Group items tagged

"07/2012; In proceeding of: The 11th International Conference on Software Engineering Research and Practice (SERP 2012), At Las Vegas, USA ABSTRACT Usability is considered a relevant quality factor in video games. However, usability evaluations are usually performed too late in the game development lifecycle. We present a usability evaluation strategy that can be used in early stages of model-driven video game development approaches. The usability evaluation is based on a Video Game Usability Model, which extends the usability characteristic of the ISO/IEC 25010 (SQuaRE) standard by incorporating measurable attributes and measures related to the video game domain. The traceability established between the models that are produced in a modeldriven development process and the corresponding source code allows performing usability evaluations on these models, facilitating the early detection/correction of usability problems that may appear in the final video game application. To show the feasibility of this approach, we have performed an early usability evaluation of a video game for the XBOX360 platform."

"more research and development still needs to be done to set game usability testing methods apart from usability methods used for productivity software or web site development. In this paper, I will detail the history of video games and video game usability, including the qualitative and quantitative importance of the subject; some of the current methods being utilized by game developers to test game usability; and some methods being researched and developed now to impact game usability testing in the future."

"Prototypes have proven to be a good practice in different areas. In the gaming industry, they help identify usability and gameplay issues, among others. The earlier these issues are identified, the less effort is required fixing them. But game assets like graphics are often expensive and are available later on, or even after game functionality has been implemented. Game prototypes are in this case created using lower fidelity visuals. While this technique makes it possible to perform usability tests, it may bias the feedback provided by usability testers. In this paper we investigate how the fidelity of the prototypes used for usability testing influence the feedback provided by testers."

"In this work we present a methodology especially designed to facilitate usability testing for serious games, taking into account the specific needs of such applications and resulting in a systematically produced list of suggested improvements from large amounts of recorded gameplay data. This methodology was applied to a case study for a medical educational game, MasterMed, intended to improve patients' medication knowledge. We present the results from this methodology applied to MasterMed and a summary of the central lessons learned that are likely useful for researchers who aim to tune and improve their own serious games before releasing them for the general public."

Consideration of usability testing for serious, educational games

From the abstract: "This study presents the defining usability quality metric for game prototype using software attributes by referring to ISO Standards 9126 - 3: Software Engineering - Product Quality, with the adaptation for the quality as surance and measurement during game p rototyping period. In order to be fully utilized and optimized the effectiveness of the proposed quality metric, it is best to define the development process environment and its application simultaneously."

Presents results of a gamer questionnaire as well as analysis of effective games and their producers

"effect of game reviews on player experience and perceptions of quality. We show that negative reviews cause a significant effect on how players perceive their in-game experience, and that this effect is a post-play cognitive rationalization of the play experience with the previously-read review text. To address this effect we designed and deployed a new heuristic evaluation technique that specifically uses game reviews to create a fine-grained prioritized list of usability problems based on the frequency, impact, and persistence of each problem. By using our technique we are able to address the most common usability problems identified by game reviews, thus reducing the overall level of negativity found within the review text. Our approach helps to control and eliminate the snowballing effect that can be produced by players reading reviews and subsequently posting their own reviews, and thus improve the commercial success of a game."

A complete guide to creating usable, realistic game characters with two powerful toolsCreating viable game characters requires a combination of skills. This book teaches game creators how to create usable, realistic game assets using the power of an open-source 3D application and a free game engine. (excerpts in Google Books)

Abstract: "As a way to support developers , we propose the creation of specialized tools to deal with accessibility. The hypothesis defined was that it is possible to produce tools that coul d reduce the cost and effort needed to adapt games for people with special needs while achi eving a sufficient level of usability and a pleasant player exper ience . Because of the ambitious of the approach , the goal of the project is to explore if it is feasible through preliminary research . T hree experiments were set up to cover and explore different alternatives , given the diversity of player characteristics and game develop ment approaches . In these experiments we targeted t wo different platforms: a desktop game authoring tool oriented to educators , and a mobile game development framework oriented to programmers . In these experiments we used the to ols developed to produce several games that were also tested by end users . While the project focuses on disability, the ideas proposed can be generalized and applied to support optimizing game interfaces for a wide and diverse audience."

Abstract :"Immigrants entering the European Community face a range of challenges in adapting to and understanding the culture of their host nation. Failure to address these challenges can lead to isolation and difficulties integrating into the society of the host country, leading to fragmented communities and a range of social issues . As part of a comprehensive suit e of services for immigrants , the European - funded M obile Assistance for Social Inclusion and Empowerment of Immigrants with Persuasive Learning Technologies and Social Network Services (MASELTOV) project seeks to provide both practical tools and le arning services via mobile devices, providing a readily usable resource for immigrants . In this workshop paper, the game - based learning aspect of the MASELTOV project is introduced, with the rationale behind its design presented. In doing so, the b enefits and implications of mobile platforms and emergent dat a capture techniques for game - based learning are discussed, as are methods for putting engaging gameplay at the forefront of the experience whilst relying on rich data capture and analysis to pro vide an effective learning solution. Through comparison to several other projects, a number of recommendations are put forward for games deployed in contexts similar to that of MASELTOV: a focus on establishing a significant audience with which to conduct ethical research into efficacy, the need for robust pedagogical frameworks suited to the learning context, and the evolution of methods for data capture and analysis of player activity."

