What is it about?
When we think of games and interactive experiences, we often describe them by how they look and what story they tell. However, our research shows that if we dig deeper into how video games work, we can compare and understand them in a different light. For instance, flying, running, and driving are all types of movement that can be grouped together under the idea of “steering.” These simple actions are known as "core tasks," and they help us describe how people interact with games in a clearer way.
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Why is it important?
Games are powerful tools for motivating people, but they can be complex to design, study, and use effectively. To work with intricate interactive experiences, we need fresh concepts that help us break them down. Our approach is a conceptual microscope for analyzing interactions across different platforms, control methods, and visual designs, which is valuable for designers and data analysts alike.
Perspectives
What is the difference between 'aiming', 'pointing' or 'steering'? As researchers in games and interactive experiences, it’s important for us to clearly define the fundamental interactions within games and provide tools to deconstruct them. This will help us enhance our ability to effectively design and understand interactive experiences. We demonstrated this in our work, which won the best paper award at the CHI PLAY conference in 2024.
Bastian Ilsø Hougaard
Aalborg University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Aiming, Pointing, Steering: A Core Task Analysis Framework for Gameplay, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, October 2024, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3677057.
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