Player-centred game design

Abstract

Videogames are not your typical software application. They are often designed to elicit a negative emotional response, such as frustration or fear, the antithesis of usability. However, this is not to suggest that HCI has little to offer the game design community. Indeed, the exact opposite appears to be true. A number of usercentred design techniques have evolved which can support each stage of the game design process, from concept through to post-production. However, there is currently no archive of appropriate techniques showing how they might be applied to videogame design. Given the differences in goals from these products to traditional software, this is clearly necessary. The purpose of this workshop is to identify those techniques appropriate to game design, and elicit practitioners' experience when applying such methodologies. The intended result is a prescriptive process which demonstrates how user-centred methodologies can best be applied to game design.