Title:
Development and uses of interactive user interfaces in games
Abstract/Summary:
The purpose of this research is to understand the uses and development of interactive user interfaces found within gaming, As well as how people interact with different user interfaces and how that interaction translates into interfacing with the game.
Introduction:
In the twenty first century the consumption of gaming entertainment has skyrocketed to new heights, with help from the creation of smart phones and digital distribution, games are available in many places in a variety of forms. One thing that occurs in virtually all games is the user interface that the players interact with to play the game, change settings and a variety of other options. These interactive user interfaces dictate the way the player interacts with the game and perceives it, from the first appearances in the start menus to the ergonomics in button positioning on a mobile screen.
My aim for this research is to find out and understand if and how interactive user interfaces can be used to affect or influence a players view on a game and how that can be used to better a game experience. The way I will go about finding this is by first finding out the uses of the interactive user interfaces in gaming and how that interfacing with the game affects or doesn’t affect the players view upon the game and how different players interact with different interfaces.
This research would be good for players and game developers, as it would firstly allow game developers to create a better, more enjoyable and intuitive user interface for players and make it easier for game developers to target different audiences with different user interfaces by having analytics to see what type of interfaces users like, which would then lead to an easier creation and development process for the games. User interfaces in general would be able to be designed with more in mind and it might be able to even find a new type of user interface that could replace or build upon other interfaces.
Research Question:
To find out and understand if and how interactive user interfaces can be used to affect or influence a players view on a game and how that can be used to better a game experience.
Literature Review:
It is proposed by some that games are most affective when they facilitate flow and flow in games can inform the design of software for positive affect. (Johnson and Wiles 2003) This is a major aspect in which I want to research, mainly finding out whether this is true and of it is how it is true. If flow can make the design of the software more enjoyable, how can the flow of menus in a user interface influence the player in the game. This can be tested through the survey of people to see how they interact with certain interfaces.
Marshall G. Jones looked more into flow within games and flow theory by Csikszentmihalyi, defining it as the “difference between enjoyment and pleasure; an optimal experience is more of a manifestation of the former.” He goes on to state that flow in games can be shown in the smallest of things, from tasks we can complete (finishing a level) to a tasks that provides immediate feedback (shooting in a game and killing a person). (Jones 1998) These would be great aspects to keep in mind and build upon when creating an interface for people to test, critique and get feedback on.
Thomas W. Malone found that the general framework for creating a appealing computer system was based on three categories; challenge, fantasy and curiosity. The way these categories worked was if you could give the user all of these categories they were more inclined to attach to the system and have a positive experience. Challenge was to give the user a goal with and uncertain outcome, with the success of applying this category in the complexity of the challenge. Fantasy was to make the interface embody an emotionally appealing fantasy for the player to link to. And finally curiosity was to give the user a good level of different information at one time in the attempt to peaking their curiosity. (Malone 1982) I will hopefully be able to test and confirm this well informed framework by creating a interface and survey a variety of people.
Methodology:
The research methodology I have chosen is action research, as it allows for multiple stages of planning and action. I will be able to plan surveys and reflect on the results before heading along and creating an interface to get a more in depth result. It will allow for multiple rounds and each round will give me more information about user interfaces. I could also use human centered design approach when creating the interface as a major part of this research is looking at how people interact with it, but that seems best suited for that part of the project only.
Time-line:
Future Direction:
Upon having a user interface that creates a positive effect on people, the next stage would be to apply it to a game for more testing and depending on the results, applying the design and work done for the interface on to the actual game, in game design, mechanics and aesthetics. Having a fully finished game with the same design elements and framework used through out would be the ultimate test.
Limitations:
Possible limitations I could find when researching this, could be testing or surveying for all the actual interfaces as depending on the platform there are many various user interfaces, possibly too many to test in the time. Although I could limit the testing interfaces to a platform but that might change the results of the tests due to preferences in platforms. Also creating a new interface would need something to interface to, so I might have to have a simple base game to create the interface for, which would take quite a bit of time. Due to monetary factors I also won’t be able to test every platform, as it would be too costly. Overall the biggest limitation though would be time and having enough of it to complete the needed amount of surveys and tests to draw a proper conclusion.
References:
Johnson, D. and J. Wiles (2003). "Effective affective user interface design in games." Ergonomics 46 (13-14): 1.
Jones, M. G. (1998). "Creating Electronic Learning Environments: Games, Flow, and the User Interface."
Malone, T. W. (1982). Heuristics for designing enjoyable user interfaces: Lessons from computer games. Proceedings of the 1982 conference on Human factors in computing systems, ACM.
