ExperienceLab

In-flight entertainment systems

Gemma and I have just returned from a round the world tour for a global project. This gave us a lot of opportunities to use, analyse and discuss the pros and cons of the in-flight entertainment systems of the different airlines we travelled on (what else are two user experience researchers to do on a flight?).

Here are some of our thoughts:

• Personal in-flight entertainment systems are essential. The patience for coordinated viewing and straining your neck into the right angle are long gone.                                                                                                                                                                                     

Spotify apps coming to mobile... finally!

Much of my music life is lived through Spotify, so I was excited to find out that Spotify apps are coming to mobile (and web) in January (find out more here).  

Spotify apps is an interesting offering. You don’t have to ‘download’ an app and many don’t require sign-up. You can explore whichever app takes your fancy and choose whether you want to add it to your favourites. The apps are integrated into the platform, offering a more seamless experience where there are fewer barriers to trying things out. 

Here are 3 Spotify apps I look forward to using on my mobile:

 

Soundrop. Soundrop works like a shared playlist. Users choose a ‘room’ to listen to a particular genre of music or even a particular artist. Users in the room can vote for tracks and add tracks to the playlist. There’s also the option to create rooms. 

Great for: Discovering music, visual interface.

Any drawbacks? The recent re-design can look messy (especially if the people list is open to the right) and track / artist names are often truncated. You also have to sign into Facebook to vote for tracks (I’m not quite on board with sharing my listening habits on social networks yet), but at least you can still use the app without signing in.

Siri on the iPhone 4S - why people don't use it

The voice recognition performs well, it's well integrated, it's context-aware, it's location-aware, it has some killer come backs… but do people actually use it? 

First impressions of Google Plus: a return to private sharing

Facebook was about telling everyone what you're up to, Twitter was about information sharing, Google Plus is about sharing stuff in the way you want to.

I signed up to Google Plus a couple of days ago and my first thought was 'what's this circle business all about then?'

And then I found a use for it. 

Do better motion controllers affect gaming?

We decided to investigate the effect of the new generation of motion controllers (e.g. Wii MotionPlus and Sony PlayStation Move) on the gaming experience, looking at the following factors:

• Immersion – how engaged and immersed they are in the game
• Motivation – why people play
• Style of play – types of movements and amount of movement

Comparing the Wiimote and Wii MotionPlus, we found that a more accurate motion controller (Wii MotionPlus) did influence style of play – gamers played more realistically and in turn were more immersed in the game. The effect was particularly strong in people who played primarily to win!. People who played to relax still benefited but the effects were less pronounced. This suggests that hardcore gamers may particularly benefit from advances in motion controllers.

The research also showcases the use of different methods to get at players experiences whilst playing games. We used a full-body motion capture suit, video recordings, questionnaires and interviews, to gather data. 

Read a summary of the findings here: research article (PDF)

The research was conducted by Jasmir Nijhar in collaboration with PlayableGames, and formed the basis of an M.Sc. project for the UCL Interaction Centre.

See the PlayableGames research page for more articles and research!

 

 

Designing video game packaging – what makes a good game cover?

PlayableGames recently conducted research into game packaging to find out:

• What makes a good game cover?
• What information do gamers look for when they pick a game off the shelf?
• What drives their decision to purchase a game… and conversely what might make them walk away? 

Our findings are available on the PlayableGames research page.

By interviewing real gamers while they were shopping for games, we uncovered key findings that could be used to improve the design effective game covers. For example, gamers often found it difficult to find information about multiplayer options and hardware requirements. But this was a key factor in deciding whether to buy the game. For parents, it would be great if age ratings were displayed in a consistent location so they always knew where to look for this.