Analysing the Role of Interactivity in User Experience

An experimental investigation into the role of interaction in user experience (UX) with a controlled manipulation of interactivity features (e.g. avatars, interactive video) in a university information website is reported. The more interactive version had better affect and hedonic ratings, even though its perceived usability was worse. Analysis of qualitative data showed users were attracted to the interactive features, although they complained about poor usability. The results of the experiments are discussed to consider the role of interactivity in user experience and the differences between users’ quantitative judgements of UX and their comments on interactive features which reveal different perspectives

Understanding Engagement within the Context of a Safety Critical Game

One of the most frequent arguments for deploying serious games is that they provide an engaging format for student learning. However, engagement is often equated with enjoyment, which may not be the most relevant conceptualization in safety-critical settings, such as law enforcement and healthcare. In these contexts, the term ‘serious’ does not only relate to the non-entertainment purpose of the game but also the environment simulated by the game. In addition, a lack of engagement in a safety critical training setting can have serious ethical implications, leading to significant real-world impacts. However, evaluations of safety-critical games (SCGs) rarely provide an in-depth consideration of player experience. Thus, in relation to simulation game-based training, we are left without a clear understanding of what sort of experience players are having, what factors influence their engagement and how their engagement relates to learning. In order to address these issues, this paper reports on the mixed-method evaluation of a SCG that was developed to support police training. The findings indicate that engagement is supported by the experience situational relevance, due to the player’s experience of real-world authenticity, targeted feedback mechanisms and learning challenges

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

Evaluating User Engagement Theory

A variety of views of User Experience (UX) have emerged ranging from contextual interpretations of experience to experimental studies. This paper focuses on User Engagement (UE), a restricted explanation of UX that concentrates on judgement of product quality during interaction. It presents a model to explain how users’ judge quality according to criteria such as aesthetics, usability and engagement

The learningscape of a virtual design atelier

The development of e-learning platforms is fundamentally changing the nature of education across all disciplines. Art and design education has traditionally taken place within a studio environment and its model of teaching and learning has been informed by the atelier approach which has a distinctive educational and cultural history. Signifi cant pressures arise today in undergraduate art and design education and partly these drive the need to establish an effective and viable modern studio experience. Not only must any new studio support student learning of practice and principles, for example, by allowing students to work alongside experts, it must foster the community and culture of the creative industries. As if this wasnt diffi cult enough, any innovation in teaching and learning must not incur the huge costs and resource demands of our current models of art and design education and it must be scalable to provide a stimulating experience for large numbers of students with diverse backgrounds, abilities and needs. This paper reports on a suite of studies that were carried out as part of a JISCfunded project titled ATELIER-D. The aim of the project was to create an online virtual design learning environment that replicates and improves the features of traditional face-to-face studio education. The paper makes reference to new curricula at the Open University, particularly a new FHEQ level 4 online design course fi rst presented in February 2010 to 350 students

Co-created Evaluation: identifying how games support police learning

HCI often produces improved systems through co-creation with practitioners. However, evaluation methods are primarily researcher-led (i.e. not co-created with practitioners). As part of a games-based learning evaluation, we detail a novel co-creation method that produces evaluations on how technology influences learning. Based upon educational threshold concept theories, the Tricky Topic method supported the co-creation of knowledge-based evaluation questionnaires with trainers. The evaluation involved 116 new recruit police officers from three UK police forces who participated in a randomized-control trial. The Tricky Topic method provided insights of how the game significantly increased understanding p<.001 (moderate effect size) in comparison with face-to-face training. Tricky topic breakdowns identify increased tacit understanding (e.g. empathy, attention) after games training, and decreased tacit understanding (e.g. respect) after face-to face training. Finally, further research opportunities are discussed concerning co-created evaluation for valid and relevant deconstruction of participants’ understanding that allow designers to pinpoint systems-specific learning benefits

Can an ARG run automatically?

Alternative Reality Games (ARGs) provide an interesting platform to explore the nature of game play as they combine fictional and real world elements to create a unique gaming experience. A typical ARG plays over a set time span and players collaborate via an ongoing narrative orchestrated by 'puppet masters'. This paper presents a six week study based around an ARG which was designed to be repeatable, allowing players to enter the game at anytime. Through the use of temporal trajectories we analyse player's interactions and unveil a number of problems that hindered game play. The players lifestyle, pace and gameplay traits all impacted on the game and raises the question of whether a repeatable ARG can really work. We close with some design pointers that might make it feasible

The learningscape of a virtual design atelier

The development of e-learning platforms is fundamentally changing the nature of education across all disciplines. Art and design education has traditionally taken place within a studio environment and its model of teaching and learning has been informed by the 'atelier' approach which has a distinctive educational and cultural history. Significant pressures arise today in undergraduate art and design education and partly these drive the need to establish an effective and viable modern studio experience. Not only must any new studio support student learning of practice and principles, for example, by allowing students to work alongside experts, it must foster the community and culture of the creative industries. As if this wasn–t difficult enough any innovation in teaching and learning must not incur the huge costs and resource demands of our current models of art and design education and it must be scalable to provide a stimulating experience for large numbers of students with diverse backgrounds, abilities and needs. This paper reports on a suite of studies that were carried out as part of JISC-funded project titled ATELIER-D. The aim of the project was to create an online virtual design learning environment that replicates and improves the features of traditional face-to-face studio education. The paper makes reference to new curricula at The Open University, particularly a new Level One online design course first presented in February 2010 to 350 students

Love it or hate it!: interactivity and user types

This paper investigates general and individual evaluations of User Experience (UX) with interactive web sites. A series of studies investigate user judgment on web sites with different interactivity levels over repeated exposures. The more interactive websites produced more positive affect, had better design quality ratings, which improved with exposure, and were preferred. Differences between the more interactive sites indicated overall UX was influenced by users' preferences for interactive styles, with both sites having enthusiast, potential adopter, and non-adopter users. The implications for models and frameworks of UX are discussed