Topic: Games and Gaming
Good user interface design reflects the realities of human psychology, which has evolved over eons. Jeff Johnson studies the relationship between technology and human perception. In our daily use of computers we form goals, make plans to achieve them, and evaluate our progress, all in a fraction of a second. We consciously experience very little of this of decision-making. Jeff uses vivid examples to explain the perceptual constraints that good designers must keep in mind.
Opposite Google, Facebook and Twitter, there is Gowalla--a location-based service that sits on top of its bigger, more established internet cousins. Gowalla's proposition, using collectible virtual goods and digital souvenirs, helps the relatively young location-based social networking service carve a unique name. In this Where 2.0 episode, CEO and co-founder Josh Williams talks about the beginnings of his company. Gowalla encourages its users to travel and explore the world...outside of cyberspace that is.
As we use social tools on the web, design patterns are emerging. Social design must be organic, not static, emotional, not data-driven. A social experience builds on relationships, not transactions. In 2008, Yahoo!'s Christian Crumlish introduced the idea of social design patterns to BayCHI. In this 2010 program, he shares what he has learned, including principles of social design: Pave the cow paths. Talk like a person. Be open. Learn from games. And respect the ethical dimension.
Dr. Moira Gunn talks with Stanford University professor and author, Cliff Nass, about his new book, The Man Who Lied to His Laptop, and his theory that links people's interactions with computers and their social and professional life.
How can social tools provide a vibrant and relevant experience to the people who use them? Amy Jo Kim explains how to create a richer experience through open tools for syndication, support of independent software developers, and especially game mechanics, which she categorizes as collecting, points, feedback, exchanges, and customization. Learn how YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and others use these elements of game mechanics to engage people more deeply.
What are the key elements that create real player engagement in a game? Nicole Lazzaro, president of XEODesign and expert on emotion and player experience design, identifies where on the emotional map game creators must take us to make their games popular and successful. The games that keep us coming back provide us with more than mere amusement. They challenge, surprise, and relax us while creating opportunities for what we really seek at the end of the day--a chance for social interaction.
Luke Hohmann thinks teams should engage more productively and creatively in the product design and development process. His career commitment to agile methods complements his latest professional focus: Innovation Games, originally designed as in-person, goal-directed, serious games. Now, Luke is translating the games to a new, on-line, serious gaming platform.
Do virtual worlds provide us the best tool to learn about the real world? While geo-location technologies let us create and play GPS-enabled adventures in the real world, they also allow us to simulate and model real physical geography within the virtual worlds of MMO's. Jeremy Irish, CEO of Groundspeak, and W. James Au describe how the latest geo-location applications are expanding the pathways between real and virtual geographies.
Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Keith Devlin, author of "The Unfinished Game," who talks about the letters exchanged between two mathematicians -- Pascal and Fermat -- changed our lives.
Computer gaming is a fast growing market and an important means of expression for an entire generation, but new online games are unstable and expensive to develop. In this presentation from the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, Chris Melissinos, Chief Gaming Office of Sun Microsystems points out some of the problems and opportunities in the online gaming market and how Sun's Project Darkstar will help make better online games.