"Abstract The eective information processing (e.g. search, organi- zation) of the heterogeneous information spaces requires metadata layer above the resources. However, the acqui- sition of resource metadata and domain models are chal- lenging tasks. Here, the crowdsourcing has emerged as an alternative to expert-based and automated semantics acquisition approaches. One of its branches are the games with a purpose (GWAPs) which encapsulate the seman- tics acquisition tasks into the game processes. We analyze existing GWAPs and propose their classication. Fur- thermore we devised our own GWAP-based approaches. For acquisition of lightweight term relationship network, we devised a search query formulation game, usable also for specic domain models. For acquisition of (personal) image tags, we devised a card game, where players mem- orize positions of concealed cards and identify identical pairs. For validation of music metadata, we devised a multi-choice question-based game, where players identify tag sets that are characteristic to music tracks they hear. We also looked at the GWAPs from their design per- spectives. We present a design oriented classication sys- tem for GWAPs, adress several design issues recurring in GWAPs and present new design patterns to solve them"

Abstract: "A key problem for crowd - sourced systems is motivating contributions from participants and ensuring the quality of these contributions. Games have been suggested as a motivational approach but there are concerns about data quality , particularly when the data are to be used for scientific research . To address these concerns, w e compare the quality of data obtained from two citizen science games, one a "gamified" version of a species classificatio n task and one a fantasy game that used the classification task only as a way to advance in the game play. Surprisingly, though we did observe cheating in the fantasy game, data quality from the two games was not significantly different . As well, the quali ty of data from short - time contributors was at a usable level. These findings suggest that games can be a useful way to motivate contributions to citizen science projects. "

From the abstract: "Objective: We report the design of a trial to assess the educational efficacy of InsuOnline, a game for education of primary care physicians (PCPs). The goal of InsuOnline was to improve appropriate initiation and adjustment of insulin for the treatment of DM. InsuOnline was designed to be educationally adequate, self-motivating, and attractive. Methods: A multidisciplinary team of endocrinologists, experts in medical education, and programmers, was assembled for the design and development of InsuOnline. Currently, we are conducting usability and playability tests, with PCPs and medical students playing the game on a desktop computer. Adjustments will be made based on these results. An unblinded randomized controlled trial with PCPs who work in the city of Londrina, Brazil, will be conducted to assess the educational validity of InsuOnline on the Web. In this trial, 64 PCPs will play InsuOnline, and 64 PCPs will undergo traditional instructional activities (lecture and group discussion). Knowledge on how to initiate and adjust insulin will be assessed by a Web-based multiple choice questionnaire, and attitudes regarding diabetes/insulin will be assessed by Diabetes Attitude Scale 3 at 3 time points-before, immediately after, and 6 months after the intervention. Subjects´ general impressions on the interventions will be assessed by a questionnaire. Software logs will be reviewed. Results: To our knowledge, this is the first research with the aim of assessing the educational efficacy of a computer game for teaching PCPs about insulin therapy in DM. We describe the development criteria used for creating InsuOnline. Evaluation of the game using a randomized controlled trial design will be done in future studies. Conclusions: We demonstrated that the design and development of a game for PCPs education on insulin is possible with a multidisciplinary team. InsuOnline can be an attractive option for large-scale continuous medical education to help imp

Abstract: "Digital games have the potential for changing attitudes towards social issues such as climate change and sustainability. This paper presents the experience of developing a prototype locative game with an augmented reality interface that is designed to fit in with the fractured nature of travel time on public transport. We discuss the technical challenges, usability issues and game design approaches used to work within these constraints."

"This project involves developing an action-platformer game for the Flash platform. The user controls a character who must progress through levels, while avoiding obstacles, collecting items and fighting many types of enemies. Role-playing game elements such as equipment and upgrades support user customization and varied battle strategies. Developing a successful Flash game involves several factors. Flash games must be simple to get into, yet rewarding to play in both short and long sessions. Flash games must be accessible to a wide audience; both in terms of user preferences and technical limitations. Finally, Flash games must offer something unique to stand out from the crowd, in a market where hundreds of free games are published every month. This report covers the research, design and implementation done to achieve these requirements, in terms of game mechanics, interface, level design, visual design, accessibility options, and replay value. Technical challenges include building, testing and optimizing a game engine and interface from scratch, balancing the game mechanics and difficulty, and structuring the whole development process in a way that enables easy creation of new content. In addition to game design and development, this project also deals with the business aspects of developing online games; how games generate revenue, how they are marketed and distributed, and developing trends in the consumer market. Project success in different areas has been evaluated through usability studies, user ratings and reviews, and vast quantities of usage and distribution statistics. Overall, the project has been a success in terms of user reception and generated revenue, and the final section of this report includes plans for a second game, utilizing and building upon the same game engine and mechanics."

from the abstract: "This thesis identifies the need for an advanced search function which takes into consideration the notions of purpose and contextual circumstance of using educational games in order for such a database to be of greater usefulness for users. This thesis presents a design of such a search function, based on the theories of Purushotma (2005), Pannese and Carlesi (2007), Charsky (2010) and Reinders and Wattana (2011). Furthermore this thesis provides an updated metadata model to support such a search function. In the future the search function could be polished from a usability perspective and further developed to incorporate other types of serious games."

Abstract: "In this paper, methods and models for the design of educational interventions and usable systems are presented and synthesized. The purpose is to suplliment the design process with educational considerations and discern design principles for the development of serious STEM games. This synthesis can contribute to the design of the next generation of technologically enhanced learning environments. "

"Motion-based games help to increase the likelihood that a patient will complete therapeutic exercises at home by using a game context to motivate the patients. The scope of this paper is to explore the interactive technologies that are used to develop these games, and their value in the context of stroke rehabilitation. The games will be evaluated from both a result focused perspective and patient usability perspective."

Health Games Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Pioneer Portfolio (RWJF), has updated its online health games database-the only one of its kind-by adding advanced search features to enhance the user experience. These updates make the database more accessible to new audiences and easier to search through saved searches and new item alerts.