ISO 9241 Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs)
ISO/TR 16982:2002 Ergonomics of human-system interaction -- Usability methods supporting human-centred design
I've been thinking about the definitions of usability on Wikipedia,
" * More efficient to use—it takes less time to accomplish a particular task
* Easier to learn—operation can be learned by observing the object
* More satisfying to use"
Consider these criteria in relation to games:
Efficiency
Pro: Front-end should be immediately understandable. Once aspects of the game are mastered they should take less time to execute than before they are mastered. Corollary - it should be possible to achieve the same end faster with more training.
Example: (Psychonauts) The player often moves around the gameworld, but walking is slow. There is an underground rail cart that teleports the player from location to location. This is efficient and decreases the time taken to navigate, hence is efficiency.
Contra: The game should restrain efficiency in order to create tension such that the player struggles to succeed, and hence feels reward for their effort. Even after cognitively knowing how to achieve a certain goal the player might need practice to learn how to execute it.
Question: What's the right amount of efficiency - exploits should not unbalance the game, so increases in efficiency should be matched by increases in difficulty (new levels).
Example: (Psychonauts) The player often returns to Ford Cruller's lab. It's dark and built from series of steps. I often fall off when trying to get from one part of the lab to another, which slows me down and frustrates me. There's no scenario in which this experience could be framed as flow-inducing tension: falling off is always a negative experience, and although challenging it has no meaning for the player - my experience would be better if the level was designed for efficiency, if I could get from A to B immediately with zero effort.
Errors.
Pro: A certain degree of errors are necessary for the player to feel like they're striving enough to ensure a feeling of Flow.
Example: (Wii Fit) I understand perfectly how to use the Wii balance board, but I still can't ski very well due to my poor physical motor skills. I understand why I make errors and am comfortable with this. Expert level is beyond me, but I can still enjoy playing the game on easier levels.
Contra: However, the type of error needs more attention (cognitive, physical, etc). Once the user understands what's required they should be able to train themselves to achieve this goal.
Example: (Psychonauts) If I accidentally click 'buy' in the shop there's no way to revert the transaction, other than reloading my saved game.
Learnability
Pro: Games require constant learning, and particularly enactive learning through doing, so the player must be able to learn how the game is to be played. Use of front-end menus should be immediately obvious. Maps, inventory, score, etc should all be immediately understandable, requiring almost zero learning. Conforming to standard game conventions can help here.
Contra: Learning should not always be an efficient, transparent, immediate transmission from tutor (designer) to player. The player must work to learn. Types of learning include cognitive (how to solve the puzzle) and embodied (how to swing the Wiimote in tennis).
Example: (Wii Sports) I wasn't able to learn how to box. There was no support for my learning, no feedback on why certain physical movements resulted in certain virtual effects. I resorted to an extra-ludic learning device: Google (found a user-written description of the movements required for each type of punch). Is this part of the learnability of games? Community forums and walkthroughs? Even after finding a resource to assist my learning I still need to train my body to execute these moves.
Example: (Psychonauts) There's no feedback on the inventory screen to help me understand how to select items. The way I managed it was simply to resort to the lowest-common denominator for learning, which is button mashing - I'd given up on being able to "work it out" so resorted to rapidly trying random sequences and observing the result.
Question: how do we measure the player's ability to learn the game (the levels, the capabilities of their avatar, strategies for overcoming enemy weaknesses, etc) - longitudenal study over the course of 40hrs gameplay? The designer could specify their expectations of the player's ability on a timeline - this would bring attention to the training aspect of the game (by now the player should be able to use weapons, so earlier we must have a training level, and afterwards we can include combat).
Memorability.
Proficiency should be easy to re-establish.
Satisfaction
Pro: Arguably the most or only important factor, the user's subjective experience.
Contra: Satisfaction comes from being in a challenging or engaging flow state, so most of the experience would not rate highly on satisfaction per se, but rather satisfaction would only come at the completion of each task. Part of this response is also due to individual taste, so a good (useable) game does not necessarily guarantee a satisfying experience for the player.
Example: (Mario Galaxy) Although this was clearly a well made game, commercially and critically successful, it wasn't satisfying for me as I don't like that kind of game. See also Lazaro's different types of emotion in games, and Bartle's different types of players for what might constitute compelling kinds of games or gameplay experiences.
