Abstract
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. 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 usability of usability heuristics in game development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Adams, E.: Fundamentals of Game Design, 2nd edn. New Riders, Berkeley (2010)
Bates, B.: Game Design, 2nd edn. Course Technology, Boston (2004)
Bernhaupt, R.: Game User Experience Evaluation, pp. 4–5. Springer, Cham (2015)
Bevan, N.: Cost Benefit Analysis version 1.1. Trial Usability Maturity. Serco (2000)
Blow, J.: Game development: harder than you think. Queue 1(10), 28–37 (2004)
Brown, M.: Evaluating computer game usability: developing heuristics based on user experience. In: The 2nd Annual Human Computer Interaction Conference (2008)
Callois, R.: Les jeux et les homes. Gallimard, Paris (1957)
Chandler, H.: The Game Production Handbook, 2nd edn. J. & Bartlett, Burlington (2008)
Charles, D., McNeill, M., McAlister, M., Black, M., Moore, A., Stringer, K., Kücklich, J., Kerr, A.: Changing views - worlds in play. In: Proceedings of the DiGRA (2005)
Costikyan, G.: I have no words & I must design: toward a critical vocabulary for games. In: Proceedings of Computer Games and Digital Cultures Conference, Tampere, Finland (2002)
Cooper, A., Reimann, R.: About Face 2.0: The Essentials of Interaction Design. Wiley, Indianapolis (2003)
Crawford, C.: Chris Crawford on Game Design. New Riders, Berkeley (2003)
Desurvire, H., Wiberg, C.: Game usability heuristics (PLAY) for evaluating and designing better games: the next iteration. In: Ozok, A.A., Zaphiris, P. (eds.) Online Communities and Social Computing. Springer, Heidelberg (2009)
Ehrlich, K., Rohn, J.: Cost justification of usability engineering. In: Bias, R., Mayhew, D. (eds.) Cost- Justifying Usability, pp. 73–110. Academic Press, Cambridge (1994)
El-Nasr, M.S, Desurvire, H., Nacke, L., Drachen, A., Calvi, L., Isbister, K., Bernhaupt, R.: Game user research. In: Proceedings of CHI EA, NY, pp. 2679–2682 (2012)
El-Nasr, M.S., Drachen, A., Canossa, A.: Game Analytics. Maximizing the Value of Player Data. Springer-Verlag, London (2013)
Eriksson, E., Cajander, Å., Gulliksen, J.: Hello World! - experiencing usability methods without usability expertise. In: INTERACT 2009, pp. 550–565 (2009)
Federoff, M.: Heuristics and usability guidelines for the creation and evaluation of fun in video games. Thesis, University of Indiana (2002)
Fernandez, A., Insfran, E., Abrahão, S., Carsí, J.Á., Montero, E.: Integrating usability evaluation into model-driven video game development. In: Winckler, M., Forbrig, P., Bernhaupt, R. (eds.) Human-Centered Software Engineering, pp. 307–314. Springer, Heidelberg (2012)
Global Game Jam (2019). http://globalgamejam.org/history. Accessed 27 June 2019
Grudin, J.: Interactive systems: bridging the gaps between developers and users. Computer 24(4), 59–69 (1991)
Hearst, M.A., Laskowski, P., Silva, L.: Evaluating information visualization via the interplay of heuristic evaluation and question-based scoring. In: Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference, pp. 5028–5033 (2016)
Hertzum, M., Jacobsen, N.E.: The evaluator effect: a chilling fact about usability evaluation methods. Int. J. HCI 13(4), 421–443 (2001)
Hevner, A.R., March, S.T., Park, J.: Design research in information systems research. MIS Q. 28(1), 75–105 (2004)
Hiltunen, K., Latva, S., Kaleva, J.-P.: Peliteollisuus – kehityspolku. Tekes (2013)
Hiltunen, K., Latva, S., Kaleva, J.-P.: Finnish Game Industry Report. Neogames (2017)
Hodent, C.: The Gamer’s Brain: How Neuroscience and UX Can Impact Video Game Design. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2018)
Holzinger, A.: Usability engineering methods for software developers. Commun. ACM 48(1), 71–74 (2005)
Inostroza, R., Rusu, C., Roncagliolo, S., Jimenez, C., Rusu, V.: Usability heuristics for touchscreen-based mobile devices. In: Proceedings of ITNG 2012, pp. 662–667 (2012)
Irwin, M.J.: Cooking Up a Blockbuster Game. Forbes (2008)
Isbister, K., Schaffer, N.: Game Usability: Advice from the Experts for Advancing the Player Experience. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2008)
ISO 9126: International standard (2001)
ISO 9241-11: International standard (1998)
Jørgensen, A.H.: Marrying HCI/usability and computer games: a preliminary look. In: Proceedings of the Third Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, pp. 393–396. ACM, New York (2004)
Karat, C.-M.: A business case approach to usability cost justification. In: Bias, R., Mayhew, D. (eds.) Cost-Justifying Usability, pp. 45–70. Academic Press, Cambridge (1994)
Korhonen, H., Koivisto, E.M.I.: Playability heuristics for mobile multi-player games. In: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Digital Interactive Media in Entertainment and Arts, pp. 28–35. ACM (2007)
Levi, M.D., Conrad, F.G.: A heuristic evaluation of a World Wide Web prototype. Interactions 3(4), 50–61 (1996)
Mack, R., Nielsen, J.: Executive summary. In: Nielsen, J., Mack, R. (eds.) Usability Inspection Methods, pp. 1–23. Wiley, Hoboken (1994)
