1.
The UX of Serious Games:
How to Impact a Wider Audience
Birdie Champ, B.S., M.Ed., Ed.S.
Thorne Palmer, B.A., M.Ed.

2.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
Flow
Effort-to-
Learn
Taxonomy
Effort-to-
Game
Taxonomy Test Design with
Experience
Framework
Test with
Personas
Brainstorm Design
Resources20%
Missed
3
Cognitive
Patterns

3.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
Challenge
Level
Skill Level
Apathy
Boredom
Relaxation
Worry Control
Arousal
Anxiety
Flow
High
High
Modified from Csíkszentmihályi, 1996

4.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
Effort to Learn
Use in a new situation
Recall, regurgitate facts
Show basic comprehension
Examine in detail, break down
Design, plan, build
Justify, defend, validate
Remember
Understand
Analyze
Create
Evaluate
Apply
Cognitive
Effort
Casual
Play
Mid
Core
Play
Hard
Core
Play
Secret of Monkey Island,
EverQuest
World of Warcraft
Candy Crush,
Pokemon Go
Effort to Game
Game Refinery, 2018, Bouncing Cultist Game Design, 2019Modified from Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy, Anderson, et al, 2001

5.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
Cognitive
Effort
Effort to Learn
Remember
Understand
Analyze
Create
Evaluate
Apply
Casual
Play
Mid
Core
Play
Hard
Core
Play
Effort to Game
Challenge
Level
Skill Level
Apathy
Boredom
Relaxation
Worry Control
Arousal
Anxiety Flow
High
High
Plus
SO WHAT?

6.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
Learning Challenges
We want drivers who attend our
driving school (15 to 24 y.o.)
to be able to:
1. List the steps of changing a
tire
2. Articulate the purpose of
each step
3. Describe the results of
completing the steps if done
out of order
…So that they and their support
systems fell less anxious about
driving.
Effort to Learn
Remember
Understand
Analyze
Create
Evaluate
Apply

7.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
Gaming Challenges
Scenario: Wooded dirt road, no cell
reception, on route to airport when tire
blows
Challenge: To win, users need to change
a tire. The reward is getting to airport in
time.
Game play: Users can click within the
environment and try different tools in
the trunk. With minimal instructions:
1. Identify problems as they arise
2. Through trial and error, determine
appropriate steps to change tire.Casual
Play
Mid
Core
Play
Hard
Core
Play
Effort to Game

8.
What is
the drive
to play?
Sit. Or
personal
interest?
Can they
understand
the
content?
Cognitive
load?
Is there
broccoli in the
spaghetti
sauce? Will it
break if they
fly too high?
Do they feel
competent?
Autonomy?
Social
acceptance?
Return seed?
Are they
learning what
you intended?
Gaming the
game? Leaving
with more?
Does the
game
function as
expected?
Is there
surprise?
Did they
learn the
value of
learning?
WIIFM?
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
User’s Journey
Outcome
Behavior
Access Trust Engage LearnExpect ValueDrive
Measure
for
success?
Where,
when,
what?
Did they
adopt the
learned
behavior
outside of
game? What
about
passion?
User Experiences
Experience Framework

9.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
Outcome
Behavior
Access Trust Engage LearnExpect ValueDrive
(Use-Case Scenario)
Josh
Josh is sixteen and doesn’t consider
himself a gamer. He plays sports in the
real world and prefers sports-related
video games when he has time to play.
He also enjoys trying new popular
titles with his friends soon after
they’re released..
Experience Framework
Gaming Challenges
Scenario: Wooded dirt road, no cell
reception, on route to airport when tire
blows
Challenge: To win, users need to change
a tire. The reward is getting to airport in
time.
Game play: Users can click within the
environment and try different tools in
the trunk. With minimal instructions:
1. Identify problems as they arise
2. Through trial and error, determine
appropriate steps to change tire.

10.
Social Justice
Issues
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONAS DESIGN
Cognitive, Social,
Emotional
Differences
GOOD BYEEFFORT DIFFERENCESS
Physical
Differences
Learning
Differences

11.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONAS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT DIFFERENCESS
ADHD
Anxiety
Autism
Typical
User
80%
20%
CDC, 2019
Cognitive,
Social,
Emotional
Differences
(Other)

12.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
Outcome
Behavior
Access Trust Engage LearnExpect ValueDrive
Beatrice
Beatrice loves Minecraft. She easily becomes immersed in it,
especially building, and prefers to play it alone. She sometimes has
trouble with games involving cooperation or social communication.
In game she prefers performing repetitive actions and may become
overly engaged and display problematic behaviors when asked to
stop playing. She’s been playing Minecraft since she was young and
there was little support or scaffolding for players. She never liked
playing with dolls or playing “make-believe.” Beatrice is seventeen
now but hasn’t left Minecraft for “more mature” games because of
a reluctance to try new things.
Experience Framework
User Experiences

13.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
Outcome
Behavior
Access Trust Engage LearnExpect ValueDrive
Samir
Samir is eighteen and likes mobile games. He shies
away from first person shooters and racing games.
He avoids games that are high stress and prefers
games that are relaxing. He played Guitar Hero once
but couldn’t play his very first song, and needed time
to calm down after saying repeatedly how badly he
“sucks.” He really enjoys mild puzzle games and
games where he can “explore” like Zelda.
Experience Framework

14.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
Outcome
Behavior
Access Trust Engage LearnExpect ValueDrive
Andrea
Andrea is seventeen and prefers games like Grand Theft Auto
and Call of Duty. In GTA she completed every mission even
though it was sometimes difficult for her to remember all the
instructions and she would sometimes become distracted in
mission. She especially likes that missions don’t take very long
to complete. Additionally, she spent hours and hours driving
aimlessly and killing NPCs. She often walks away from the
game and does something else before she can get back into
game play. She avoids games that are complicated or require a
lot of focus and/or mental effort.
Experience Framework

15.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
?

16.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
• Thorne@FutureCG.Com
• Birdie@UXDiversity.com
• UXDiversity.com
• W3.org
• LDAAmerica.org
Questions or
comments?

17.
HELLO JOURNEY PERSONASDIFFERENCESS DESIGN GOOD BYEEFFORT
Thank
you!
Thank
you!