Design principles and modifications

Design Principles

1. Our game can be played in in singleplayer (with different difficulty levels) as well as in multiplayer.
2. Our game includes a highscore-board.
3. A single game is short, as the users are waiting for public transport and therefore have very short idle time.

Design Modifications

As a result of the interview process we have decided to implement the following changes:

• The application will be designed for one-handed use as opposed to the initial design in which the user could use both hands to interact with the game and the GUI elements.

• The user can no longer change the frame-rate and game-speed settings. The according interface elements will be removed.

• highscore-board will be implemented to give the users a stronger sense of competition. This will affect singleplayer only.

• The start-screen will now contain silhouettes to suggest interactivity to a potential user.

Additionally, arrows will indicate the important areas of interest.

Task done by: Benedikt

Interview findings

We interviewed a total number of 3 people who matched our target user group. To protect their privacy, they names have been changed.

• Hanna, is 27 years old, studies Economy
• Andrew is 23 years old, studies Computer Science
• Kevin is 25 years old, Salesman

These users all frequently use the public transport system (at least twice everyday). They spent an average of 1 hour waiting for their train, bus or tram to arrive each day. During this period they read books and listen to music.

All the users were familiar with motion interaction using the Kinect or EyeToy. They also expressed their interest in interacting with large public displays using these types of input devices. Most of the users preferred using only one hand for interaction due the possibility that they are holding something with the other hand.

The users all showed interest for playing Pong during their waiting time. They reasoned that since this game is playable by all ages, it is appropriate for a public display. A very interesting finding was that the users welcomed the multiplayer mode of the game more than the single player mode. They also insisted that in order for them to play the game often, the game should be challenging enough, so that the difficulty rises as the skills of the player increases, but at the same time the duration of a round of the game shouldn't take longer than 2-3 minutes. They also welcomed the idea of having a scoreboard so that the users could enter their names when they reached a high score. Also, the users didn't like the game to have a level-wise approach, i.e. only after completing one level, the user may advance to the next level.

However, one of user's said that he would feel ashamed of playing this game in public, if it requires doing wild moves. The users also stated that the location of the displays is very important for them. If interacting with the display causes them to accidently collide with other passengers, or if it hinders other passenger in anyway, they would rather not interact with the display at all.


Task done by: Leily, The Hieu

Persona: Belinda

Age: 28

Profession: Promoter

Belinda grew up in Argentina as an only child of a high school teacher and an accountant. After she graduated from college 2 years ago, Belinda moved to Berlin as she accepted a job offer from a local promotion agency.

Her job demands a high degree of mobility and due to the fact that Belinda does not have a driver's license, she depends solely on public transport.

Although she is participating in a language course since her arrival in Germany, she still struggles with the language and therefore mostly communicates in English.

Belinda only has very limited knowledge of computers and does not own one herself. However, she owns an IPad, which she uses to check on her e-mails and play casual games from time to time.

Task done by: Benedikt

Our scenarios!

Task done by: Benedikt

Interview Questions

As an assignment, we were to come up with interview questions and interview three people, so that with get an idea of what the users will think of our application (Pong).
Designing this question sheet and interviewing was done by: Leily & The Hieu
The Findings will be posted separately.


The interview agenda is the following:

Phase 1: General Questions

Introduction: Hello, we are a group involved in a university project that is aimed to entertain people waiting in Bus/Tram/Train stations using public interactive displays. In this regard, we would like to ask you some questions. These questions are really intuitive to answer because there is no right or wrong. They will be about your person and about your opinion to our project. We are collecting these data and will evaluate them for a better usage of our application. And of course, all your information and answers will be treated strictly confidential! So, let’s begin if you are ready.

• Personal questions: sex, age, education, languages , job, left/right handed
• Which public transport system do you generally use no matter to work or in free time?
• How often do you use it/them per day? Per week?
• How long do you wait for the public transport at the station in average?
• What are you doing while waiting at the station?
• Have you ever experienced motion interaction? e.g. EyeToy or Kinect?
• On a scale from 1 to 10, where 10 is the “Very Interested”, to what extend are you interested in interacting with public displays? Especially with display sizes of about 1.2m x 1,8m and in public! And why?
• If you are interacting with or using a public display by motion interaction, would you like to use both hands?
• How would you feel about interacting in public?
  

Phase 2: Questions regarding Pong

So, that was the first part. Now we are getting to the part with your opinion about our gaming application Pong which is designed for the users during their waiting time at a public subway, bus or train-station [We Explain Pong]. Now, I would like to ask you some general questions first. And just like before, your data will be treated strictly confidential.

• Would you be interested in a playing Pong in single player or multi player mode? And why?
• How much time would you spend in interacting with our application? Just until the next transportation comes or longer, if the application makes fun?
• Are you interested in a level-wise game design or an on-going game? Why?
• Does the concept of this game attract your attention for interacting with it? And why?
• How often would you use this application daily if you had the time?
• Do you have any concerns about privacy issues when other passengers you playing/interacting at the station?
• Are you interested in a scoring and system ranking in game? And what about the privacy issues there?
• Would you prefer using both hands or just one?
• a) Are there any objects or obstacles that would hinder you in interacting using both hands with the display? E.g. handbag or carrier-bag…
• b) Which hand do you prefer?
  

We are almost done with the interview.

• Do you have any further questions or remarks, ideas that can be integrated/replaced in our application and tell me why?
• Do you have another idea/location for the public-entertainment?
  

Thank you very much for your time!

Task done by: all