Usability Testing of Video Games: Multidisciplinary Case Studies will present case studies describing academic research and practicing hands-on experience on usability testing methodologies and techniques, with the aim of improving the human-computer interfaces of video games and players’ user experience (UX). The usability experiences will be presented as comprehensive case studies to be used as learning and teaching materials in video game design and development, usability, human-computer interaction, software engineering, and related undergraduate and graduate courses. The case studies can also be used by scholars and practitioners from the video game industry interested in the topic.
Usability Testing of Video Games: Multidisciplinary Case Studies
A book edited by Dr. Miguel A. Garcia-Ruiz, Algoma University, Canada
To be published by CRC Press/Taylor & Francis: http://www.crcpress.com/
Writing case studies on usability should require the “coming together” of science, technology and social knowledge in an interdisciplinary fashion, since the field of usability is supported by a number of knowledge areas. This book will include new perspectives from academics and practitioners around the world on how and why usability can support the design and development of video games. Usability Testing of Video Games: Multidisciplinary Case Studies will be a comprehensive—yet specialized —compendium of usability case studies using state-of-the-art approaches.
Overall Objective of the Book
The objective of this book is to present the latest multidisciplinary research and applications on the usability of video games in the form of case studies, in order to provide students, researchers, lecturers and practitioners the necessary background in theory and practice to pursue this endeavor.
Target Audience
The target audience of this book includes computer science students, lecturers, instructors and researchers from video game design, programming and related areas, as well as people from the gaming industry. In addition, this book will capture the attention of all those engaged in fields such as information technologies, software engineering, human-computer interaction, usability, user experience and human factors.
Recommended topics for case studies include, but are not limited to, the following:
Recent technologies for measuring the usability of video games such as eye-tracking and brain-computer interaction
Open source software and hardware used in usability testing of games
Remote usability testing of games
Usability testing with disabled players
Usability testing with children and elderly players
Multidisciplinary approaches of usability testing of video games
Usability testing of massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPGs)
Testing video games for game consoles
Effective usability testing methodologies
Usability testing of online games
Testing games played on mobile devices
Usability testing of serious games
Usability testing of exergames
Usability testing of unconventional interfaces in video games (e.g. olfactory and taste)
Usability testing of haptics in games
Usability testing of sound in games
Usability testing of games for rehabilitation of patients
Submission Procedure
Lecturers, researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before September 15, 2014, a 2-3 page case proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed case, including the overall problem(s) in the case and factors affecting the problem(s) related to the case. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by September 30, 2014 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter writing guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by January 31, 2015. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as chapter reviewers.
Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts submitted to this book publication.
Publisher
This book is scheduled to be published in late 2015 by CRC Press/Taylor & Francis. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit: http://www.crcpress.com/
Important Dates:
September 15, 2014: Proposal Submission Deadline
September 30, 2014: Notification of Acceptance
January 31, 2015: Full Chapter Submission
February 28, 2015: Review Results Returned
March 31, 2015: Final chapter Submission
Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document) to: usability.games.case.studies@gmail.com
Dr. Miguel A. Garcia-Ruiz
Algoma University
Department of Computer Science and Mathematics
1520 Queen Street East
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario,
Canada, P6A 2G4
Phone: 705-949-2301, ext. 4312
