Game usability: practical techniques from the experts Advancing the Player Experience

Computers used to be for geeks. And geeks were fine with dealing with a difficult and finicky interface--they liked this--it was even a sort of badge of honor (e.g. the Unix geeks). But making the interface really intuitive and useful--think about the first Macintosh computers--took computers far far beyond the geek crowd. The Mac made HCI (human computer interaction) and usability very popular topics in the productivity software industry. Suddenly a new kind of experience was crucial to the success of software - the user experience. Now, 20 years later, developers are applying and extending these ideas to games.Game companies are now trying to take games beyond the 'hardcore' gamer market--the people who love challenge and are happy to master a complicated or highly genre-constrained interface. Right about now (with the growth of interest in casual games) game companies are truly realizing that usability matters, particularly to mainstream audiences. If it's not seamless and easy to use and engaging, players will just not stay to get to the 'good stuff'. By definition, usability is the ease with which people can emplo a particular tool in order to achieve a particular goal. Usability refers to a computer program's efficiency or elegance. This book gives game designers a better understanding of how player characteristics impact usability strategy, and offers specific methods and measures to employ in game usability practice. The book also includes practical advice on how to include usability in already tight development timelines, and how to advocate for usability and communicate results to higher-ups effectively.1. AUTHORITATIVE: The book brings together the foremost experts in game usability, including great minds from Microsoft, Maxis, Sega, Ubisoft, Sony Online, Nintendo). 2. PRACTICAL: The book gives readers instantly applicable theory and tactics for designing game usability methods to improve and enhance games. Designers can pick methods to suit their needs (example Lazarro's 4 Fun Keys theory to help organize designer decisions.) 3. INSPIRING NEW TECHNIQUES: Contributors are at the vanguard of using physiological techniques (like measuring heart rate, tiny muscle movements, and so forth in players as they play) to measure success and game play experience - cutting-edge, future-facing techniques. 4. CAREER-ENHANCING: Suggestions included on selling usability to managers, and how best to report results.

Table of ContentsSection One: Bringing Usability Theory and Practice to GamesJohn P. Davis, Keith Steury, and/or Randy Pagulayan (Microsoft) What usability is and isn't: Usability Testing vs playtesting or QA testingKevin Cheng (OK/Cancel) Usability vs challenge AKA Intended challenge vs unintended challenge (t.b.d.)Leveraging your audience's schemas/metaphors, and recognizing when your game does things that don't match those schemas(t.b.d.)Test early, test often (perhaps including some discussion of attention to usability in the original design. This has overlap with prototypingSection Two: Knowing the UserLucy A. Joyner and Jim TerKeurst (U. of Aberty Dundee, Scotland) User needs and motivations Nicole Lazarro (XEO design)The four fun keys (Understanding play styles and how they relate to usability of games)Katherine Isbister (RPI)Games are social (Testing with groups)Tsurumi and Hasegawa (Sony)Culture and usability (Localization and usability) (Hayan Chen is an alternative author)Debra Lieberman (UCSB) Kids and usability (Testing with children)Section Three: MethodsMicrosoft group (Pagulayan et al.)Case study on application of classical usability methods to gamesSteve Swink (Flashbang Studios) Prototyping to enable early testingNoah Schaffer(RPI)HeuristicsSauli Laitinen (Adage Corp)Expert Evaluation (e.g. Persona Walkthroughs, several experts assess an interface and you compare)Jettie Hoonhout(Philips Research) User Testing with Retrospective Think-AloudMie Norgard and Yanus (U. of Copenhagen) Half of your job is Politics: Usability in the Trenches (could break this up: Selling usability in your company, Reporting usability problems and being heard without making enemies)Section Four: MeasuresRegan Mandryk (U. of Saskatchewan) Combined physiological measuresHazlett and Benedik(Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Microsoft)Muscle movement measuresPeter Vorderer (formerly USC)Enjoyment measures (alternative author Wijnand Ijsselsteijn)Section Five: Special ContextsJanneke Verhaegh (Eindhoven U. of Tech.)Usability in Educational GamesErmi and Mäyra (U. of Tampere, Finland) Usability for Mobile GamesJane McGonigal (formerly 42 Entertainment)Usability for Ubiquitous GamesSection Six: Pulling it all TogetherIsbister and Schaffer (RPI)Recommendations for incorporating the methods discussed into the development process, pointers to further resources.--------------KEY CONTRIBUTORS: TOP OF THEIR FIELD: their careers and contributions:Randy Pagulayan: User Research Lead, Microsoft Game Studios. Most recent project has been working on Halo 3 (see September Wired article.Nicole Lazarro: CEO of XEO Design. One of the first people in the industry to systematically study the user experience of games, has consulted to most of the big game companies (e.g. Maxis, Sega, Ubisoft, Sony Online).Katherine Isbister: Frequent speaker at GDC (Game Developers Conference) on the topic of using social/emotional research to improve game design. Won best of conference DVD in 2004. Wrote MK Game book on Game Character Design nominated for industry award, positively reviewed and cited, used by industry leaders. Debra Lieberman: Professor at UC Santa Barbara, specializing in kids and games and other media. She has worked on games for Nintendo and is a leader in the research community in bridging to industry.Steve Swink: Game designer, instructor, and analyst. An up-and-comer in the independent games area at GDC, who brings rigor to his prototyping and ability to dissect how what he does impacts game play. Writing a forthcoming MK Game book called Game Feel.Sauli Laitinen: Author of this article on Games Usability in Gamasutra. One of the first articles

Game designers and developers.
Secondary: students of game design and HCI (Human/Computer Interaction).
Level: All levels of game designers/developers.

'Isbister's Better Game Characters by Design MK book was mentioned in a New York Times article, July 2007, called ''Hey Man, Let's Play Video Game Dress Up''.'