We present a systematic review, an empirical study, and a first set of considerations for designing visualizations in motion, derived from a concrete scenario in which these visualizations were used to support a primary task. In practice, when viewers are confronted with embedded visualizations, they often have to focus on a primary task and can only quickly glance at a visualization showing rich, often dynamically updated, information. As such, the visualizations must be designed so as not to distract from the primary task, while at the same time being readable and useful for aiding the primary task. For example, in games, players who are engaged in a battle have to look at their enemies but also read the remaining health of their own game character from the health bar over their character's head. Many trade-ofts are possible in the design of embedded visualizations in such dynamic scenarios, which we explore in-depth in this paper with a focus on user experience. We use video games as an example of an application context with a rich existing set of visualizations in motion. We begin our work with a systematic review of in-game visualizations in motion. Next, we conduct an empirical user study to investigate how different embedded visualizations in motion designs impact user experience. We conclude with a set of considerations and trade-offs for designing visualizations in motion more broadly as derived from what we learned about video games. All supplemental materials of this paper are available at osf.io/3v8wm/.

Social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic increased the popularity of online gaming; people used gaming as a coping mechanism to help relieve psychological distress while self-isolating. Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) in particular saw an increase in users through 2020. We present a study of the impact of established communities on social well-being within one MMORPG. We conducted an online survey (402 participants) in World of Warcraft-specific Discord and Reddit communities in March 2021. Our survey consisted of multiple choice and short answer questions to gauge how players’ perceived well-being was impacted by in-game relationships and interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our qualitative thematic analysis indicated that World of Warcraft helped participants form valued, meaningful relationships with other players, gave them a sense of purpose, and alleviated negative feelings brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on these results, we describe the unique affordances of MMORPG platforms that support social connection, and provide design recommendations to MMORPG developers for facilitating positive social interactions.

In this paper we present an analysis of the character creation interface on the Nintendo WiiU and explore the pragmatics of avatar customisation through a between-subjects, qualitative user study involving 24 participants. Our Mii research – or ‘Miisearch’ – is motivated by our desire to highlight the agency these interfaces have in self-representational practices; specifically, to understand the effects of interface affordances on avatar customisation in games. Furthermore, as self-representational practices are often studied using distance methods and self-reporting (e.g. surveys), we compare data on avatar customisation from two sources: a survey and participant observation via micro-ethnography. Results of our study reveal discrepancies between the survey data and participant observation, challenging popular methodological approaches in both the game studies and HCI communities. Most significantly, our findings illustrate the combined effects of gaming contexts and interface affordances on avatar customisation.

Avatar customization is a feature that is offered in many computer and video games. Customization options are presented to users via Character Creation Interfaces or CCIs. CCIs differ greatly between games, independent of genre, with regard to the quantity and quality of customization options available. In addition, the way in which these options are presented to users differs from game to game. Research on avatar customization is typically focused on user-avatar identity or self-representation. In general, we have found that the User Experience (UX) of avatar customization has been greatly overlooked in academic literature. As such, we look to existing research on UX in order to propose how its methodologies may be used to study the impact of CCI affordances on player experience in games.