Game User Experience

Not everyone is a talented programmer, artist, or designer…

Why do YOU want to make games?

People should have FUN playing it

• How do you know if people enjoy it?• When will you find this out?• What can you do to make sure it’s fun?

User Experience

• How do we ensure people figure out how to play the game

• How do we reduce things like boredom, confusion, and frustration

• How do we keep the game interesting, challenging, and coming back for more

• How do we make the game fun• Give me examples of games that

succeeded/failed in your opinion…

Board Game Exercise

• Arrange in groups with players + 1 observer• Players:

– Try at first WITHOUT instructions (5 mins)– Then try with instructions

• Observers note:– How they learned how to play– What problems/difficulties they had– What was boring/frustrating/confusing– What was fun

• Everyone: – How can you make it more fun to learn how to play?

User Experience: As a profession

• Product developers have a vision, an experience they want players to have

• User Experience experts help:– UX Design: Translate that desired experience into an actual

experience (UI, Game Board & Objects, Controls, Feedback, Tutorial Design, Challenge Ramp)

– UX Research: Validate that the UX design actually accomplishes its goals with users; Discover cool things you’d never have guessed

• Videos– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DTSbey8ZyY– http://www.polygon.com/2012/10/24/3538296/data-entry-risk-m

anagement-and-tacos-inside-halo-4s-playtest-labs• What are pros and cons of each

Case Study: Catan for Xbox Live

• Work that I did a few years ago• http://www.slideshare.net/jackalshorns/failin

g-gracefully-lessons-learned-from-catan-for-xbla

UX Risk Assessment

• What risks for your project?– Novelty– Complexity– Challenge

• How would you go about mitigating the risk?– UX Design Goals– UX Research Plan