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Module 1 Assignment 1: Psychology of Play
Take the Brainhex survey Take the reported gamer type that you are and write up 1-2 page reflection of the player type discussed and how you agree or not with it, citing example games and parts of games that you enjoy playing. In your analysis reflect on the readings, in particular Flow, Personality and Playstyle, and PENS models.
What to submit:
The two pdfs = half the grade.
The other half you get depending on how well you make your argument to disagree or agree with the play style results, and how you used the readings in your analysis.
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.
Module 2 Assignment 2: Ethics
Read the IRB policy.
Take the Human Subject NIH training: http://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php
What to submit: Certificate you receive from Human Subject training [pdf]
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.
Module 3 Assignment 3: Quantitative Analysis of Game Data
You will be given game log data of a research game. We would like to run anaysis on log data to determine churn. We have,for each user, the times you log in and out and play activities as well as scoring information.
What to submit: Report showing results of the three questions [pdf]
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.
Module 4 Assignment 4: Qualtitative Analysis for Games
In this project you will conduct analysis of qualitative data. In this case, we will use game reviews from the metacritic cite: www.metacritic.com. Take the Metacritic reviews for Last of Us. You will need to transform this data into the qualitative analysis software. Your choice of what reviews to include is up to you, but include more than 30 reviews. For the purpose of analysis we will use Dedoose. You will take a grounded theory approach to coding and analysis; developing themes form the reviews without previous theoretical bias.
What to submit: Report showing results of the qualitative analysis. Make sure to include a discussion of what reviews you have selected and how you selected these reviews. [pdf]
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.
Module 5 Project 1: Game Usability Evaluation
We are going to do usability testing for a research game (see the materials page for more information on the game and how to install it). You are required to perform three usability tests on the interface and mechanics of the game with the following goal: You want to ensure that the game is usable and that participants understand what they need to do at any point in the game. You also want to make sure to gather all issues that arise within the interaction pertaining to understanding the mechanics or interface so you can report them to the designers.
You will develop a report outlining the results of all three tests. If the test, requires statistical analysis use SPSS and your report should clearly discuss the statistical tests and results as well as charts to show the results clearly. 20% of your grade will be on clarity and correctness of how you preformed the test and discuss the results.
The three tests are:
What to submit: Report showing results of the usability testing [pdf]
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.
Module 6 Project 2: Game Heuristics Evaluation
We are going to do heuristic evaluation for a research game (see the materials page for more information on the game and how to install it). You are required to perform heuristic evaluation using GAP and PLAY tests with the following goal: You want to ensure that the game is usable and that participants understand what they need to do at any point in the game. You also want to make sure to gather all issues that arise within the interaction pertaining to understanding the mechanics or interface so you can report them to the designers.
You will develop a report outlining the results of the heuristic test. In addition, designate part of your report to comparing the usability testing and heuristic evaluation results. Discuss Pros and Cons of the two approaches.
20% of your grade will be on clarity and correctness of how you preformed the test and discuss the results.
What to submit: Report showing results of the heuristics evaluation [pdf]
Iteration of submission This assignment will be submitted once for feedback and then resubmitted the following week for a grade.
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.
Module 7 Project 3: Playtesting
We are going to do playtesting for a research game (see the materials page for more information on the game and how to install it). You are required to perform a playtesting session with the following goal: You want to ensure that the game is satisfying and engaging.
1. Research Design, Goal formation, Research Plan and Protocol
2. Conducting the study, Recruitment and Data Collection
3. Data Analysis
4. Reporting and Recommendations
You will need to iterate on all these subgoals. You can choose to get feedback on all stages and adjust based on the feedback for each part, or you can choose to combine some and get feedback to iterate in bigger parts. However, you do need to get feedback during the process. Your grade will be based on the feedback and the iterations and not on the final report. No due dates are assigned for the subcomponents of the assignment, but a final report with all the components will not be accepted unless some parts of the assignment were submitted before the final version. See Rubric below.
Rubric The points are divided as follows:
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.
Take the Brainhex survey Take the reported gamer type that you are and write up 1-2 page reflection of the player type discussed and how you agree or not with it, citing example games and parts of games that you enjoy playing. In your analysis reflect on the readings, in particular Flow, Personality and Playstyle, and PENS models.
What to submit:
- the result of the Brainhex survey; your gamer type [pdf]
- the reflection piece on why you agree or disagree with it [pdf]
The two pdfs = half the grade.
The other half you get depending on how well you make your argument to disagree or agree with the play style results, and how you used the readings in your analysis.
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.
Module 2 Assignment 2: Ethics
Read the IRB policy.
Take the Human Subject NIH training: http://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php
What to submit: Certificate you receive from Human Subject training [pdf]
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.
