Expertise in game design is not enough to create astimulating learning game. A successful learning game demands the intersectionof four quadrants or areas of design: game design, instructional design, userinterface design, and user experience design.
Sharon Boller, the founder and president of Bottom-Line Performance, delivered this message as part of her presentation on designing learning gamesfor mobile phones at The eLearning Guild’s FocusOn Learning 2017 Conference & Expo in June. But her message is bigger than mobile; it is a takeaway that alllearning game designers—as well as instructional designers who are creatinglearning games—should take to heart.
The four quadrants
Each of the design areas addresses a different, but equallyvital, aspect of the learning game:
- Game design—For a learning game to beengaging, it needs game elements (story, a challenge, rules) that enableplayers to achieve a goal.
- Instructional design—A learning game mustmeet a specific learning need in a way that is appropriate and relevant to thetarget audience.
- User interface (UI) design—The user interface is the appearance of any object or software product; it contributesto branding and implements the layout and hierarchy of information decreed bythe UX design. The UI provides visual cues to players as they navigate thegame.
- User experience (UX) design—Oftenconfused with or lumped together with user interface, the user experiencerefers to the way players interact with the game or software. It includes designingnavigation and flow—the logistics of how people play and get from one part ofthe game to the next—which the UI designer implements. “(Editor’s Note: You must be a member of The eLearning Guild to access the Conference Archive, but membership is FREE!)”
Principles and goals: Game design
Game designers can choose from a vast array of game elementsand dynamics; successful designers select appropriately and use moderation.Adding more bells and whistles does not improve the design.
The essential elements of a game, according to Boller andKarl Kapp in their book, Play to Learn, are: a goal or challenge; rules;interactivity with the game environment, with other players, or with both; andfeedback mechanisms. The game results in a quantifiable outcome: winning,losing, reaching a target, etc.
A clear challenge or goal is essential to creating a gamethat learners will want to play; a learning game needs a goal that ties in witha learning objective that is relevant to the players. This might entaillearning a skill or mastering specific knowledge. A game designed aroundmultiple dynamics or goals can easily become too complex. To keep playersengaged, a game should incrementally present more difficult goals and challenges.It should start off easy and gain complexity as players improve.
Keep the rules relatively easy to learn. Requiring players toinvest enormous effort in learning how to play, or remembering intricate rulesthat have nothing to do with the goal, is likely to frustrate them and drivethem away. The rules must be clear and provide structure; they must be fair andassure all players that they have an equal chance of succeeding, according toKapp and Boller. Many games provide constant feedback. Players can easily tellwhere they stand relative to other players or to achieving their goals.
Many multiplayer games pit players against one another in acompetition, but this is not an essential element. Collaborative or cooperativegames are also engaging, and they might be more in line with corporate learninggoals that emphasize team efforts.
Principles and goals: Instructional design
Good instructional design (ID) does not fall by the waysidesimply because the instruction is occurring inside of a game. Learning goalsshould be clear, and the gameplay must not only present the needed informationbut also enable learners to master skills or understand and retain informationthat is germane to those goals.
Principles of instructional design that facilitate learningand retention work in games: Use stories, trigger learners’ emotions, figureout how to motivate them to engage. Balance the cognitive load, and provide opportunities for learners to practice new skills or testtheir recall of information. Provide feedback; this can be done using gameelements, like leveling up and earning points. It can also be done withknowledge checks or quizzes, or by having learners complete specific knowledge-or skill-based challenges within the game framework.
Principles and goals: UI design
A key to successful user interface (UI) design is to usecommon conventions. For example, don’t stray too far from conventional icons,particularly when designing for mobile, since players are unlikely to have textmenus available.
| This icon, or something very similar, is the “hamburger” icon used for menus. Don’t try to be clever and use a different image for a menu or, worse, use the hamburger to mean something other than a menu. |
| A left-pointing arrow takes users to the previous screen; the arrow can be more square or angular, but the idea of a left-pointing arrow should be familiar to players. |
| What does the gear icon represent? Using it for something other than “settings” or “options” is likely to confuse—and frustrate—users. |
Assume that learners will make mistakes, and provide aclear, obvious way to back up and correct those errors. Be aware of the impactof different visual styles; choose colors, fonts, and design elements that thatsuit the game and work with the company’s branding and image.
Principles and goals: UX design
When designing the user experience (UX), it’s vital to putyourself in the shoes of your learner or player. If the game will be played ona variety of devices, Boller advises designing for the smallest screen. Thiswill ensure that “touch targets,” things like buttons or fields, are not sosmall or close together that players will frequently hit the wrong target. Someaspects of UX, such as appearance and placement of buttons, overlap with UI;there is no clear boundary between these design areas, and the same personoften does both.
In the same vein, UX design should consider how people willuse both the game and the device, and be intuitive and clear: Don’t include alot of details and clutter; don’t ask smartphone users to type large amounts oftext; understand that people generally hold their phones in a vertical position,and ensure that the design works that way—as well as horizontally for laptopusers.
If you add visual or audio effects, make sure that they willwork on a variety of devices. The best way to do this is to test on severaldevices—large and small smartphones, various models of tablets and laptops.
A final tip
In her FocusOn Learning talk, Boller told her audience thatgetting the design right often requires several iterations. That means thatbesides testing out how it looks and works on different devices, designers needto recruit testers—users who are part of or who resemble the target learnergroup. It’s best to test on actual learners who will play the finished game.The earliest iterations can be on paper; wireframing is a great way to conceptualize a design. Sketching the layout for a tablet andphone can help identify flaws like too much text or too many buttons to fit onthe smallest smartphone screen.
