User experience in interactive computer game development

This paper outlines PhD research into user experience in interactive computer game development. The study will investigate how usability methods and approaches can be adapted and extended to evaluate and improve the user experience of gaming systems. The research will focus on exploring ways to evaluate fun and engaging user experiences, and on identifying how to provide useful, valid, timely, cost-efficient feedback on user experience to game development teams. A range of research methods is proposed including case studies with industry stakeholders, contextual and lab-based user experience evaluations with gamers, and action research within a games company. Research findings will inform the development of a practical evaluation model and tools to support game experience design practices and product development.