I was intending to call this part ‘Digital Umami’ to convey the concept of something which is imperceptibly delicious. However, after much more reading over the years I decided on ‘Engaging’ in part from Fogg’s – elaboration on Reeves and Nass – Social Dynamics. The topics we will be looking at here focus on fun, enjoyment, cooperation, collaborative activities, and what has come to be known as ‘gamification’. ‘Engaging Use’ – adding this dynamism has become of great interest to the emotional design of the user experience practitioner. Even though it is still, somewhat, in its infancy. We will be looking at playfulness, funology, and what has come to be known as ‘Gamification’. We will then continue with a look at the wider design of ‘things’ as our interfaces and computational interactions move from the desktop to the embedded and imbedded environment.

1. Engaging Experience
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#comp33512
Week 06 – Lectures 11/12
Simon Harper
University of Manchester
Semester 2 – 2013/14
last update: March 4, 2014
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Discussion Topics Coursework # 2
‘Designing the Star User Interface’ (10 Marks) – the Star
interface is really where all GUI interfaces began. It takes the user
as a first and primary priority in the design and it is inconceivable
that you do not have an awareness of these classic design
principles as perspective computer science graduates.
D. C. Smith, C. Irby, R. Kimball, B. Verplank, and E. Harslem., Designing the star user interface., BYTE, 7(4):
242–282, 1982., URL http://www.guidebookgallery.org/articles/designingthestaruserinterface.
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Xerox Star Desktop Coursework # 2
‘Familiar Concepts’ – Star equates familiar conceptual models
specifically with the idea of the desktop
and the items that you might find on it;
‘Universal Commands’ – Star also proposes the idea of universal
commands;
‘Consistency’ – Consistency, or pragmatic consistency
as the Star Team suggest is best, is
another important principle for usability;
‘Simplicity’ – Simplicity is incredibly important, but
it’s not a clear-cut principle; and
‘User Tailor-ability’ – Usability is all about customisation,
personalisation, and system adaptation.
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UX Pop Quiz
1. What is the significance of the Xerox Star interface?
2. What are the five main principles proposed by the Xerox Star
team?
3. What does GOMS stand for and what does it involve?
4. What are the ten main principles of efficient design?
5. How do these principles differ from Shneiderman’s rules?
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Engaging Experience
engage – verb
“occupy, attract, or involve (someone’s interest or attention) /
(engage someone in) cause someone to become involved in (a
conversation or discussion)”
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Engaging Experience
engage – verb
“occupy, attract, or involve (someone’s interest or attention) /
(engage someone in) cause someone to become involved in (a
conversation or discussion)”
Digital Umami? Imperceptibly Delicious!
A category of taste in food (besides sweet, sour, salt, and bitter),
corresponding to the flavour of glutamate, especially
mono-sodium glutamate. ORIGIN Japanese, literally
‘deliciousness.’
UMAMI as FUNOLOGY, SOCIAL DYNAMICS, &
GAMIFICATION.
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Pro-Gamification
“As the critics point out, some gamified products are just poorly
executed. Just because you saw something in a game once
doesn’t mean it’ll be fun in your product. But I think that most of
the critics of gamification fail to take into account the wide range
of execution that’s possible. Gamification can be applied as a
superficial afterthought, or as a useful or even fundamental
integration.”
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Con-Gamification
“More specifically, gamification is... invented by consultants as a
means to capture the wild, coveted beast that is videogames and
to domesticate it for use in the grey, hopeless wasteland of big
business... Gamification is reassuring. It gives Vice Presidents and
Brand Managers comfort: they’re doing everything right.”
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Social Dynamics #1
Social interaction with other users, or via a more humanistic
/ naturalistic / conversational interface;
Energy that is often found in human interactions;
Propel us into having better user experiences because they
are closer to our expectations of person-to-person
interactions; therefore,
We feel more secure and more likely to perform better within
groups; and,
Take advantage of expectations of conformance to social and
cultural norms.
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Social Dynamics #2
Figure: ‘Microsoft Tablet’
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Social Dynamics #2
Figure: ‘Fun ATM’
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Funology #1
Personalisation: ‘relevance’; ‘surpass expectations’;
‘decision-making authority of the user’;
‘appropriateness’; ‘the users needs’; ‘don’t think
labels, think expressiveness and identity’; and
‘users interests’.
Intangible: ‘triviality’, ‘enjoyment of the experience’; ‘users
desires’; ‘sensory richness’; ‘don’t think products,
think experiences’; ‘don’t think ease of use, I
think enjoyment of the experience’.
