Participatory Design (PD) is a commonly used method in Western cultures with roots in Scandinavia. After the COVID-19 pandemic, many PD practitioners have transitioned to an online space, where researchers and participants from different geographical locations can co-design together. Yet, we do not fully understand how different cultures collide, mix and blend in the online co-design space. By understanding how one’s culture influences the participation of a child, researchers can better structure sessions to elicit diverse input. This study examines a case study of researchers and participants from South Korea and the United States co-designing together. Close analysis of video recordings, analytic memos, and parent/child interview data demonstrates the ways in which children participated in design sessions. Facilitators paid special attention to various cultural sensitivities. Applying the theory of cultural awareness from public health literature, we offer implications on how scholars who are not fully embedded in the culture where co-design happens can understand other cultural norms and in response, create spaces in which co-design can occur successfully despite different cultural norms. Our findings show how different parts of the ecological systems from ideology, education systems, and ethnicity all influence children’s participation in sessions.

Tilt, characterized by heightened frustration, is a prevalent issue in esports, significantly impacting team dynamics and player well-being. Traditional Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) solutions often focus on individual strategies, overlooking the team-based nature of esports. This study introduces 'TILTED', a tabletop game co-designed with youth esports players, aimed at fostering open communication and empathy to collectively manage tilt. Findings from four user testing sessions with collegiate esports teams reveal that team-based interventions like 'TILTED' can enhance team cohesion and provide effective strategies for emotional regulation. The game facilitates understanding and empathy among teammates for managing emotions and maintaining a positive team atmosphere. Our research underscores the importance of resetting strategies and shared mental models in helping to mitigate tilt and offers design implications for future team-based interventions to enhance team dynamics and tilt management strategies as a team.

Location-based augmented reality games are becoming increasingly popular, which causes a variety of tensions among players as well as between players and non-players. Subsequently, numerous ethical issues and challenges in designing and playing these games emerged. We conducted an online survey and analyzed 2,023 responses to better understand users’ participation in various game actions in location-based augmented reality games, and their perspectives on how ethical the actions are and for what reasons. We provide descriptive statistics showing people’s participation in these actions and analyze users’ expressed reasons as to why they think these actions are ethical or not. We use the theoretical lens of three ethical traditions–consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics–in our analysis, showing the dominance of consequentialism and deontology in people’s ethical judgment related to playing the game, and discuss implications and future consideration for game design.

This study examines the affective filter theory in a social virtual reality (social VR) setting. Motivation, anxiety, and self-confidence were measured and compared in social VR and video conferencing. The research was conducted using mixed methods with qualitative and quantitative data. One-hour Korean language learning workshops were held to establish a teaching environment for this research. The research results indicated no significant differences in motivation, anxiety, or self-confidence between social VR and video conferencing as a learning tool. However, the debriefing interview following the workshop enabled us to develop a deeper understanding of participants’ motives to practice second language learning by leveraging social VR. Also, the interview data explained the strengths and weaknesses of using social VR as a learning tool, making our study meaningful in alternative language learning environments. This feasibility study revealed the potential of using social VR as a learning tool.