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Design Space Cards: Using a Card Deck to Navigate the Design Space of Interactive Play

Authors:

James Derek Lomas,

Mathieu GielenAuthors Info & Claims

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Volume 5, Issue CHI PLAY

Article No.: 227, Pages 1 - 21

https://doi.org/10.1145/3474654

Published: 06 October 2021 Publication History

Abstract

The potential space of game designs is astronomically large. This paper shows how game design theories can be translated into a simple, tangible card deck that can assist in the exploration of new game designs within a broader "design space." By translating elements of game design theory into a physical card deck, we enable users to randomly sample a design space in order to synthesize new game design variations for a new play platform ("Lumies"). In a series of iterative design and testing rounds with various user groups, the deck has been optimized to merge relevant game theory elements into a concise card deck with limited categories and clear descriptions. In a small, controlled experiment involving groups of design students, we compare the effects of brainstorming with the card deck or the "Directed Brainstorming" method. We show that the deck does not increase ideation speed but is preferred by participants. We further show that our target audience, children, were able to use the card deck to develop dozens of new game ideas. We conclude that design space cards are a promising way to help adults and children to generate new game ideas by making it easier to explore the game design space.

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Cited By

Retnanto AFaracci ESathya AHung YNakagaki K(2024)CARDinality: Interactive Card-shaped Robots with Locomotion and Haptics using VibrationProceedings of the 37th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology10.1145/3654777.3676421(1-14)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3654777.3676421
Suh SChen MMin BLi TXia H(2024)Luminate: Structured Generation and Exploration of Design Space with Large Language Models for Human-AI Co-CreationProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642400(1-26)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642400
Chen PLi ZWu YZhang HZhou JSun L(2024)Modality and fidelity: Understanding how creative stimulus combinations impact design outcomes and process across different conceptual design phasesThinking Skills and Creativity10.1016/j.tsc.2024.10165754(101657)Online publication date: Dec-2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101657
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Index Terms

Design Space Cards: Using a Card Deck to Navigate the Design Space of Interactive Play
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
  2. Interaction design
    1. Interaction design process and methods

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cover image Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction Volume 5, Issue CHI PLAY

CHI PLAY

September 2021

1535 pages

EISSN:2573-0142

DOI:10.1145/3490463

Editors:
Kathrin Gerling
KU Leuven
,
Elisa Mekler
Aalto University
,
Regan Mandryk
University of Saskatchewan

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Copyright © 2021 Owner/Author.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License.

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Published: 06 October 2021

Published in PACMHCI Volume 5, Issue CHI PLAY

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Cited By

Retnanto AFaracci ESathya AHung YNakagaki K(2024)CARDinality: Interactive Card-shaped Robots with Locomotion and Haptics using VibrationProceedings of the 37th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology10.1145/3654777.3676421(1-14)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3654777.3676421
Suh SChen MMin BLi TXia H(2024)Luminate: Structured Generation and Exploration of Design Space with Large Language Models for Human-AI Co-CreationProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642400(1-26)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642400
Chen PLi ZWu YZhang HZhou JSun L(2024)Modality and fidelity: Understanding how creative stimulus combinations impact design outcomes and process across different conceptual design phasesThinking Skills and Creativity10.1016/j.tsc.2024.10165754(101657)Online publication date: Dec-2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101657
Vasconcelos LZahn JTrevisan DViterbo J(2024)Engagement by Design CardsInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2023.103166182:COnline publication date: 1-Feb-2024
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Mast DBroekens Jde Vries SVerbeek F(2023)Participation Patterns of Interactive Playful Museum Exhibits: Evaluating the Participant Journey Map through Situated ObservationsProceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3563657.3595985(1861-1885)Online publication date: 10-Jul-2023
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Lomas JLin ADikker SForster DLupetti MHuisman GHabekost JBeardow CPandey PAhmad NMiyapuram KMullen TCooper Pvan der Maden WCross E(2022)Resonance as a Design Strategy for AI and Social RobotsFrontiers in Neurorobotics10.3389/fnbot.2022.85048916Online publication date: 27-Apr-2022
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Vasconcelos LTrevisan DViterbo JSantos CBento Villela MRios da Hora Rodrigues Kde Gois Ribeiro Darin T(2022)Applying the engagement by design methodologyProceedings of the 21st Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3554364.3559125(1-10)Online publication date: 17-Oct-2022
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Tojo NYoshida HOto TNiida S(2022)How Can We Expand Unintended Outcomes in Participatory Design?Proceedings of the Participatory Design Conference 2022 - Volume 210.1145/3537797.3537873(191-195)Online publication date: 19-Aug-2022
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