For experiments

Conduct experiments

Construct validity

• Reliability

Analyze

• return to start

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Before designing experiments…

Compare two identical situations With one (or more) differential variables

Control conditions Cause present vs. cause absent

Randomization

Null hypothesis Falsification of hypothesis

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Game Design

Considerations

This Half-Life 2 level was designed

especially for increasing levels of

challenge, divided into three

different rooms, each containing

different opponent types and

attack patterns.

The player is limited to using the

crossbow and crowbar weapons,

making combat mechanics difficult

in themselves.

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Psychophysiological

Instrumentation

Solution

A custom instrumentation solution

was built that integrates in the

Half-Life 2 Hammer Editor.

The event code system directly

connects to the psycho-

physiological hardware (Stellmach

2008 - to be presented at

International conference on Fun

and Games).

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playerEEG

ECG

EMG

GSR Respiration

Eye Tracking

Interaction

Logging

Pre and post game

Surveys

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Electroencephalogram (EEG) Electrical brain activity measured with electrodes (cap)

Electromyography (EMG) Recording electric potential generated by muscles

Measure of valence (positive/negative emotion)

Galvanic skin response (GSR) Also electrodermal response (EDR), psychogalvanic reflex

(PGR), skin conductance response (SCR)

Electrical resistance of the skin

Measure of arousal (high/low)

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Eye position

Regions of interest (ROIs, Hotspots)

Eye movement

Sequences

Movement patterns (e.g. fixations, saccades)

Pupil dilation

Focus of interest

Special attention

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Psychophysiological

Game Experiments

Setup

The Game and Media Arts

Laboratory in Sweden conducts

psychophysiological research

experiments.

The figure shows the EEG cap worn,

while facial EMG electrodes are

being attached with adhesive tape.

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Galvanic Skin

Response Recording

Sites

Galvanic skin response was

recorded from palmar sites during

gameplay.

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Psychophysiological

Measurement Device

The Biosemi ActiveTwo System for

recording of physiological signals

(EEG, EMG, ECG, GSR)

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Experimental Game

Session

Experimental gaming session with

all measurement instrumentation

in place. The Tobii 1750 eye tracker

is used.

There is also a video recording of a

participant playing.

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Gaze Distribution on

Game Menu Screen

Gaze plots show the sequence and

length that eyes have rested on

certain positions.

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Gaze Hotspots

This figure shows areas of highest

visual interest in the game menu

screen.

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Data Analysis

Cross-correlation

Game events

Physical response

Survey results

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Physical movement

Musical expression

Haptic sensation

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Eye Tracker Game

Input

Using a Tobii Technology 1750 eye

tracker, we developed a game that

can be steered with eye input only

(Sasse 2008).

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Blob Gaze Video

The video shows an early in-game

view of the Blob “eye tracker only”

game.

The player controls a “Blob” with his

eyes and collects other blobs, which

grow over time. When two blobs

collide, the game ends.

The size and color sequence of

blobs influences the game score.

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Driving questions

Does interaction contribute to fun?

What forms of physical interaction trigger optimal

emotions?

Can interactions tested for games contribute to regular

software?

How can games be designed for people with disabilities?

Is fun not more than a measurable emotion?

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Focus on user satisfaction

How to create fun

Instrumentation to record player behavior can

be used to analyze regular software users

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Fun of use is growing in importance

Boundaries blur between work and play

Modern applications share features of games

Self-explanatory

Easily accessible

Customization

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Studies of game experience are necessary

Great insight into game interaction feeds

back to general human-computer interaction

Metrics of game usability remain to be fully

explored

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Karat, J. (1997). User-centered software evaluation methodologies (Vol. 2).

Kim, J. H., Gunn, D. V., Schuh, E., Phillips, B., Pagulayan, R. J., & Wixon, D. (2008). Tracking real-time user

experience (TRUE): a comprehensive instrumentation solution for complex systems.

Nielsen, J. (1993). Usability Engineering: Morgan Kaufmann.

Sasse, D. (2008). A Framework for Psychophysiological Data Acquisition in Digital Games. Master’s

thesis (published in GameCareerGuide.com), Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg

Stellmach, S. (2007). A psychophysiological logging system for a digital game modification. Internship

Report (published in GameCareerGuide.com), Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg.

Wiberg, C. (2003). A Measure of Fun: Extending the scope of web usability. PhD Thesis, Umeå

University, Umeå, Sweden.

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Lennart Nacke

Blekinge Institute of Technology

Game and Media Arts LaboratoryKarlshamn, Sweden

Lennart.Nacke@bth.se

http://gamescience.bth.se

http://www.acagamic.com