"The key benefits of usability are:
* Higher revenues through increased sales
* Increased user efficiency
* Reduced development costs
* Reduced support costs"
Benefits of games usability:
Higher revenues through increased sales
User efficiency isn't important at this level (as a benefit), though user engagement or pleasure is (in respect of the impact it has on sales)
Reduced development costs (as poor design decisions are corrected earlier)
Reduced support costs (fewer patches after release)
Other publications on games usability,
"Are Games Suppose to be User Friendly?"
David Dick
A list of some articles.
@inproceedings{1125774,
author = {Jonathan Sykes and Melissa Federoff},
title = {Player-centred game design},
booktitle = {CHI '06: CHI '06 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems},
year = {2006},
isbn = {1-59593-298-4},
pages = {1731--1734},
location = {Montr\&\#233;al, Qu\&\#233;bec, Canada},
doi = {http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1125451.1125774},
publisher = {ACM},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
abstract = {Videogames are not your typical software application. They are often designed to elicit a negative emotional response, such as frustration or fear, the antithesis of usability. However, this is not to suggest that HCI has little to offer the game design community. Indeed, the exact opposite appears to be true. A number of user-centred design techniques have evolved which can support each stage of the game design process, from concept through to post-production. However, there is currently no archive of appropriate techniques showing how they might be applied to videogame design. Given the differences in goals from these products to traditional software, this is clearly necessary. The purpose of this workshop is to identify those techniques appropriate to game design, and elicit practitioners' experience when applying such methodologies. The intended result is a prescriptive process which demonstrates how user-centred methodologies can best be applied to game design.},
}
A survey method for assessing perceptions of a game: The consumer playtest in game design
by John P. Davis, Keith Steury, and Randy Pagulayan
http://www.gamestudies.org/0501/davis_steury_pagulayan/
Randy J. Pagulayan
Keith R. Steury
Bill Fulton
Ramon L. Romero
Designing for fun: user-testing case studies
Funology: from usability to enjoyment book contents
pp. 137 - 150
2005
@article{1139040,
author = {Hokyoung Ryu},
title = {Integrated bibliography},
book = {Funology: from usability to enjoyment},
year = {2004},
isbn = {1-4020-2966-7},
pages = {283--293},
publisher = {Kluwer Academic Publishers},
address = {Norwell, MA, USA},
}
Assessing usability and fun in educational software
@inproceedings{1109554,
author = {Stuart MacFarlane and Gavin Sim and Matthew Horton},
title = {Assessing usability and fun in educational software},
booktitle = {IDC '05: Proceeding of the 2005 conference on Interaction design and children},
year = {2005},
isbn = {1-59593-096-5},
pages = {103--109},
location = {Boulder, Colorado},
doi = {http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1109540.1109554},
publisher = {ACM},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
}
@article{1015566,
author = {Randy Pagulayan and Keith Steury},
title = {Beyond usability in games},
journal = {interactions},
volume = {11},
number = {5},
year = {2004},
issn = {1072-5520},
pages = {70--71},
doi = {http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1015530.1015566},
publisher = {ACM},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
}
Marrying HCIUsability and computer games
@inproceedings{1028078,
author = {Anker Helms J\orgensen},
title = {Marrying HCI/Usability and computer games: a preliminary look},
booktitle = {NordiCHI '04: Proceedings of the third Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction},
year = {2004},
isbn = {1-58113-857-1},
pages = {393--396},
location = {Tampere, Finland},
doi = {http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1028014.1028078},
publisher = {ACM},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
}
Anker Helms Jørgensen
"Marrying HCI/Usability and computer games: a preliminary look"
ACM International Conference Proceeding Series; Vol. 82
Proceedings of the third Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction
Tampere, Finland
pp. 393 - 396
2004
Developing a hybrid of MMORPG and LARP using usability methods: the case of Takkar
@inproceedings{
author={Laust Juul Christensen and Thomas Tae-Yang J\&\#248rgensen and Anker Helms J\&\#248rgensen},
year={2003},
publisher={University of Utrecht},
pages={CD Rom},
title={Developing a hybrid of MMORPG and LARP using usability methods: the case of Takkar},
editor={Copier Marinka and Raessens Joost},
address={Utrecht},
booktitle={Level Up Conference Proceedings},
month={November},