Tangible: ’goal and action mode’; ‘don’t hide, don’t
represent, show’; ‘hit me, touch me, and I know
how you feel’; ‘don’t think of thinking, just do
doing’.
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Funology #1
Narrative: ‘possibilities to create one’s own story or ritual’;
‘connection’; ‘interpretation’; ‘reflection’; ‘recounting’;
‘repetition and progression’; ‘anticipation’; and
‘compositional thread’.
Metaphor: ‘metaphor does not sucks’; ‘instead of representing
complexity, trigger it in the mind of the user’.
Communal: ‘social opportunities’ in terms of ‘connectivity’ and
‘social cohesion’; ‘variation’; ‘multiple opportunities’;
and ‘co-activity’.
Learning: ‘repetition and progression’; ‘develop skills’; ‘user
control on participation’, with ‘appropriate challenges’.
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Funology #2
Figure: ‘Dropbox’
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Funology #2
Figure: ‘Handbrake’
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Funology #2
Figure: ‘ATM’
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Gamification #1
Elementary: Visual elements, badges, and cute phraseology – in
some cases you could think of these elemental
gamification points as more funology than
gamification;
Bolt-On: A set of game elements which are more deeply
related to games and gameplay, but are easy to add
to a pre-existing development and which imply
progress and reward, such as leader-boards, stages
and levels, percentage complete; and
Ground-up: Game elements where planned from the start and are
indivisible from the main development, or an existing
development has evolved from the use of the game
elements at the heart of its interaction scenarios.
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Gamification #2
Figure: ‘ThinkGeek’
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Gamification #2
Figure: ‘ThinkGeek’
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Gamification #2
Figure: ‘Boeing’
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Gamification Viewpoints
Your Views
What do you think?
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Let’s Have a Break!
Back in 10 Minutes!
Come see me now if you have
Questions Regarding this Lecture!
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Gamification Viewpoints
Your Views
What do you think?
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Gamification Viewpoints
The Penny Arcade
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/gamification
Thanks to Safder Iqbal
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Gamification Viewpoints
Should I
Gamify your Coursework results - to encourage competition?
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Collated Concepts of Engagement
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Collated Concepts of Engagement
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Collated Concepts of Engagement
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Potted Principles of Dynamic User Experience
‘Social’ Include aspects of social collaboration and
co-activity/pair-activity;
‘Progression’ Include components which facilitate movement
towards a goal; and
‘Play’ Add aspects of fun, play, and enjoyment.
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Facilitate Social Dynamics
Questions to think about as you design your prototype:
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Facilitate Social Dynamics
Questions to think about as you design your prototype:
Do you include suitable functionality to facilitate
collaboration?
Are aspects such as social communication accounted for?
Do you link the real and virtual to facilitate better user
engagement?
Can team / group members interact and support each other?
Have you used language and terminology which users may
find playful?
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Facilitate Progression
Questions to think about as you design your prototype:
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Facilitate Progression
Questions to think about as you design your prototype:
Have you thought about attainment and goals, via stages
and levels?
Do you facilitate motivation and reward?
Have you included a narrative flow through each interaction?
Are there opportunities for friendly competition?
Is progress also social?
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Facilitate Play
Questions to think about as you design your prototype:
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Facilitate Play
Questions to think about as you design your prototype:
Is the look and feel playful and game like?
Have you included playful, and game like social elements?
Will users leave with a feeling of fun and enjoyment?
Are there playful games included, or game elements which
make the interaction seem like a game, and not... work?
Do the elements of play, included, really enhance the user
experience?
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Remember
Dynamics, funology, or gamification may just not be the
right thing to do for your development;
Mix‘n’match fashion – may be appropriate;
Pay specific attention to the target reactions of the users;
and
Remember ‘good’ is not defined as more, but as the dead
centre of the ‘Hebbian version’ of the ‘Yerkes Dodson Curve.
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Remember
Figure: ‘Yerkes Dodson’
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Pop Quiz for next week...
1. What are the pros and cons of gamification?
2. How could you include social / group dynamics into your
system?
3. How can you enhance the users perception of fun?
4. What is the ‘skeptic’ view of Gamification?
5. List a principle and describe it.
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To Do for next week...
1. Pop Quiz. Discuss Next Week; and
2. Read next weeks notes)
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Any Questions?
Simon Harper 2.44 Kilburn Building
0161 275 0599 (OR x50599)
simon.harper@manchester.ac.uk
Office Hours: Friday 14:00–18:00
Figure: ‘Bored of this Bloke
Now!’
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