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Usability versus Playability?

staffan.bjork@cs.chalmers.se

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About the Lecture

Purpose Material for starting discussions Several of you are more knowledgeable in

specific topics than me

Rules Ask questions and interrupt whenever Interactive (but maybe not a game)

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Difference between Games and Other Computer Applications?

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Many Games are Computer Applications Or can be seen as state

machines Same requirements on

interaction Identify functionality Ease of use Ease of learning User satisfaction Accessibility Adapted to different

cultures Same processes needed

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HCI and Games

Games have the opportunity to use the latest HCI findings since they provide their own specialized interfaces E.g. pie menus

Games are voluntary activity in competitive market with many alternatives Choosers are users? Is HCI more important here than in other

“serious” applications?

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A Closer Look at Usability

ISO 13407 understand and specify the context of use specify the user and organisational

requirements produce design solutions evaluate designs against requirements

With the objectives to “enhancing effectiveness and productivity, improving human working conditions, and counteracting the possible adverse effects of use on human health, safety and performance”

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A Closer Look at Usability, cont.

“This standard (which is part of the ISO 9241 series) provides the definition of usability that is used in subsequent related ergonomic standards:

Usability: the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.“

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A Closer Look at Usability, cont. efficiency

criteria whereby the attainment of a minimum level of effective performance may be determined

effectiveness criteria whereby the success or failure of task

performance may be determined

Satisfaction criteria by which the users may be judged to have

interacted with the system to their internal degree of sufficiency: subjective ratings are frequently employed here

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Playability

“Omnibus term, taking in many things: rules clarity, speed and ease of play, “interestingness” of each turn and of the game as a whole, and the whole gestalt of the game.” (Schuesller, N. & Jackson, S., 1981)

“the degree to which a game is fun to play and usable, with an emphasis on the interaction style and plot-quality of the game; the quality of gameplay.

Playability is affected by the quality of the storyline, responsiveness, pace, usability, customizability, control, intensity of interaction, intricacy, and strategy, as well as the degree of realism and the quality of graphics and sound.” (usabilityfirst.com)

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Measuring Playability

GameFlow: A Model for Evaluating Player Enjoyment in Games (Sweetser & Wyeth, 2005) Concentration Challenge Player Skills Control Clear goals Feedback Immersion Social Interaction

Using heuristics to evaluate the playability of games (Desurvire, Caplan & Toth, 2004) game play game story game mechanics game usability

Playability heuristic for mobile games (Korhonen & Koivisto, 2006) Game Usability Mobility Gameplay

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Notes on these View on Playability See playability as the sum of all aspects

affecting the experience of playing the game Usability as a subset of playability

What would be the corresponding concept for non-entertainment applications?

Let’s look at a definition of games and gameplay

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A Closer Look at Games

”[Play is] a free activity standing quite consciously outside ”ordinary” life as being ”not serious”, but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly.” (Huizinga, J. Homo Ludens, 1938)

“To play a game is to engage in activity directed toward bringing about a specific state of affairs, using only means permitted by rules, where the rules prohibit more efficient in favour of less efficient means, and where such rules are accepted just because they make possible such activity.” (B. Suits, Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia)

“A game is a rule-based formal system with a variable and quantifiable outcome, where different outcomes are assigned different values, the player exerts effort in order to influence the outcome, the player feels attached to the outcome, and the consequences of the activity are optional and negotiable.” (Juul, J.)

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A Closer Look at Games, cont.

In general Not succeed all the time

Must be challenging Negotiable outcomes or not serious

Effectiveness not primary importance

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Gameplay

The actions and planning possible by a player for a specificgame

Definition in progress based upon noting usage online "I just prefer my gameplay to be 80% smashy smashy,

20% puzzles/anything else“ "LoM also had bad gameplay, as it was pathetically easy“ "Biggest reason for that was that the fast gameplay of

Unreal wasn't as easy to transfer to a console as was thought“

"How many hours of gameplay is it going to offer?“ "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will have 150 hours of

gameplay“

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Returning to Playability

Salient features of gameplay which contribute to a good gameplay experience (Järvinen et al, 2002)

Functional playability Ability to explicitly attempt to do something in the game Not usability!

Structural playability Measure of if the gameplay is sufficiently demanding to

engage Sensory playability

Information presentation and availability Social playability

Measure of how well the gameplay facilitates a certain type of social interaction or practice

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Are Definitions of Usability and Games Compatible?

Not according to strict readings of the definitions But descriptions of

playability typical include or complement descriptions of usability

But what do people talking about design methods say?

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Evidence

Professionals and textbooks on game design stress the iterative process and especially testing

Examples Game Design Workshop,

Fullerton et al. (2004) Game Design, Vol. 1 –

Theory and Practice (1981)

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A Player-Oriented Design Process Involve players

Representing the target audience

Iterative Design Setting an initial goal

regarding gameplay Stepwise developing and

refining Evaluating against initial

design goal Use of low fidelity prototypes

E.g. Pen and Paper prototypes Stress playtesting

Designer Playtesting, Blindtesting, Proof Playtesting

Test Ideas / Implement

Generate Ideas /

Identify Target Group

Evaluate / Playtest

Formalize Ideas / Create Specification

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Differences in Approach

HCI focused on “low-level” aspects of the design

Game Design focused upon “high-level” aspects of design “Second-order design” (Salen & Zimmerman, 2004) The importance is not the design of the artifact but

the activity that it gives rise to The shift from HCI to Interaction Design can

be seen as a shift towards second-order design

Can these be combined? Should they be combined? In other things than

games?

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A Theory of Fun

Fun is learning patterns The body’s way of rewarding

the brain for learning something

Games are distilled patterns Limited models of the world

to promote understanding of structures

Self-creating puzzles in games Player-created content Emergent gameplay Competition

Raph Koster, 2005

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Learning principles (Gee, 2004)1. Active Critical Learning Principle2. Design Principle3. Semiotic Principle4. Semiotic Domains Principle5. Metalevel Thinking about Semiotic Domains

Principle6. “Psychosocial Moratorium” Principle7. Committed Learning Principle8. Identity Principle9. Self-Knowledge Principle10. Amplification of Input Principle11. Achievement Principle12. Practice Principle13. Ongoing Learning Principle14. “Regime of Competence” Principle15. Probing Principle16. Multiple Route Principle17. Situated Meaning Principle18. Text Principle19. Intertextual Principle

19. Multimodal Principle20. “Material Intelligence” Principle21. Intuitive Knowledge Principle22. Subset Principle23. Incremental Principle24. Concentrated Sample Principle25. Bottom-up Basic Skills Principle26. Explicit Information On-Demand and Just-

In-Time Principle27. Discovery Principle28. Transfer Principle29. Cultural Models about the World Principle30. Cultural Models about Learning Principle31. Cultural Models about Semiotic Domains

Principle32. Distributed Principle33. Dispersed Principle34. Affinity Group Principle35. Insider Principle

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Conclusions

Tools, methods, and concepts from usability are applicable for playability even if the overarching goal may differ

Tools, methods, and concepts from playability are applicable for usability even if the overarching goal may differ

The concepts of usability and playability may points to different goals through similar means And can therefore gain by learning from each other

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Thank you!

staffan.bjork@tii.se

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Flow

Characteristics Activity requiring skill Merging of action and

awareness Clear goals and

feedback Concentration on task Paradox of control Loss of self-

consciousness Transformation of time Activity becomes its own

purpose - autotelic

Skill

Flow

Difficulty

Frustration

Boredom

Czikszentmihalyi