url={http://www.digra.org/dl/display_html?chid=05150.45031.pdf}
}
Methods for evaluating games
@inproceedings{1255142,
author = {Regina Bernhaupt and Manfred Eckschlager and Manfred Tscheligi},
title = {Methods for evaluating games: how to measure usability and user experience in games?},
booktitle = {ACE '07: Proceedings of the international conference on Advances in computer entertainment technology},
year = {2007},
isbn = {978-1-59593-640-0},
pages = {309--310},
location = {Salzburg, Austria},
doi = {http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1255047.1255142},
publisher = {ACM},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
}
Sensorium games
@inproceedings{1085347,
author = {S. N. I. Mount and E. I. Gaura and R. M. Newman},
title = {Sensorium games: usability considerations for pervasive gaming},
booktitle = {SIGDOC '05: Proceedings of the 23rd annual international conference on Design of communication},
year = {2005},
isbn = {1-59593-175-9},
pages = {146--150},
location = {Coventry, United Kingdom},
doi = {http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1085313.1085347},
publisher = {ACM},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
}
The usability of massively multiplayer online roleplaying games
@inproceedings{985781,
author = {Steve Cornett},
title = {The usability of massively multiplayer online roleplaying games: designing for new users},
booktitle = {CHI '04: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems},
year = {2004},
isbn = {1-58113-702-8},
pages = {703--710},
location = {Vienna, Austria},
doi = {http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/985692.985781},
publisher = {ACM},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
}
A New Framework of Usability Evaluation for Massively Multi-player Online Game: Case Study of “World of Warcraft” Game
http://www.springerlink.com/content/k042vhh141846232/
abstract = {According to traditional marketing wisdom, customers’ preferences are a core issue in designing successful products, and the design process in game is crucial for guaranteeing gamers’ satisfaction. This research aimed to explore critical factors for the game design based on the new framework of the usability evaluation. We examined the usability in Massively Multi-player Online Role-playing Games (MMORPGs) and reviewed literatures related to games simultaneously. We identified eighteen usability issues in MMORPG and presented its recommendation relevant to the issues. Moreover, the results of the study showed fifty four critical factors composed of game interface, game play, game narrative, and game mechanics for the game design. The research is concluded with key implications to support the early stage of the design process in game}
Dyck, J., Pinelle, D., Brown, B., and Gutwin, C. (2003) Learning from Games: HCI Design Innovations in Entertainment Software, Proceedings of Graphics Interface, 237-246.
http://hci.usask.ca/publications/2003/games-gi03.pdf
abstract = {Computer games are one of the most successful application
domains in the history of interactive systems. This success
has come despite the fact that games were ‘separated at
birth’ from most of the accepted paradigms for designing
usable interactive software. It is now apparent that this
separate and less-constrained environment has allowed for
much design creativity and many innovations that make
game interfaces highly usable. We analyzed several current
game interfaces looking for ideas that could be applied
more widely to general UIs. In this paper we present four
of these: effortless community, learning by watching, deep
customizability, and fluid system-human interaction. These
ideas have arisen in games because of their focus on user
performance and user satisfaction, and we believe that they
can help to improve the usability of other types of
applications.}
AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TRADITIONAL USABILITY
INDEXES AND PHYSIOLOGICAL DATA
@article{{AJIS}{45},
author = {Lin, T., Imamiya, A., Hu, W.},
title = {An Empirical Study of Relationships Between Traditional Usability},
journal = {Australasian Journal of Information Systems},
volume = {13},
number = {2},
year = {2007},
url = {http://dl.acs.org.au/index.php/ajis/article/view/45/32},
abstract = {Task performance data and subjective assessment data are widely used as usability
measures in the human-computer interaction (HCI) field. Recently, physiology has also
been explored as a metric for evaluating usability. However, it is not clear how
physiological measures relate to traditional usability evaluation indexes. In this paper,
we investigate the relationships among three kinds of data: task performance, subjective
assessment and physiological measures. We found evidence that physiological data
correlate with task performance data in a video game: with a decrease of the task
