Interactive Experience Design Explorations in Optimal Experience Theories Rhythm Affinity and Synchrony and the Paradigm Shift of a Developing Medium Explorations in Optimal Experience Theories Rhythm Affinity and Synchrony and the Paradigm Shift of a Developing Medium

Why Study Games? “We play and we know that we play, so we must be more than rational beings, for play is irrational” -Johan Huizinga Homo Ludens “We play and we know that we play, so we must be more than rational beings, for play is irrational” -Johan Huizinga Homo Ludens

Why Study Games?

Personal Thought Shift I am designing games objectives, obstacles, enemies, collectibles I am designing interactive media reactions, interactions, patterns, purpose I am designing evocative interactive multimedia emotions, thoughts, feelings, messages, experiences I am designing interactive experiences player agency, collaboration, systems of interaction, emotions, ambiguity

Investigating Optimal Experiences Flow  Mechanics  Immediacy  Short-Term  Challenge/Skill  Adaptive Difficulty psychology Mihayl Czikszentmihayli Enchantment  Aesthetics  Immersion  Long-Term  Novelty/Ambiguity  Transformation hci McCarthy et al

Flow 1. Clear goals at every step 2. Immediate feedback to actions 3. Balance between challenge and skill 4. Action and awareness are merged 5. Dimensions are excluded from consciousness 6. There is no worry of failure 7. Self-consciousness disappears 8. Sense of time is distorted 9. The activity becomes autotelic

Enchantment 1. The specific sensuousness of each thing 2. The whole person with desires, feelings, and anxieties 3. A sense of being in play 4. Paradox, openness, and ambiguity 5. The transformational character of experience

Applications Example Flow : Clear and Concise Goals supported by design heuristics, efficiency/production models Enchantment : Ambiguity as a Design Resource supported by studies on minimalism, classic arts Ambiguity

Minimalism & Ambiguity Classic Arts minimalism creates space into which the user can place themselves ambiguity encourages the user to engage with the medium & establish empathy Social Communication facebook pokes, 140 letter tweets, Kaye’s “I just clicked to say I love you” minimalism broadens interpretation and evaluation space Meaning & Mechanics “less is more” focuses user on context, nuance, and detail

Minimalism & Ambiguity Minimal control mechanics increase context awareness, usability, and skill adaptability Minimal narrative elements as with books, encourage empathy, user engagement and interpretation Minimal communication outlets help reduce grieving, create more stimulating AI, hone focus

Rhythm Affinity and Synchrony An experiment to study the interrelatedness of ideas Flow Rhythm Synchrony Emotion Tempo Music

Synchros Group 1 Silent Random Stimuli Group 2 Silent Rhythmic Stimuli Group 3 Asynchronous Sound Rhythmic Stimuli Group 4 Synchronous Sound Rhythmic Stimuli Silent vs Auditory Asynchronous vs Synchronous

Results: Unexpected Still processing full results, but… Properties of Flow are NOT transitive People with rhythmic stimuli and higher scores reported more accurate times, inverting the hypothesis Rhythm and emotion are linked, but NOT always positively correlated More correlations to emotional responses in rhythmic tests, but sometimes it was a lack, not presence Auditory stimulus does NOT improve score Hypothesis that more synchronized stimuli would improve performance was overturned

Future Studies Proved the power of phenomenology studies We need to understand what aspects of games create what effects Many assumptions were overturned Looking beyond stereotypical audiences Tested age range; lack of familiarity with interface had too great an impact on performance to test older users Ability to influence emotions through rhythm Users with sound that fell in and out of synch reported more enthusiasm towards the experience, possibly due to meta-level challenge.

Portfolio Example TIPOL 5 people, 48 hours, 1 game Strict exercise in minimal design - narrative and controls Mechanics take under 10 seconds to learn 1 rule

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Full Circle The New Games Movement

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