A D VA N C I N G G A M E D E S I G N W I T H E Y E - T R A C K I N G A N D T H I N K - A L O U D

S T U D I E S

J O H A N N A P I R K E R

J P I R K E R @ M I T. E D U

G R A Z U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E C H N O L O G Y

C H I P L AY - G U R T O O L S

• GUR is not QA and not Marketing! -> UX

• Methods sometimes similar

• E.g. Playtesting

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/168114/understanding_user_research_its_.php

G A M E S A R E M A D E F O R T H E P L AY E R S

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/168114/understanding_user_research_its_.php

• Understanding player behaviour • Determine issues and difficulties • Object awareness and usability insights • Does the user understand how to play the game? • Does the user understand how to interact with the game

objects and the environment? • Is the user interface easy to learn? • Does the user enjoy the experience?

M E T H O D S

• Think Aloud Protocol (TA)

• Retrospective Testing

• Heuristic Evaluation (HE)

• Playtesting

• Game Analytics

• Physiology-based Playtesting / Biometrics

http://gameuserr.editme.com/TESTING-METHODS

M E T H O D S + D ATA

• Think Aloud Protocol (TA) • Notes, Audio, Video, ..

• Retrospective Testing • Annotations in video, notes, audio,..

• Heuristic Evaluation (HE) • Notes

• Playtesting • Surveys, Interviews, Game Logs

• Game Analytics • Quantitative data <3 e.g. engagement

• Physiology-based Playtesting / Biometrics • Biodata, “feelings”, phyiscal states, emotions,

Christian Rohrer - http://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/

T H E G A M E I S T E S T E D N O T T H E U S E R

T H I N K - A L O U D ( TA ) P R O T O C O L S

• Users share thoughts and feelings loudly while performing specific tasks

• Data is collected by noting or recording what users say while testing

• Data = explanations & reasoning

E Y E - T R A C K I N G

• User’s gaze while playing the game is recorded

• What does the user see?

• What does he miss?

E Y E - T R A C K I N G

• Live Eye Gaze (real-time)

• Analyze users intention and their behaviour in areas where users would expect specific interactions

• Quantitative data (Fixation counts, revisits, ..)

• Visualisations (heat map)

• Illustrate areas of interest

• Analyze more complex data (find unnoticed areas, needlessly complex interactions)

C O M B I N I N G E T A N D TA

•Qualitative TA-Data (User speaks out loud)

• Analysis of verbal in-play probes (+/-)*

• Analysis in-play responses (Bored, Frustrated, Lost, Annoyed, Puzzled,...)*

•ET- Data (User’s gaze)

• Analysis of eye movement data

• Quantitative Analysis of eye movement data: Fixations, Variation of mean fixations*

Jeanne H. Brockmyer, Christine M. Fox, Kathleen A. Curtiss, Evan McBroom, Kimberly M. Burkhart, Jacquelyn N. Pidruzny. (2009). The development of the Game Engagement Questionaire: A measure of engagement in video game playing. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Vol. 45, pp. 624-634.

Usability / Learning Experience and Motivation Testing

• U S A B I L I T Y, M O T I VAT I O N , L E A R N I N G P R O G R E S S

• C O M PA R E D I F F E R E N T M E T H O D S • T H I N K I N G A L O U D T E S T • E Y E T R A C K I N G

I T E R AT I V E G A M E D E V E L O P M E N T

B I G D ATA ! ! !

http://insights.dice.com/2012/12/07/for-riot-games-big-data-is-serious-business/

C H I P L AY

• What Drives People: Creating Engagement Profiles of Players from Game Log Data • 120 mio race entries from 1.2 mil players

http://chiplay.org/acm-dl-table-of-contents-chi-2015/

http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/2800000/2793114/p369-harpstead.pdf?ip=80.110.92.122&id=2793114&acc=OPENTOC&key=4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E9F04A3A78F7D3B8D&CFID=551694141&CFTOKEN=62044429&__acm__=1444761920_df0bd79fd99

9812ced8096f35d127f3a

J O B S ?

• UX/Usability:

• Psychology / Design / Computer Science

• Data Analyst / Engineer

• Math, Statistics, CS (Machine Learning)

• http://gamesuserresearchsig.org/career/games-user-research-jobs/

T H A N K Y O U F O R Y O U R AT T E N T I O N .

J O H A N N A P I R K E R , J P I R K E R @ M I T. E D U , W W W. J P I R K E R . C O M , @ J O E Y P R I N K