Understanding User Experience in Serious Games: The Role of Narratives, Game Design and Player Background

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11320%2F25%3A10512188" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11320/25:10512188 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://doi.org/10.2312/dh.20253297" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.2312/dh.20253297</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2312/dh.20253297" target="_blank" >10.2312/dh.20253297</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Understanding User Experience in Serious Games: The Role of Narratives, Game Design and Player Background

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

This paper presents findings from three user studies conducted on digital heritage games designed to foster historical understanding and emotional engagement through immersive experiences. The evaluated games - We Grew Up in War, Those From Below, and Gulag Diaries - explore historical narratives related to conflict, migration, and forced labor. The studies involved small-scale participant groups from culturally relevant backgrounds, utilizing a mixed-methods approach comprising established game experience questionnaires, structured interviews, and facilitator observations. The results indicate that participants generally responded positively to the games, particularly appreciating their narrative depth, audiovisual design, and emotional impact. However, the studies also identified areas for improvement in terms of usability, navigation, and onboarding, especially given that the games tested were in their alpha stages. Notably, individual differences in prior gaming experience, familiarity with the technology used, and prior knowledge of the historical subject matter significantly influenced how participants engaged with and interpreted the content, while gender was also found to be a moderating factor of game experience. The findings presented in this paper offer useful insights and recommendations for digital heritage games, with an emphasis on improving user experience while maintaining historical authenticity, engaging narratives, and interactive storytelling.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Understanding User Experience in Serious Games: The Role of Narratives, Game Design and Player Background

Popis výsledku anglicky

This paper presents findings from three user studies conducted on digital heritage games designed to foster historical understanding and emotional engagement through immersive experiences. The evaluated games - We Grew Up in War, Those From Below, and Gulag Diaries - explore historical narratives related to conflict, migration, and forced labor. The studies involved small-scale participant groups from culturally relevant backgrounds, utilizing a mixed-methods approach comprising established game experience questionnaires, structured interviews, and facilitator observations. The results indicate that participants generally responded positively to the games, particularly appreciating their narrative depth, audiovisual design, and emotional impact. However, the studies also identified areas for improvement in terms of usability, navigation, and onboarding, especially given that the games tested were in their alpha stages. Notably, individual differences in prior gaming experience, familiarity with the technology used, and prior knowledge of the historical subject matter significantly influenced how participants engaged with and interpreted the content, while gender was also found to be a moderating factor of game experience. The findings presented in this paper offer useful insights and recommendations for digital heritage games, with an emphasis on improving user experience while maintaining historical authenticity, engaging narratives, and interactive storytelling.

Druh

D - Stať ve sborníku

CEP obor

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OECD FORD obor

50301 - Education, general; including training, pedagogy, didactics [and education systems]

Projekt

—

Návaznosti

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Rok uplatnění

2025

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název statě ve sborníku

DH2025 proceedings

ISBN

978-3-03868-277-6

ISSN

3106-3640

e-ISSN

—

Počet stran výsledku

10

Strana od-do

1-10

Název nakladatele

The Eurographics Association

Místo vydání

Goslar, Německo

Místo konání akce

Sienna

Datum konání akce

8. 9. 2025

Typ akce podle státní příslušnosti

WRD - Celosvětová akce

Kód UT WoS článku

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