Using affect to evaluate user engagement

User Experience (UX) emerged beyond the traditional views of usability to account for users' emotional response to the aesthetics of an interactive product. This paper outlines the first of a series of studies on User Engagement (UE), a subset of UX, which focuses upon the quality of the within session interactive experience. The aim of this study is to explore affect through the responses to interactive features and how this impacts upon user judgment. Initial findings indicate that websites with more interactive features generate enhanced positive affect within session, which may predominate over a longer term, thus impacting on the overall user experience

Training air traffic controllers through digital mobile applications versus traditional methods

Safety-critical industries, such as air traffic control, are highly regulated, with rigorous processes and procedures to ensure that safety remains of paramount importance despite the business environment. Training personnel in safety-critical industries is therefore typically a lengthy and expensive process. Gamification and the emphasis on fun, entertainment, progression and retention of concepts has been shown to deliver strong engagement amongst learners but remains at odds with training for safety-critical industries. This paper explores the impact of gamified digital applications versus more traditional training methods for the training of air traffic controllers (ATCs) and other roles relating to air traffic services. We explore the impact of the user experience on engagement and learning retention through the testing of two digital mobile applications, Location Indicators (LI) and The Aircraft Control Positions Operator (ACPO) Starter Pack. These prototypes examine how air traffic control training could be improved by digital applications. In an industry where the rate at which trainees can be trained is projected to fall short of the demand for staff to work in the air traffic industry (BBC, 2018) this project examines potential opportunities for changing established training methods. Each application presented key learning areas for trainees in the air traffic control industry and offers an alternative to the equivalent training currently used. The prototypes were designed to provide a succinct user experience that sat alongside gamified elements to improve engagement. These were then evaluated to determine whether they were effective in potential trainee learning