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HCI Design in Games

HCI Design in Games. Cindy Song Fall ‘06. Agenda. Intro Four Concepts Effortless Community Learning by Watching Deep Customizability Fluid System-Human Interaction Hands-On Conclusion. Goal. Learn novel design concepts from games. Intro Four Concepts Hands-On Conclusion. Goal

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HCI Design in Games

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  1. HCI Design in Games Cindy Song Fall ‘06

  2. Agenda • Intro • Four Concepts • Effortless Community • Learning by Watching • Deep Customizability • Fluid System-Human Interaction • Hands-On • Conclusion

  3. Goal • Learn novel design concepts from games IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Goal Questions to Keep In Mind

  4. Questions to Keep In Mind • How do they apply to general apps? • Differences b/t games & general apps? • Multi-user vs. single-user mindsets? • 3D vs. 2D? • One app open vs. multiple windows? • Motivation: life/death vs. finishing 5-min early? IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Goal Questions to Keep In Mind

  5. Effortless Community • Motivation • Communities Serve as Valuable resources • Comment on content • Resolve problems • Provide collaboration • Challenges • Critical mass • Access to the Internet • Ability to find or form the right subgroups • Games make it easy • Participation in communities • Group forming in communities Motivation & ChallengesGames: Easy to ConnectGames: Easy to Identify and Form GroupsComparison with General Apps IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Effortless Community Learning by Watching Deep Customizability Fluid System-Human Interaction

  6. Connect to Community • Integration • Game and community • Easy to access • Host Servers • Dedicated & reliable game servers • Enable gamers to host communities on their own game servers • Takes a few clicks from within the game itself • Benefits • Attract critical mass of users • Participate in the same location • Available for collaboration • Nature of Games • Multi-player: community is a requirement Motivation & ChallengesGames: Easy to ConnectGames: Easy to Identify and Form GroupsComparison with General Apps IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Effortless Community Learning by Watching Deep Customizability Fluid System-Human Interaction

  7. Identify and Form Groups • Requirements for Collaborator is Situational • General questions (i.e. workaround) • Wide group or anyone nearby • Specific tasks • Compatible personalities • Similar levels of expertise • Common interests • Games provide • Meeting places • In-game grouping Motivation & ChallengesGames: Easy to ConnectGames: Easy to Identify and Form GroupsComparison with General Apps IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Effortless Community Learning by Watching Deep Customizability Fluid System-Human Interaction

  8. Meeting Places • Discuss Strategy • Solve Problems • Customize games • Match-Making • Stats • Profiles Motivation & ChallengesGames: Easy to ConnectGames: Easy to Identify and Form GroupsComparison with General Apps IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Effortless Community Learning by Watching Deep Customizability Fluid System-Human Interaction

  9. In-Game Grouping • Situation • Massive multiplayer games • Thousands of people • Same game world • No defined end to the game • Gamer has identity within the world • Location (i.e. secret cow level) • Conversation channels (i.e. network lag) • Friend lists • Visual identity (i.e. skills, loyalties, expertise) • Explicit teams (i.e. private communication, tracking mechanisms) • Guilds (66% of WoW characters, 90% if > level 43) Motivation & ChallengesGames: Easy to ConnectGames: Easy to Identify and Form GroupsComparison with General Apps IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Effortless Community Learning by Watching Deep Customizability Fluid System-Human Interaction

  10. In-Game Grouping (cont.) • Explicit Team • Restricted conversations • Locate allies Motivation & ChallengesGames: Easy to ConnectGames: Easy to Identify and Form GroupsComparison with General Apps IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Effortless Community Learning by Watching Deep Customizability Fluid System-Human Interaction

  11. Guilds • Social Pressure • Facilitates group forming • 43% more often to be in a group CHI ‘06 Motivation & ChallengesGames: Easy to ConnectGames: Easy to Identify and Form GroupsComparison with General Apps IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Effortless Community Learning by Watching Deep Customizability Fluid System-Human Interaction

  12. Social Aspects of WoW • In WoW • Being surrounded by others • Café Analogy • Interacting with an audience • Identity – “it is not ‘the people that are addictive’ but rather, ‘it’s the image of myself I get from other people’.” CHI ’06 • Laughing at and with others • Other players are a spectacle – adds entertainment • i.e. Impromptu dance performance by a group of characters waiting for a boat • i.e. Gnome wearing a deep-dive helmet in an auction house • “/silly” command Motivation & ChallengesGames: Easy to ConnectGames: Easy to Identify and Form GroupsComparison with General Apps IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Effortless Community Learning by Watching Deep Customizability Fluid System-Human Interaction

  13. Community for General Apps • General Applications • Graphics Designers who use Photoshop • Java Programmers who use JBuilder • Architects who use AutoCAD • Channels • Newsgroups • Websites • Size • Comp.graphics.apps.photoshop contains >140,000 discussion threads. Motivation & ChallengesGames: Easy to ConnectGames: Easy to Identify and Form GroupsComparison with General Apps IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Effortless Community Learning by Watching Deep Customizability Fluid System-Human Interaction

