How Studying Video Games Helped One Team Design A Stronger Product

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1 How Studying Video Games Helped One Team Design A Stronger Product IEEE STC 2014 Brian Scott Walker User Experience Designer Chris Heckler User Experience Designer

3 Introduction I am a User Centered Designer for Northrop Grumman I play video games at work Here s what to tell your boss so you can too! 3

4 User Experience needs Commercial Research Includes Academic, User, and Commercial Research. This talk is about Commercial Research Commercial Research can help influence design by providing insights to various ideas, knowledge and methods from other disciplines and design practices Explore already documented solutions to similar design problems Gain familiarity with the user s mental model Guidance for best practices to design approaches 4 Research can help shape your initial design efforts

ideas, knowledge and methods from other disciplines and design practices Explore already documented solutions to similar

5 Why Research Video Games? Military domain users have played video games Games have complex tasks with lots of variables Games have to convey situational awareness while reducing cognitive friction Less time struggling with controls and figuring out what s happening More time making decisions and actually playing Visual design must strive for simplicity and elegance For commercial success, games have to be fun and easy to understand Some games have relevant workflows and design patterns Game design focuses on reducing obstacles to understanding 5

while reducing cognitive friction Less time struggling with controls and figuring out what s happening More time making decisions and

6 Problems of This Commercial Research You look really strange carrying a Playstation 3 into your office about sounds of alien battle cries from conference room 6 Get your boss s permission in writing

office Email about sounds of alien battle cries

7 How We Conduct Commercial Research Establish objectives for research Find relevant commercial software Find relevant workflows What kinds of information needs to be conveyed What kinds of design elements will you use Display for a group setting Generate research artifacts Take notes Screenshots with callouts and explanations Documentation of impact on design 7

What kinds of design elements will you use Display for a group setting Generate research

8 The Scenario Generator Missile Defense Protect a series of prioritized assets from incoming missiles Maintain a network of sensors, launchers, other units Legacy System Legacy system was green dots on black monitor with tubes Trainers must create simulations for new warfighters, and for embedded warfighters Trainers were used to hand typing threats coordinates and way points in individually 8

green dots on black monitor with tubes Trainers must create simulations for new warfighters, and

9 Our Initial Findings Army training domain Training must be as realistic as possible The working environment must resemble the real world Training should be more difficult than the actual fight Established and Improvised scenarios Performance must be evaluated and graded Our initial findings were gathered by interviewing a group of Subject Matter Experts (SMES) 9

the actual fight Established and Improvised scenarios Performance must be evaluated and

10 Our Research Identify commercial software with these activities I pick a location for my trainees to defend I pick the enemies I pick and configure the friendly defenses I add any necessary complications to the scenario Real Time Strategy Tower Defense esports for reviewing performance 10

configure the friendly defenses I add any necessary complications to the

11 Strategy Games Workflow Strategy Games I pick a map I pick which army I want to play as (Human / Alien / Orc) I determine which army I fight against Start the game Build a base to provide troops with different types and capabilities Send troops to attack enemy player s base Military Scenario Generator I pick a map I choose the enemies I establish enemy positions I decide what defenses trainees will be able to access I start the simulation My threats will attack the trainee s defenses 11 Games about armies can resemble real army workflows

base Military Scenario Generator I pick a map I choose the enemies I establish enemy positions I decide what defenses trainees will be

12 Starcraft 2 Game Lobby 12 A = Affordance, W = Workflow

13 Starcraft 2 Structures on Valid Terrain 13 A = Affordance, F = Feedback

14 Starcraft 2 Range Rings and Score Card 14 A = Affordance, E = Expectation, F = Feedback

15 Tower Defense Tower Defense Game Pick a level or map Level comes with a set of enemies who come in waves Pick which Defenses you want to use Allocate Defenses around the map accordingly Enemies start their approach Enemies rush your Defenses Military Scenario Generator I pick a map I choose the enemies I establish enemy positions I decide what defenses trainees will be able to access I start the simulation My enemy threats will attack the trainee s defenses 15 Games about armies can resemble real army workflows

Scenario Generator I pick a map I choose the enemies I establish enemy positions I decide what defenses trainees will be able to

16 Orcs Must Die! 16 A = Affordance, E = Expectations, F = Feedback

17 Orcs Must Die! 17 A = Affordance, E = Expectations, F = Feedback

18 Grading and Evaluation Dungeons and Dragons A Tabletop game players use pen, paper, and dice Build characters who explore a world, fight monsters Game is run by a Dungeon Master Creates the world and sets obstacles in the player s journey Has to be a way for players to win, and to lose Improvises scenarios Maintain the challenge to meet the player s needs Conclusion - Modifications on the fly Easy to spawn new threats Modify existing threat attributes Generate faults in friendly units 18

to be a way for players to win, and to lose Improvises scenarios Maintain the challenge to meet the player s needs

19 Controls just for the Trainer esports watching video games as if they were pro sports Videos of tournament play Display performance metrics Actions Per Minute What resources are consumed or wasted Conclusion Timeline of what s coming up in the simulation Can annotate, create bookmarks as the simulation proceeds Record important attributes and metrics of performance to aid in review 19

wasted Conclusion Timeline of what s coming up in the simulation Can annotate, create bookmarks

20 Impact on Our Designs Benefits of research in earliest designs Designs showed best practices from successful commercial software SME feedback supports our findings Early prototype verified by actual users Designs inspired by video games are being implemented into the final product. 20

supports our findings Early prototype verified by actual users Designs

21 21 Our Designs with Game Elements

22 Results of this Success Our team continues to conduct Commercial Gaming Research Capturing video, not just screenshots Annotating findings with more documentation Customers requesting our research artifacts Building a library of research artifacts and findings to share with team members who don t come to research days or don t play games 22

23 New Research Artifacts 23 Callouts can provide context and detail

24 Acknowledgements NG UX Team Stacy Spencer Ron Davenport Andrew England Chris Heckler Neta Ezer Peter Shimpeno Rick Segrest Matt Hales Joan Dodson NG UX Team Tom Jensen Richard Perigo Dave Stone Mark Weir Drew Schott Mike Askew 24

26 Abstract MOTIVATION A scenario generator requires a complicated work flow to simulate a battle as realistically as possible. Complicating the work flow to build a scenario leads to an ineffective training program, which makes warfighter training less productive and more time consuming. SOLUTION To design an intuitive approach to a complex task model we studied relevant design patterns from video games METHOD- We identified game genres and elements of game play that would be relevant to the problems we were trying to solve with our designs, and found games in the strategy and tower defense genres to inform our product. We took notes, documented the relevant design patterns, recorded our findings, and showed our findings to SMEs to confirm their validity before building a prototype. RESULTS- When we presented a prototype of our designs to actual warfighters at a usability study, they responded positively to the designs. We had anticipated their needs, and built a design around how they do their job while addressing their major points of concern. IMPLICATIONS- The positive impact of conducting this research suggests other projects would benefit from similar research. 26

27 Author Bio Brian Scott Walker Member of the NG User Experience team for three years Graduate of the University of Alabama at Huntsville Bachelor s Degree in Graphic Design with a Minor in Human Computer Interaction Plays a lot of video games. Sometimes at work. 27

28 Acronyms NG = Northrop Grumman SME = Subject Matter Expert UX = User Experience 28

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