Grassioulet
University of Geneva, TECFA
Switzerland
grassio4@yahoo.com
A COGNITIVE ERGONOMICS APPROACH TO THE PROCESS OF GAME DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
In the last decade, academic studies on games were mainly focusing on gamers, usually from sociological, educational and/or psychological perspectives. Here, in this qualitative study, the main features for a foundational framework of game design and development process will be described, using cognitive ergonomics methods such as semi-structured interviews, critical incidents gathering, and free mind mapping. Two European-leading games development studios were asked to be involved in this exploratory study. One lead game designer, one writer, two tech leads, one external lead artist, and one CEO/internal producer were interviewed about their work, during a 2-hours session. Analysis of these qualitative data helped us better understand how practices and representations can lead to a new vision of video games' creation, while integrating user-centered design. In brief, results show that the iterative process of game design and development can be formalized from a cognitive ergonomics point of view. Besides, "real" organizational, management, design, and technical incidents are found during creation process. Ultimately, it could help both the product to be improved in quality, as well as the game design and development process to be more considered from a user/player interface design perspective.
abstract
The video game industry is one of the leading entertainment businesses of all time. In fact, it recently competed with the gigantic movie industry, winning the contest with the art of persuasion. It reveals at the same time that more people are eager to play games, from early childhood to adult life. However, and due to its relative youth, the video game industry still needs to integrate new methodologies and tools for improving both the quality of their products, as well as the comprehensiveness of their own creation process.
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