1 usability versus playability? staffan.bjork@cs.chalmers.se
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Usability versus Playability?
staffan.bjork@cs.chalmers.se
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About the Lecture
Purpose Material for starting discussions Several of you are more knowledgeable in
specific topics than me
Rules Ask questions and interrupt whenever Interactive (but maybe not a game)
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Difference between Games and Other Computer Applications?
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Many Games are Computer Applications Or can be seen as state
machines Same requirements on
interaction Identify functionality Ease of use Ease of learning User satisfaction Accessibility Adapted to different
cultures Same processes needed
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HCI and Games
Games have the opportunity to use the latest HCI findings since they provide their own specialized interfaces E.g. pie menus
Games are voluntary activity in competitive market with many alternatives Choosers are users? Is HCI more important here than in other
“serious” applications?
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A Closer Look at Usability
ISO 13407 understand and specify the context of use specify the user and organisational
requirements produce design solutions evaluate designs against requirements
With the objectives to “enhancing effectiveness and productivity, improving human working conditions, and counteracting the possible adverse effects of use on human health, safety and performance”
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A Closer Look at Usability, cont.
“This standard (which is part of the ISO 9241 series) provides the definition of usability that is used in subsequent related ergonomic standards:
Usability: the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.“
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A Closer Look at Usability, cont. efficiency
criteria whereby the attainment of a minimum level of effective performance may be determined
effectiveness criteria whereby the success or failure of task
performance may be determined
Satisfaction criteria by which the users may be judged to have
interacted with the system to their internal degree of sufficiency: subjective ratings are frequently employed here
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Playability
“Omnibus term, taking in many things: rules clarity, speed and ease of play, “interestingness” of each turn and of the game as a whole, and the whole gestalt of the game.” (Schuesller, N. & Jackson, S., 1981)
“the degree to which a game is fun to play and usable, with an emphasis on the interaction style and plot-quality of the game; the quality of gameplay.
Playability is affected by the quality of the storyline, responsiveness, pace, usability, customizability, control, intensity of interaction, intricacy, and strategy, as well as the degree of realism and the quality of graphics and sound.” (usabilityfirst.com)
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Measuring Playability
GameFlow: A Model for Evaluating Player Enjoyment in Games (Sweetser & Wyeth, 2005) Concentration Challenge Player Skills Control Clear goals Feedback Immersion Social Interaction
Using heuristics to evaluate the playability of games (Desurvire, Caplan & Toth, 2004) game play game story game mechanics game usability
Playability heuristic for mobile games (Korhonen & Koivisto, 2006) Game Usability Mobility Gameplay
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Notes on these View on Playability See playability as the sum of all aspects
affecting the experience of playing the game Usability as a subset of playability
What would be the corresponding concept for non-entertainment applications?
Let’s look at a definition of games and gameplay
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A Closer Look at Games
”[Play is] a free activity standing quite consciously outside ”ordinary” life as being ”not serious”, but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly.” (Huizinga, J. Homo Ludens, 1938)
“To play a game is to engage in activity directed toward bringing about a specific state of affairs, using only means permitted by rules, where the rules prohibit more efficient in favour of less efficient means, and where such rules are accepted just because they make possible such activity.” (B. Suits, Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia)
“A game is a rule-based formal system with a variable and quantifiable outcome, where different outcomes are assigned different values, the player exerts effort in order to influence the outcome, the player feels attached to the outcome, and the consequences of the activity are optional and negotiable.” (Juul, J.)
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A Closer Look at Games, cont.
In general Not succeed all the time
Must be challenging Negotiable outcomes or not serious
Effectiveness not primary importance
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Gameplay
The actions and planning possible by a player for a specificgame
Definition in progress based upon noting usage online "I just prefer my gameplay to be 80% smashy smashy,
20% puzzles/anything else“ "LoM also had bad gameplay, as it was pathetically easy“ "Biggest reason for that was that the fast gameplay of
Unreal wasn't as easy to transfer to a console as was thought“
"How many hours of gameplay is it going to offer?“ "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will have 150 hours of
gameplay“
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Returning to Playability
Salient features of gameplay which contribute to a good gameplay experience (Järvinen et al, 2002)
Functional playability Ability to explicitly attempt to do something in the game Not usability!
Structural playability Measure of if the gameplay is sufficiently demanding to
engage Sensory playability
Information presentation and availability Social playability
Measure of how well the gameplay facilitates a certain type of social interaction or practice
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Are Definitions of Usability and Games Compatible?
Not according to strict readings of the definitions But descriptions of
playability typical include or complement descriptions of usability
But what do people talking about design methods say?
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Evidence
Professionals and textbooks on game design stress the iterative process and especially testing
Examples Game Design Workshop,
Fullerton et al. (2004) Game Design, Vol. 1 –
Theory and Practice (1981)
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A Player-Oriented Design Process Involve players
Representing the target audience
Iterative Design Setting an initial goal
regarding gameplay Stepwise developing and
refining Evaluating against initial
design goal Use of low fidelity prototypes
E.g. Pen and Paper prototypes Stress playtesting
Designer Playtesting, Blindtesting, Proof Playtesting
Test Ideas / Implement
Generate Ideas /
Identify Target Group
Evaluate / Playtest
Formalize Ideas / Create Specification
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Differences in Approach
HCI focused on “low-level” aspects of the design
Game Design focused upon “high-level” aspects of design “Second-order design” (Salen & Zimmerman, 2004) The importance is not the design of the artifact but
the activity that it gives rise to The shift from HCI to Interaction Design can
be seen as a shift towards second-order design
Can these be combined? Should they be combined? In other things than
games?
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A Theory of Fun
Fun is learning patterns The body’s way of rewarding
the brain for learning something
Games are distilled patterns Limited models of the world
to promote understanding of structures
Self-creating puzzles in games Player-created content Emergent gameplay Competition
Raph Koster, 2005
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Learning principles (Gee, 2004)1. Active Critical Learning Principle2. Design Principle3. Semiotic Principle4. Semiotic Domains Principle5. Metalevel Thinking about Semiotic Domains
Principle6. “Psychosocial Moratorium” Principle7. Committed Learning Principle8. Identity Principle9. Self-Knowledge Principle10. Amplification of Input Principle11. Achievement Principle12. Practice Principle13. Ongoing Learning Principle14. “Regime of Competence” Principle15. Probing Principle16. Multiple Route Principle17. Situated Meaning Principle18. Text Principle19. Intertextual Principle
19. Multimodal Principle20. “Material Intelligence” Principle21. Intuitive Knowledge Principle22. Subset Principle23. Incremental Principle24. Concentrated Sample Principle25. Bottom-up Basic Skills Principle26. Explicit Information On-Demand and Just-
In-Time Principle27. Discovery Principle28. Transfer Principle29. Cultural Models about the World Principle30. Cultural Models about Learning Principle31. Cultural Models about Semiotic Domains
Principle32. Distributed Principle33. Dispersed Principle34. Affinity Group Principle35. Insider Principle
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Conclusions
Tools, methods, and concepts from usability are applicable for playability even if the overarching goal may differ
Tools, methods, and concepts from playability are applicable for usability even if the overarching goal may differ
The concepts of usability and playability may points to different goals through similar means And can therefore gain by learning from each other
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Thank you!
staffan.bjork@tii.se
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Flow
Characteristics Activity requiring skill Merging of action and
awareness Clear goals and
feedback Concentration on task Paradox of control Loss of self-
consciousness Transformation of time Activity becomes its own
purpose - autotelic
Skill
Flow
Difficulty
Frustration
Boredom
Czikszentmihalyi
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