ANALYSIS AND IMPROVEMENT OF A NATURAL USER INTERFACE OF THE COMPUTERIZED BOARD GAME "ARCHITECTURAL JEWELS OF LUBLIN"

The computerized board game "Architectural Jewels of Lublin" was developed with the aim of disseminating knowledge about the architecture and history of the city of Lublin on the occasion of celebrating the 700th anniversary of its foundation. The purpose of the game is edutainment, i.e. education through entertainment, with the use of elements of competition and gamification. A natural user interface (NUI) implemented in the game consists of a board with the map of the city, 3D models of architectural objects, an electronic system recognizing and signaling the correct position of objects on the board, a laptop and control software. The interface has been supplemented with buttons that are used by players for giving answers to questions posed to them. The complex NUI was developed, made and tested by a team of developers comprising university staff and engineering students of Computer Science. The tests were conducted primarily with a view to checking the correctness of the technical condition of the game.

The paper presents the methodology of research of the NUI of the computerized board game "Architectural Jewels of Lublin" including the participation of target users. The methodology encompasses a scenario method with recorded activities of the users and a final survey. The research was organized according to rules of the A/B testing method. The record of activities of the users was made by means of a mobile eye tracker. The measurement data of gaze points were superimposed on the picture from the eye tracker head camera and were used by experts to make a detailed analysis of interaction of game participants with the NUI. After the game, the players also completed a paper-based survey. Its purpose was to check the level of satisfaction of game-players as well as obtaining individual comments related to potential modifications of the interface. In that aspect the research included also elements of the User eXperience (UX) method.

The study resulted in obtaining feedback concerning problems with the NUI, gaining users’ evaluation of quality of specific elements of the interface and learning about areas where some modifications should be made. Some interesting comments from the players pertained to the gameplay, the mechanism of gamification as well as the very idea of the game.

The obtained results will be employed during development of a new version of the computerized board game "Architectural Jewels of Lublin". Some comments and recommendations may be implemented and tested in the present version of the game by modifying the existing software controlling the gameplay.