Haro and Parr have both reached level 10 and completed the prologue of Star Wars: The Old Republic. This is a training episode. The characters literally receive training within the story while the player learns how to manipulate the game. After sampling both characters, I decided to stick with Haro, the Jedi Consular. [...]
I am especially interested in “struggle”. In industrial design, especially if we are dealing with complex new products (like smart phones or automobiles), the struggle is built in. As users travel the path from novice to expert, there’s learning, exploration, trial-and-error, success, setbacks, false paths, satisfaction and frustration. Product designers try to make this journey [...]
In Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR), like in most MMOs, players create characters and guide them throughout the entire game. These characters start with a few basic abilities like running, jumping and, because SWTOR involves a lot of fighting, attacking with a simple weapon. Over time, the characters become more versatile and powerful, either [...]
Before I returned to college, I worked as an illustrator and layout monkey in the traditional game publishing industry (that’s board games, card games and table-top role-playing games). There isn’t much demand for questing heroes, haunted forests, and horrors from beyond the stars in design research, but I have found other opportunities to [...]
My research at ASU focuses on “the new user experience”: that bit of time when you first meet a new product. It’s when you form your first impressions, not just about the product but about yourself as a user. Is the new product effective? Is it easy to use? Does it make you feel smart? [...]
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