Abstract
This research presents a think-aloud study examining issues of engagement and usability in relation to a serious game and a more traditional online program. Results from twenty concurrent think aloud sessions involving a serious game called Shadow and its more traditional counterpart called SHADE are reported. Both programs are designed to help counsel young adults with depression and alcohol or other drug issues. An analysis of the think aloud results reveal issues related to both usability and engagement with users’ concerns cycling between content and operation of the interface. The main themes emerging from the study provide an alternative lens designers.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Abt, C.C.: Serious Games. The Viking Press, New York (1970)
Annetta, L.A., Minogue, J., Holmes, S.Y., Cheng, M.T.: Investigating the impact of video games on high school students’ engagement and learning about genetics. Comput. Educ. 53(1), 74–85 (2009)
Boot, W.R., Kramer, A.F., Simons, D.J., Fabiani, M., Gratton, G.: The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control. Acta Psychol. 129, 387–398 (2008)
Kay-Lambkin, F.J., Baker, A.L., Kelly, B., Lewis, T.J.: Clinician-assisted computerised versus therapist-delivered treatment for depressive and addictive disorders: results of a randomised control trial. Med. J. Aust. 195(3), S44–S50 (2011)
Hookham, G., Deady, M., Kay-Lambkin, F., Nesbitt, K.: Training for life: designing a game to engage younger people in a psychological counselling program. Aust. J. Intell. Inf. Process. Syst. 13(3) (2012)
Hookham, G., Kay-Lambkin, F., Blackmore, K., Nesbitt, K.: Using startle probe to compare affect and engagement between a serious game and an online intervention program. In: Proceedings of the Australasian Computer Science Week Multiconference, p. 75. ACM (2016)
Hookham, G., Nesbitt, K., Kay-Lambkin, F.: Comparing usability and engagement between a serious game and a traditional online program. In: Proceedings of the Australasian Computer Science Week Multiconference, p. 54. ACM (2016)
Fredricks, J.A., Blumenfeld, P.C., Paris, A.H.: School engagement: potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Rev. Educ. Res. 74(1), 59–109 (2004)
Mills, C., D’Mello, S., Lehman, B., Bosch, N., Strain, A., Graesser, A.: What makes learning fun? exploring the influence of choice and difficulty on mind wandering and engagement during learning. In: Lane, H.C., Yacef, K., Mostow, J., Pavlik, P. (eds.) AIED 2013. LNCS, vol. 7926, pp. 71–80. Springer, Heidelberg (2013)
Brockmyer, J.H., Fox, C.M., Curtiss, K.A., McBroom, E., Burkhart, K.M., Pidruzny, J.N.: The development of the game engagement questionnaire: a measure of engagement in video game-playing. J. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 45, 11 (2009)
Douglas, J.Y., Hargadon, A.: The pleasures of immersion and engagement: schemas, scripts and the fifth business. Digital Creativity 12(3), 153–166 (2001)
Csikszentmihalyi, M.: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper & Row, New York (1990)
IJsselsteijn, W., de Kort, Y., Poels, K., Jurgelionis, A., Bellotti, F.: Characterising and measuring user experiences in digital games. Paper presented at the International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology (2007)
Sweetser, P., Wyeth, P.: GameFlow: a model for evaluating player enjoyment in games. Comput. Entertainment (CIE) 3(3), 3 (2005)
Blumenthal, T.D., Cuthbert, B.N., Filion, D.L., Hackley, S., Lipp, O.V., Boxtel, A.: Committee report: guidelines for human startle eyeblink electromyographic studies. Psychophysiology 42(1), 1–15 (2005)
Ericsson, K.A., Simon, H.A.: How to study thinking in everyday life: contrasting think-aloud protocols with descriptions and explanations of thinking. Mind Cult. Act. 5(3), 178–186 (1998)
Bangor, A., Kortum, P. T., Miller, J.T.: An Empirical Evaluation of the System Usability Scale (2008)
Brooke, J.: SUS-A quick and dirty usability scale. Usability Eval. Indus. 189(194), 4–7 (1996)
Davis, F.D.: Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Q., September 1989
Green, A.: Verbal protocol analysis. The Psychologist (1995)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Hookham, G., Bewick, B., Kay-Lambkin, F., Nesbitt, K. (2016). A Concurrent Think Aloud Study of Engagement and Usability in a Serious Game. In: Marsh, T., Ma, M., Oliveira, M., Baalsrud Hauge, J., Göbel, S. (eds) Serious Games. JCSG 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9894. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45841-0_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45841-0_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-45840-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-45841-0
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)