  14. Weaknesses • Conventional apps • Users are disconnected • Unaware of others • When communities do exist • Participation occurs outside of the application • Interaction is asynchronous (i.e. newsgroup) • Disadvantages • Requires third party tools • Extra effort • Out of the application context Motivation & ChallengesGames: Easy to ConnectGames: Easy to Identify and Form GroupsComparison with General Apps IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Effortless Community Learning by Watching Deep Customizability Fluid System-Human Interaction

  15. Games vs. General Apps • Similarities • Need to build expertise • Have questions answered • Discuss approaches • Solicit Feedback • Aim for productivity and efficiency • Discussion • Could we apply community concepts to general apps? • Integrated community • Meeting place • In-app grouping (topic-specific chats, friend list, explicit teams) • What are some differences b/t games and general apps that make it difficult to share HCI concepts? Motivation & ChallengesGames: Easy to ConnectGames: Easy to Identify and Form GroupsComparison with General Apps IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Effortless Community Learning by Watching Deep Customizability Fluid System-Human Interaction

  16. Learning by Watching • Motivation • Learn from more experienced users • Observational Learning • Challenges • Users are distributed, not face-to-face • Requires embodiment and workspace awareness • Requires understanding of detailed actions • Games make it possible • Real-time awareness • Embodiment information Motivation & ChallengesGames: Easy to ConnectGames: Easy to Identify and Form GroupsComparison with General Apps IntroFour ConceptsHands-OnConclusion Effortless Community Learning by Watching Deep Customizability Fluid System-Human Interaction

  17. Awareness & Embodiment • Convey embodiment, awareness, and task based info • Allows easy interpretation of fine-grained actions • i.e. 3D Avatar in GhostRecon - Crouch, crawl, jump, run, open doors, and pick up items • i.e. Strategy for fighting lightening demons in Diablo II

  18. Shared views of workspace and awareness • Explored in groupware • Not much in single-user applications • i.e. VNC • OS-level & App-level • Provides awareness (mouse, dropdown menu selection) • Not adequate task information (key sequences)

  19. Games vs. General Apps • Similarities • Benefit from observational learning • Discussion • Could we apply learning-by-watching concepts to general apps? • Real-time awareness (i.e. mouse loc, dropdown selection) • Task-based information (i.e. present sequence of actions) • Visual presentation (i.e. player’s status) • What are some differences b/t games and general apps that make it difficult to share HCI concepts?

  20. Deep Customizability • Motivation • “There is no single configuration best for all tasks.” • Increase efficiency & usability • Challenges • Usually takes effort to customize • Games innovate • Anything-goes UI malleability • Natural extensibility • Portable customizations

  21. Anything-Goes UI Malleability • UI element locations • New command container • Remap controls

  22. Natural Extensibility • Macros • Everquest: 2 mouse clicks • MS Word: 7 actions before starting, 5 more to place onto a toolbar to use • Simplicity • Use macro even for a few minutes’ worth of activity

  23. Portable Customizations • Save, move, and share modifications and extensions • XML files for configurations • “Mod kits” for simplifying creation, editing, and installation of extensions, layouts, and skins • Gamers with no experience can use these interfaces • Controversy: How much control to give the users?

  24. Games vs. General Apps • Similarities • Goal: performance and productivity • Discussion • Could we apply customizability concepts to general apps? • Anything-Goes UI Malleability (palettes of tools, remap func) • Natural Extensibility (i.e. macro) • Portable Customizations (i.e. XML) • What are some differences b/t games and general apps that make it difficult to share HCI concepts?

  25. Fluid System-Human Interaction • Motivation • Minimize disruptions to work flow • Less user attention • Less user effort • Games use novel approaches • Calm messaging • Attention-aware interface elements • Context-aware view behaviors

  26. Calm Messaging • Audio • Recorded voice notifications • Spatialized environmental sound • Transient Text • Gradually fades • Automatically-scrolled message area • Animation • Match level of visibility with importance • Indicate direction, location, and priority

  27. Warcraft III • Red concentric circles and arrows • Voice: type of event

  28. Other Fluid UI • Attention-aware • Transparency levels reflect user attention (mouse-over) • Context-aware • Zoom, pan, and rotate views • Neverwinter Nights: 3 camera behaviors • Easy to toggle using key shortcuts

  29. Everquest

  30. Games vs. General Apps • Similarities • Goal: no disruption to workflow • Discussion • Could we apply customizability concepts to general apps? • Calm Messaging (i.e. audio, transient text, animation) • Attention-aware (Transparent out-of-focused windows) • Context-aware (i.e. zoom, pan, & rotate views) • What are some differences b/t games and general apps that make it difficult to share HCI concepts?

  31. Hands-On: Diablo II • Collaborate with others to complete tasks • Identify examples for today’s concepts • Effortless Community • Learning by Watching • Deep Customizability • Fluid System-Human Interaction

  32. Games vs. General Apps • Similarities • Effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction • Same challenges • User demographics (40% PC game players > 36 yo; 38% are female) • Challenges • Effortless Community – distraction, privacy, security • Learning by Watching – privacy, visibility • Deep Customizability – adoption, applicability • Fluid UI – Office env, miss msgs, applicability

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