Abstract
Serious games are an increasingly popular mechanism for encouraging human behaviour change. A difficult challenge is generating game design ideas for a given behaviour change brief. This paper describes a card design tool that supports ideas generation. Each card summarises a behaviour change technique (BCT), provides an application example prompt, and identifies possible game design elements. The research question is: does the card design tool have perceived value for designers for generating ideas for behaviour change games? To evaluate the tool, four recently graduated game design students were given a set of 34 cards, instructions on using the cards, a game brief and then asked to generate ideas. The instructions included sorting the cards into piles with different headings (BCT, application example prompt, game design element). Cards were drawn randomly one at a time from each pile iteratively until all piles were exhausted. Participants recorded ideas using techniques they felt comfortable with e.g. note-taking, mind maps. Qualitative data on the students’ perceived value of the design tool was collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. It showed that the cards had some value for ideas generation but often had too much information thereby stifling creativity. Some instructions were also confusing. The cards were modified: information made more succinct and a visual guide added to provide clearer instruction. The experiment was repeated with four serious games academics with more game design experience. Similar qualitative data was collected and analysed. This showed that the design tool provided a framework for designers to organise their initial ideas about how different elements of the game design brief might be tackled. It also helped to identify knowledge gaps and ideas that needed to be developed further. However, there remain some concerns about the tool’s complexity inhibiting aspects of creative flow.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | ECGBL 2021- Proceedings of the 15th European Conference on Game Based Learning |
| Editors | Panagiotis Fotaris |
| Publisher | Academic Conferences International |
| Pages | 872-879 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781914587139 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781914587122 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 23 Sept 2021 |
| Event | 15th European Conference on Game Based Learning - The University of Brighton, Brighton, United Kingdom Duration: 23 Sept 2021 → 24 Sept 2021 |
Publication series
| Name | |
|---|---|
| ISSN (Print) | 2049-0992 |
| ISSN (Electronic) | 2049-100X |
Conference
| Conference | 15th European Conference on Game Based Learning |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | ECGBL 2021 |
| Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
| City | Brighton |
| Period | 23/09/21 → 24/09/21 |
Keywords
- behaviour change game
- behaviour change game tool
- behaviour change techniques
- behavioural psychology
- serious game development tool
- serious games for health
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Software
- Artificial Intelligence
- Education
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Control and Systems Engineering
- Computer Networks and Communications
- Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
Documents and Links
- Author accepted manuscript
© 2021 Academic Conferences International. This is the accepted author manuscript of the paper: Shanks, K, Mannion, M, Thomson, K, Campbell, J & Farrell, D 2021, Improving a new design tool to inform serious game behaviour change interventions. in P Fotaris (ed.), ECGBL 2021- Proceedings of the 15th European Conference on Game Based Learning. Academic Conferences International, pp. 872-879, 15th European Conference on Game Based Learning, Brighton, United Kingdom, 23/09/21. https://doi.org/10.34190/GBL.21.021