Module 3 Assignment 3: Quantitative Analysis of Game Data
You will be given game log data of a research game. We would like to run anaysis on log data to determine churn. We have,for each user, the times you log in and out and play activities as well as scoring information.
What to submit: Report showing results of the three questions [pdf]
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.
Module 4 Assignment 4: Qualtitative Analysis for Games
In this project you will conduct analysis of qualitative data. In this case, we will use game reviews from the metacritic cite: www.metacritic.com. Take the Metacritic reviews for Last of Us. You will need to transform this data into the qualitative analysis software. Your choice of what reviews to include is up to you, but include more than 30 reviews. For the purpose of analysis we will use Dedoose. You will take a grounded theory approach to coding and analysis; developing themes form the reviews without previous theoretical bias.
What to submit: Report showing results of the qualitative analysis. Make sure to include a discussion of what reviews you have selected and how you selected these reviews. [pdf]
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.
Module 5 Project 1: Game Usability Evaluation
We are going to do usability testing for a research game (see the materials page for more information on the game and how to install it). You are required to perform three usability tests on the interface and mechanics of the game with the following goal: You want to ensure that the game is usable and that participants understand what they need to do at any point in the game. You also want to make sure to gather all issues that arise within the interaction pertaining to understanding the mechanics or interface so you can report them to the designers.
You will develop a report outlining the results of all three tests. If the test, requires statistical analysis use SPSS and your report should clearly discuss the statistical tests and results as well as charts to show the results clearly. 20% of your grade will be on clarity and correctness of how you preformed the test and discuss the results.
The three tests are:
- Performance Test.
- Think Aloud Protocol.
- Retrospective Testing.
- Participant recruitment: how did you recruit your participants, who are they, and how many did you recruit and why this particular number of participants.
- Research design: what are your goals, research questions, hypotheses, and why. Explain the protocol you asked participants to go through step by step. Discuss data collected and how you analyzed the results.
- Results: outline major results. These should be in the form that you can give back to designers. Be careful of generalizations or making conclusions you cannot make from the data you have. Your charts whenever you can.
What to submit: Report showing results of the usability testing [pdf]
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.
Module 6 Project 2: Game Heuristics Evaluation
We are going to do heuristic evaluation for a research game (see the materials page for more information on the game and how to install it). You are required to perform heuristic evaluation using GAP and PLAY tests with the following goal: You want to ensure that the game is usable and that participants understand what they need to do at any point in the game. You also want to make sure to gather all issues that arise within the interaction pertaining to understanding the mechanics or interface so you can report them to the designers.
You will develop a report outlining the results of the heuristic test. In addition, designate part of your report to comparing the usability testing and heuristic evaluation results. Discuss Pros and Cons of the two approaches.
20% of your grade will be on clarity and correctness of how you preformed the test and discuss the results.
What to submit: Report showing results of the heuristics evaluation [pdf]
Iteration of submission This assignment will be submitted once for feedback and then resubmitted the following week for a grade.
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.
Module 7 Project 3: Playtesting
We are going to do playtesting for a research game (see the materials page for more information on the game and how to install it). You are required to perform a playtesting session with the following goal: You want to ensure that the game is satisfying and engaging.
- You will need to operationalize the terms satisfying and engaging. Develop a set of measureable goals.
- Develop research instruments, using methods discussed in class, such as surveys, think aloud or retrospective measures, that can target the goals and questions you outlined in the previous step. You should use a mixture of methods or one method, but you need to discuss why you chose this method.
- Develop a protocol to collect data (quantitative or qualitative)
- Run analysis on the results
- Report the results and the study design and protocols you used.
1. Research Design, Goal formation, Research Plan and Protocol
2. Conducting the study, Recruitment and Data Collection
3. Data Analysis
4. Reporting and Recommendations
You will need to iterate on all these subgoals. You can choose to get feedback on all stages and adjust based on the feedback for each part, or you can choose to combine some and get feedback to iterate in bigger parts. However, you do need to get feedback during the process. Your grade will be based on the feedback and the iterations and not on the final report. No due dates are assigned for the subcomponents of the assignment, but a final report with all the components will not be accepted unless some parts of the assignment were submitted before the final version. See Rubric below.
Rubric The points are divided as follows:
- Submission of version 1 of part 1 (10%)
- Submission of version 1 of part 2 (10%)
- Submission of version 1 of part 3 (10%)
- Submission of version 1 of part 4 (10%)
- Feedback and iterations (40%), accounts for how you took the feedback and evolved initial version
- Final report (20%)
If you have any questions or comments, please first post your questions on piazza, if you do not have an answer in 24 hours email the instructor.