Malone, T.W.: What makes things fun to learn? Heuristics for designing instructional computer games. In: SIGSMALL 1980 Proceedings of the 3rd ACM SIGSMALL Symposium and the First SIGPC Symposium on Small Systems, pp. 162–169. ACM, New York (1980)
Manninen, T.: Pelisuunnittelijan käsikirja - Ideasta eteenpäin. Rajalla, Oulu (2007)
March, S.T., Smith, G.F.: Design and natural science research on information technology. Decis. Support Syst. 15(4), 251–266 (1995)
Mayhew, D.: Strategic development of usability engineering function. Interactions 6(5), 27–34 (1999)
Mayhew, D.: The Usability Engineering Lifecycle: A Practitioner’s Handbook for User Interface Design. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, San Francisco (1999)
Mayhew, D., Mantei, M.: A basic framework for cost- justifying usability engineering. In: Bias, R., Mayhew, D. (eds.) Cost-Justifying Usability, pp. 9–43. Academic Press, Cambridge (1994)
Medlock, M.C., Wixon, D., Terrano, M., Romero, R., Fulton, B.: Using the RITE method to improve products: a definition and a case study. Usability Prof. Assoc. 51, 1–7 (2002)
Morton, P.: Learning from Fable III’s UX Mistakes, UX booth (2011). http://www.uxbooth.com/articles/learning-from-fable-iiis-ux-mistakes/
Mylly, S.: Genre-Based Modular Heuristic Models for Improving Usability During Game Development. Oulun yliopisto, Oulu (2011)
Nacke, L.: From playability to a hierarchical game usability model. In: Proceedings of Future Play 2009, pp. 11–12. ACM, New York (2009)
Newzoo: Global Games Market Report. Q2 2016 Update (2016)
Nielsen, J.: Usability Engineering. Academic Press, Boston (1993)
Novak, J.: Game Development Essentials: An Introduction. Delmar, Boston (2012)
Paavilainen, J.: Critical review on video game evaluation heuristics: social games perspective. In: Proceedings of the International Academic Conference on the Future of Game Design and Technology, pp. 56–65 (2010)
Paavilainen, J., Korhonen, H., Koskinen, E., Alha, K.: Heuristic evaluation of playability: examples from social games research and free-to-play heuristics. In: Drachen, A., Mirza-Babaei, P., Nacke, L. (eds.) Games User Research, pp. 257–280. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2018)
Pagulayan, R., Steury, K.: Beyond usability in games. Interactions 11(5), 70–71 (2004)
Phan, M.H., Keebler, J.R., Chaparro, B.S.: The development and validation of the game user experience satisfaction scale (GUESS). Hum. Factors 58(8), 1217–1247 (2016)
Pinelle, D., Wong, N., Stach, T.: Heuristic evaluation for games: usability principles for video game design. In: Proceedings of CHI 2008, New York, pp. 1453–1462 (2008)
Rabin, S.: Introduction to Game Development, 2nd edn. Course Technology, Boston (2010)
Rajanen, M., Marghescu, D.: The impact of game usability to player attitude. In: Proceedings of 29th Information Systems Research Seminar in Scandinavia, pp. 1–17 (2006)
Rajanen, M., Rajanen, D.: Usability benefits in gamification. In: Proceedings of the 1st GamiFin Conference, Pori, Finland, pp. 87–95 (2017)
Rajanen M., Rajanen, D.: Heuristic evaluation in game and gamification development. In: Proceedings of the 2nd GamiFin Conference, Pori, Finland (2018)
Rajanen, M., Tapani, J.: A survey of game usability practices in North American game companies. In: Proceedings ISD 2018, Lund, Sweden (2018)
Rosenbaum, S., Rohn, J., Humburg, J.: A toolkit for strategic usability: results from workshops, panels, and surveys. In: Proceedings CHI, NY, pp. 337–344 (2000)
Rosson, M., Carroll, J.: Usability Engineering: Scenario-Based Development of Human-Computer Interaction. Morgan-Kaufman, San Francisco (2002)
Sánchez, J.L., Zea, N.P., Gutiérrez, F.L.: From usability to playability: introduction to player-centered video game development process. In: Human Centered Design, HCII 2009, pp. 65–74 (2009)
Schaffer, E.: Institutionalization of Usability: A Step-by-Step Guide. Addison-Wesley Professional, Boston (2004)
Seffah, A., Metzker, E.: The obstacles and myths of usability and software engineering. Commun. ACM 47(12), 71–76 (2004)
Smed, J., Hakonen, H.: Towards a definition of a computer game. Technical report 553, Turku Centre for Computer Science (2003)
Suits, B.: The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia. Broadview Press, Peterborough (2005). with a new introduction by Thomas Hurka
Sykes, J., Federoff, M.: Player-centered game design. In: Proceeding CHI 2006 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1731–1734 (2006)
Vuorela, V.: Pelintekijän käsikirja. BTJ Finland Oy, Helsinki (2007)
Øvad, T., Larsen, L.B.: How to reduce the UX bottleneck–train your software developers. Behav. Inf. Technol. 35(12), 1080–1090 (2016)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Mylly, S., Rajanen, M., Iivari, N. (2020). The Quest for Usable Usability Heuristics for Game Developers. In: Siarheyeva, A., Barry, C., Lang, M., Linger, H., Schneider, C. (eds) Advances in Information Systems Development. ISD 2019. Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, vol 39. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49644-9_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49644-9_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-49643-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-49644-9
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)