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Heuristic usability evaluation on games: a modular approach
Multimedia Tools and Applications, 2018
Heuristic evaluation is the preferred method to assess usability in games when experts conduct this evaluation. Many heuristics guidelines have been proposed attending to specificities of games but they only focus on specific subsets of games or platforms. In fact, to date the most used guideline to evaluate games usability is still Nielsen's proposal, which is focused on generic software. As a result, most evaluations do not cover important aspects in games such as mobility, multiplayer interactions, enjoyability and playability, etc. To promote the usage of new heuristics adapted to different game and platform aspects we propose a modular approach based on the classification of existing game heuristics using metadata and a tool, MUSE (Meta-heUristics uSability Evaluation tool) for games, which allows a rebuild of heuristic guidelines based on metadata selection in order to obtain a customized list for every real evaluation case. The usage of these new rebuilt heuristic guidelines allows an explicit attendance to a wide range of usability aspects in games and a better detection of usability issues. We preliminarily evaluate MUSE with an analysis of two different games, using both the Nielsen's heuristics and the customized heuristic lists generated by our tool.
Exploring the Advantages of Genre Specific Usability Heuristics
The 3rd Annual Human Computer Interaction Conference
Heuristic evaluation is a quick and affordable method of usability evaluation, and is used widely in software research and design . A wide range of usability heuristics have been developed, some are developed specifically for a given type of software, while others are presented as applicable to all software . Little research has explored the practical implications of using specialist or generalist heuristics evaluations. This paper reports the findings of a series of validation studies comparing Nielsen's [5] general software usability heuristics and Brown's [2] computer game specific heuristics. These evaluations will be compared in terms of number of problems identified, severity of problems identified and quality of feedback produced. Play testing and a series of quantitative usability evaluations of the games will be used as a base line for the comparisons. The games evaluated are Dawn of War, Baldur's Gate and Demon Stone. The results of each evaluation will be inspected individually, then the complete findings discussed in detail. Overall, the context specific heuristics are found to perform better in terms of finding more sever usability issues and the quality of feedback produced, while the general heuristics identified more problems. With these results in mind it is concluded that context specific heuristics could be of greatest benefit when used early in a design process, when the goal of evaluation is to clearly identify any serious usability issues.
Media in the Ubiquitous Era: Ambient, Social and Gaming Media: IGI Global, 2011
The expert review method is a widely adopted usability inspection method for evaluating productivity software. Recently, there has been increasing interest to apply this method for the evaluation of video games, as well. In order to use the method effectively, there need to be playability heuristics that take into account the characteristics of video games. There are several playability heuristic sets available, but they are substantially different, and they have not been compared to discover their strengths and weaknesses in ...
Using heuristics to evaluate the playability of games
Extended abstracts of the 2004 conference on Human factors and computing systems - CHI '04, 2004
Heuristics have become an accepted and widely used adjunct method of usability evaluation in Internet and software development. This report introduces Heuristic Evaluation for Playability (HEP), a comprehensive set of heuristics for playability, based on the literature on productivity and playtesting heuristics that were specifically tailored to evaluate video, computer, and board games. These heuristics were tested on an evolving game design to assess their face validity and evaluation effectiveness compared to more standard user testing methodologies. The results suggest that HEP identified qualitative similarities and differences with user testing and that HEP is best suited for evaluating general issues in the early development phases with a prototype or mock-up. Combined with user studies, HEP offers a new method for the HCI game community that can result in a more usable and playable game.
Game Usability Heuristics (PLAY) for Evaluating and Designing Better Games: The Next Iteration
Online Communities and Social Computing, 2009
Game developers have begun applying formal human-computer interaction (HCI) principles in design. Desurvire et al [2] adapted a set of Heuristics for productivity software to games. The resulting set, presented at CHI 2004, was Heuristics to Evaluate Playability (HEP). Generalization of these heuristics is required to make them applicable to a multiple of game genres and game deliveries. This follow-up study focused on the refined list, Heuristics of Playability (PLAY), that can be applied earlier in game development as well as aiding developers between formal usability/playability research during the development cycle. Heuristics were formed based on their efficacious scores on the popular game review website, metacritic.com. Fiftyfour gamers rated High and Low ranked games on 116 potential heuristics. Implications for how these Heuristics will help developers improve game quality are discussed. PLAY has been found useful in design evaluation and elfreport survey format.
Evaluating Computer Game Usability: Developing Heuristics Based on User Experience
The 2nd Annual Human Computer Interaction Conference
Computer games designers must innovate to survive, but this innovation comes at the cost of high development cost and unreliable market success. Usability techniques can help software designers reduce these risks, but few methods currently exist that are applicable to computer game design. Heuristic evaluation is a budget usability method that has been used with great success in the design of non-game software and has advantages for use in a game design process, such as flexibility and low overhead costs. This study developed an initial set of usability heuristics for computer game design based on user input. These heuristics were then refined though expert evaluation and finally discussed in terms of possible applications and future developments.
The Quest for Usable Usability Heuristics for Game Developers
Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 39. Springer, 2020
Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research has provided many processes and methods for ensuring good usability during software development. The importance of usability in games has been acknowledged. However, there is a lack of research examining usability activities during actual game development and the suit-ability of different usability methods for different phases of game development. Game development industry, although growing fast and already including certain large and successful companies, consists of a huge number of small-to-medium-sized enterprises and start-ups. For these companies, practical, developer-oriented tools for ensuring game usability are needed, as these companies do not have resources for hiring usability specialists for taking care of usability. This paper reviews the concept of game usability and existing research on usability methods for game development. In addition, the paper proposes a set of usable usability heuristics as a practical, developer oriented tool to be used during the game development process as well as reports on a small-scale survey study on game usability, heuristic evaluation and us-ability of usability heuristics in game development.
Usable Usability Heuristics for Game Developers
2019
Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research has provided many processes and methods for ensuring good usability during software development. The importance of usability in games has been acknowledged. However, there is a lack of research examining usability activities during actual game development and the suitability of different usability methods for different phases of game development. Game development industry, although growing fast and already including certain large and successful companies, consists of a huge number of small-to-medium-sized enterprises and start-ups. For these companies, practical, developer-oriented tools for ensuring game usability are needed, as these companies do not have resources for hiring usability specialists for taking care of usability. This paper reviews the concept of game usability and existing research on usability methods for game development as well as proposes of set of usable usability heuristics as a practical, developer-oriented tool to be...
Comparing Two Playability Heuristic Sets with Expert Review Method
Ambient, Social and Gaming Media, 2012
The expert review method is a widely adopted usability inspection method for evaluating productivity software. Recently, there has been increasing interest to apply this method for the evaluation of video games, as well. In order to use the method effectively, there need to be playability heuristics that take into account the characteristics of video games. There are several playability heuristic sets available, but they are substantially different, and they have not been compared to discover their strengths and weaknesses in game evaluations. In this chapter, we report on a study comparing two playability heuristic sets in evaluating the playability of a video game. The results indicate that the heuristics can assist inspectors in evaluating both the user interface and the gameplay aspects of the game. However, playability heuristics need to be developed further before they can be utilized by the practitioners. Especially, the clarity and comprehensibility of the heuristics need to...