CfP: Using Game Design and Affective Evaluation to improve User Experience and User Research

Call for Papers

In conjunction with Mensch & Computer 2010 – Duisburg, Germany
September 12, 2010

Workshop Background, Theme and Goals

Entertainment Interfaces Workshop on Using Game Design and Affective Evaluation to improve User Experience and User Research

Video games are highly complex software products with an increasing need for formal playtesting methods from user research and academia. Gaming is becoming a popular topic for HCI research including the establishment of novel interaction and evaluation methodologies and the formal assessment of existing practices.

Employing user research methods in game development, especially combined qualitative (e.g., questionnaires, interviews) and quantitative (e.g., EEG, EMG, game metrics) methods lead to a better understanding of the relationship and interactions between players and games.

Most knowledge of game design has been created during years of practice and is often based on personal experience of a game designer, which commonly comes from observing individual reactions to game mechanics. However, since such game design knowledge takes years to manufacture, faster insights into complex player behavior as a reaction to game mechanics are desirable.

The goals of this workshop are to provide (1) an overview of available methods and techniques of evaluating game design and (2) to foster a productive discussion on creating guidelines for studying users with affective evaluation methodologies.

Submission Topics

Submission topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Submission Topics

  • Experimental game studies using affective measurement
  • Usability or playability case studies
  • Psychophysiological evaluation (e.g., EEG, EMG, EDA, HR, Eye Tracking, etc.)
  • Game-based heuristic evaluation methods
  • Concepts and theories relating to flow, immersion, and presence
  • User/Player experience (UX) or gameplay experience
  • Game design case studies for tying UX to desktop or web applications
  • User-centred design (UCD)
  • Studies of novel interaction practices for gaming (e.g. iPad, camera tracking, etc.)
  • Game design evaluation principles for pervasive and ubiquitous gaming
  • Modelling of player emotion for game evaluation
  • Visualization techniques for quantitative player data
  • Methodology reports for evaluation of game design and user interface design
  • Guidelines for the evaluation of players and game design
  • Industry perspectives on evaluating fun as part of UX
  • Affective evaluation studies of computer games
  • Game metrics and behavioral analysis of user actions and events in games

Submission details

For authors

If you are interested in participation, please submit a 2-4 page position paper or a 2-4 page industrial case study to the workshop organizers (email: lennart.nacke at acm.org) using the LNI format (Template available here [doc]: (German version), LaTEX). Authors of accepted papers are expected to present their work at the workshop by giving a 15 minute presentation. Submissions of papers covering the topics of the workshop should be submitted by 1st of July 2010. Notification of acceptance will be sent out 12th of July 2010. At least one author from each accepted submission is expected to attend the workshop and register for the conference. Accepted submission will be compiled in the common workshop proceedings (Tagungsband der M&C, DelFI und des Doktorandenkolloquiums). These proceedings will be published by the Logos Verlag (http://www.logos-verlag.de/). All proceedings will be additionally available in an electronic version (and online) at the conference date. Do not hesitate to email lennart.nacke at acm.org with questions.

Schedule

Important dates

July 1 July 9, 2010 – Submission Deadline
July 12, 2010 – Notification of Acceptance
July 15, 2010 – Camera Ready Deadline
September 12, 2010 – Workshop Date (currently pending)

Organizing Committee

Organizers

Lennart Nacke, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Jörg Niesenhaus, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Stephan Engl, University of Regensburg, Germany
Alessandro Canossa, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Kai Kuikkaniemi, Aalto University, Finland
Thomas Immich, Centigrade GmbH, Germany

About The Author

Dr. Lennart Nacke, Assistant Professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) conducts research in the areas of human-computer interaction (HCI) and game science.

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