Adopting User-Centered Design to Identify Assessment Metrics for Adaptive Video Games for Education

“Let Us Save Venice”—An Educational Online Maze Game for Climate Resilience

“…The user-centered approach considers games as part of a media framework that embraces various digital technologies and environments, where the perspectives of users and context of use are raised [33,34]. We argue that the user-centered design (UCD) approach is more related to the user experience, as well as to the main factors of the user experience in games, such as playability, usability, and learnability, as described in [35]. Furthermore, the UCD approach focuses on user behavior, user satisfaction, and general feedback from game users, in line with the application of certain quantitative and qualitative indicators on data concerning the processes of collection, analysis, and evaluation of data, about users and users' behavior [35].…”

“…Based on the research and the presented results [35] and with regard to the application of user-centered design for the evaluation of user experience in educational video games, in this article, we step on [35] to further develop the user-centered design approach in the game development and evaluation life cycle of the APOGEE software platform for educational video games, illustrated in Figure 1. The bottom part of the diagram represents a complete user-centered design schema, i.e., it is a detailed view of the game development and evaluation life cycle of the platform.…”

“…The APOGEE software platform includes multiple developed software instruments [10,38] for the creation and evaluation of video games for education, with specifically designed and developed functionalities, according to the application of the Taxonomy of Instruments for Management and Evaluation of the Design of Video Games for Education-TIMED-VGE taxonomy [39]. The platform includes assistive and analytics software instruments that support the management of the design and analysis of data [35]. The presented UCD approach and the instruments facilitate the processes of the APOGEE software platform and provide the opportunity for creating improved game design and user experience.…”

“…After the players/learners complete the game, they move on to The top part of the diagram depicts the main modules of the UCD, integrated into the game development and evaluation life cycle of the APOGEE platform. It comprises "a three-level process of collecting and analyzing data about the user and user gaming experiences" [35]. This approach has proven the positive effect on the design and creation of educational video games in the APOGEE platform.…”

“…The UCD approach has been successfully integrated into the APOGEE platform. It has proven to be successful in designing user-oriented personalized educational video games [35]. The designer applies the UCD approach in accordance with the analysis and evaluation of data about users, users' behavior, users' satisfaction, general feedback from game users, and so on to improve game design and create improved user-oriented educational video games.…”