performance level, the normalized galvanic skin response (GSR) increases. In addition,
physiological data are mirrored in subjective reports assessing stress level. The research
provides an initial step toward using physiology as a complementary or an independent
usability measure for HCI evaluation.}
}
The Human Controller: Usability and Accessibility in Video Game Interfaces
Computer Science Masters Thesis
by Eitan Glinert
http://web.mit.edu/glinert/www/thesis/The_Human_Controller.pdf
abstract = {Despite the advances in user interfaces and the new gaming genres, not all people can play all games - disabled people are frequently excluded from game play experiences. On the one hand this adds to the list of discriminations disabled people face in our society, while on the other hand actively including them potentially results in games that are better for everyone. The largest hurdle to involvement is the user interface, or how a player interacts with the game. Analyzing usability and adhering to accessibility design principles makes it both possible and practical to develop fun and engaging game user interfaces that a broader range of the population can play. To demonstrate these principles we created AudiOdyssey, a PC rhythm game that is accessible to both sighted and non-sighted audiences. By following accessibility guidelines we incorporated a novel combination of features resulting in a similar play experience for both groups. Testing AudiOdyssey yielded useful insights into which interface elements work and which don’t work for all users. Finally a case is made for considering accessibility when designing future versions of gaming user interfaces, and speculative scenarios are presented for what such interfaces might look like.}
Evaluating Fun and Entertainment: Developing A Conceptual Framework Design of Evaluation Methods
Heather Desurvire (1), Kalle Jegers (2), Charlotte Wiberg (2)
http://www.fun-of-use.org/interact2007/papers/EvaluatingFunAndEntertainment.pdf
abstract = {This paper presents an approach to analyze and re-design evaluation methods. The domainexplored in this paper is evaluation methods for evaluating fun and entertainment. However, the approachpresented may be applied in other domains as well. The approach is conceptually described and two examples of processes where the approach were used in practice are further discussed. As the map of IT applicationsand digital media is continuously re-designed, there is a constant need of re-designing evaluation methods}
Peter Quax, Patrick Monsieurs, Wim Lamotte, Danny De Vleeschauwer, and Natalie Degrande. Objective and subjective evaluation of the influence of small amounts of delay and jitter on a recent first person shooter game. In SIGCOMM 2004 Workshops: Proceedings of ACM SIGCOMM 2004 workshops on NetGames '04, pages 152–156. ACM Press, 2004. (doi:10.1145/1016540.1016557)
@inproceedings{958735,
author = {Peter Vorderer and Tilo Hartmann and Christoph Klimmt},
title = {Explaining the enjoyment of playing video games: the role of competition},
booktitle = {ICEC '03: Proceedings of the second international conference on Entertainment computing},
year = {2003},
pages = {1--9},
location = {Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania},
publisher = {Carnegie Mellon University},
address = {Pittsburgh, PA, USA},
}
Usability and fun - An overview of relevant research in the HCI community
http://www.sics.se/~kia/evaluating_affective_interfaces/Wiberg_2.doc
Christian Schaefer, Thomas Enderes, Hartmut Ritter, and Marina Zitterbart.
Subjective quality assessment for multiplayer real-time games.
In NETGAMES '02: Proceedings of the 1st workshop on Network and system support for games, pages 74–78. ACM Press, 2002. (doi:10.1145/566500.566511)
User Experience in Interactive Computer Game Development
Tracey Sellar
http://www.springerlink.com/content/jlpjd9vcxn6jbd03/
http://books.google.com/books?id=hE4rXPnd0UIC&pg=PA674&lpg=RA3-PA675&ots=T7_GmNjmS7&dq=User+Experience+in+Interactive+Computer+Game+Development#PPA680,M1
abstract = {This paper outlines PhD research into user experience in interactive computer game development. The study will investigate how usability methods and approaches can be adapted and extended to evaluate and improve the user experience of gaming systems. The research will focus on exploring ways to evaluate fun and engaging user experiences, and on identifying how to provide useful, valid, timely, cost-efficient feedback on user experience to game development teams. A range of research methods is proposed including case studies with industry stakeholders, contextual and lab-based user experience evaluations with gamers, and action research within a games company. Research findings will inform the development of a practical evaluation model and tools to support game experience design practices and product development.}
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