Design and Evaluation Challenges of Serious Games Elaine M. Raybourn Sandia National Laboratories* P.O. Box 5800 MS 1188 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185 USA emraybo@sandia.gov Nathan Bos University of Michigan 701 Tappan Suite E2420 Ann Arbor, MI 48109 nbos@umich.edu ABSTRACT As the computer game industry grows, game capabilities and designs are being re-used for purposes other than entertainment. The study of 'Serious Games', i.e. games for education and policy making, is of growing interest in many sectors. This SIG will bring together people interested in the topic area to discuss emerging opportunities and challenges. A panel discussion will cover new uses for games, ways of incorporating new measures such as physiological arousal into traditional usability testing, and ways of pursuing new goals such as peer learning with games. Breakout groups will elaborate on panel topics, and also devise next steps for this interest community. A report of this SIG's outcomes will be submitted to the SIG CHI Bulletin. Keywords Immersive simulations, computer games, learning, training, education, evaluation, design. ACM Classification Keywords H5.1. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., HCI): Multimedia information systems. INTRODUCTION Computer games are not only used for entertainment purposes. Games and simulations are often used for training and teaching in management science, economics, psychology, sociology, intercultural communication, political science, military strategy, interpersonal skill development, and education. Games open up possibilities for simultaneous learning on multiple levels; players may learn from contextual information embedded in the dynamics of the game, the organic process generated by the game play, and through the risks, benefits, costs, outcomes, and rewards of alternative strategies that result from decision making [1]. Computer games provide an environment for active, critical learning. Through games one learns to appreciate the inter-relationship of complex behaviors, sign (images, words, actions, symbols, etc.) systems, and the formation of social groups [2]. For example social simulation and computer-based role-playing games can help adults explore skills, methods, and concepts rapidly within a safe experiential environment designed with behavioral learning components [3], [4]. According to the Serious Games initiative which started in 2002 and is spearheaded by Ben Sawyer, Dave Rejeski, and others [5] Serious Games refer to “applications of interactive technology that extend far beyond the traditional videogame market, including: training, policy exploration, analytics, visualization, simulation, education and health and therapy.” Due to a growing interest in the use of interactive and immersive technologies in education and training a new market is emerging for the application of gaming technologies. In this SIG we will discuss the growing area of Serious Games and focus on the HCI design and evaluation issues and challenges that impact Serious Games research, design, development, and deployment. We intend to discuss the following topics: • Short introduction to Serious Games • How can ‘fun’ be designed into the user experience? What are the pitfalls of designing for fun? • How should ‘fun’ be measured? What does previous research tell us about evaluating cognitive and emotional engagement? • How can advanced techniques such as physiological measures of arousal be incorporated, and what can they tell us? [6]. • How can games be designed for multi-player collaboration, and how can social interaction be included in evaluation measures? [4], [7], [8]. SIG PARTICIPANTS A primary purpose of this SIG is to facilitate communication among researchers, designers, developers, end users, and practitioners working on Serious Games related topics and programs. In particular, persons using, designing, and evaluating serious games will be a target group of this SIG. Potential participants are encouraged to review the growing number of initiatives and resources in the area of Serious Games, especially the Serious Games Summit (http://www.seriousgamessummit.com/), Social Impact Copyright is held by the author/owner(s). CHI 2005, April 2–7, 2005, Portland, Oregon, USA. ACM 1-59593-002-7/05/0004. CHI 2005 | Special Interest Groups (SIGs) April 2-7 | Portland, Oregon, USA 2049