A presentation on designing (iPhone) games for commuters, highlighting some insights about commuters as gamers

1. Presenting:
Commuter Game Design
For Creative Technology CT365.net March 2011
E: hello@olishaw.com
T: @olishaw
W olishaw.com
Hi
I'm
Oli
Shaw,
I’ll
be
talking
about
a
(lite)
study
I’ve
been
doing
into
commuters
playing
(iPhone)
games
and
some
of
the
design
principals
from
the
research.

2. Who am I ?
I
am
part
anthropologist,
part
strategist
and
part
creative
who
has
been
designing
for
progressive
products
and
services
since
1998.
Whilst
I
don't
hold
a
PhD
I
do
get
to
utilise
a
lot
of
anthropologic
practices
in
my
work.

3. The study...
‘A (lite) study of how commuters use
(iPhone) games during their journey’
I
conducted
a
range
of
contextual
interviews
with
regular
commuters
who
enjoy
playing
games
on
their
journey,
and
utilised
my
own
extensive
experience
of
playing
games
whilst
on
the
move.
I
say
iPhone
gently
as
a
lot
of
the
resulting
design
principals
&
considerations
from
the
insights
could
easily
be
applied
to
most
mobile
gaming
platforms.

4. Findings & Insights

5. Journey types
Journey methods ranged as much as the lengths of
commutes people undertake twice a day.
Commuting
journeys
take
anything
from
20mins
to
over
1hr
30mins
and
(in
London)
often
require
multiple
methods
of
transport
within
the
same
journey.

6. Key points of play
- Waiting for transport
- During transport
- Changing transport
While
waiting
for
transport
is
an
opportunists
opening
for
a
quick
game,
it
might
be
a
minute
or
it
might
be
more
than
10
minutes.
Each
transport
change
over
offers
another
opportunity
for
a
game
whilst
waiting
for
the
next
connection
to
arrive.

7. Repetition > Familiarity
It doesn’t take long for a commuter to become so familiar
with they journey it often feels like they are on auto pilot.
A
regular
commuter
knows
the
journey
so
well
that
they
no
longer
need
to
pay
to
much
mind
to
their
surroundings
and
often
instinctively
know
when
their
stop
is,
leaving
them
more
time
to
enjoy
their
gaming
/
media
consumption.

8. Game length
2 mins > 5 mins > 10 mins ... 30+ mins
The
length
of
time
a
commuter
has
for
a
game
varies
greatly
from
a
couple
of
minutes
while
waiting
for
a
ride,
to
30+
mins
while
on
a
longer
uninterrupted
route.
And
not
forgetting
the
interrupted
continuation,
a
couple
of
minutes
whilst
waiting
for
a
ride,
then
a
short
break
whilst
getting
on
the
particular
transport
and
finding
a
seat,
then
continuing
playing
for
a
longer
duration.

9. The perfect environment
When your squished between people on a packed journey,
getting the use of both hands can be a game in itself!
When
the
environmental
aspects
of
playing
games
whilst
commuting
on
public
transport
are
far
from
perfect,
with
distractions
and
obstructions
everywhere;
fellow
passengers,
the
driver
of
the
transport,
tannoy
messages
which
need
to
be
either
observed
or
ignored...

10. Findings & Insights:
Game Controls
As
already
mentioned
its
not
always
easy
to
have
the
use
of
both
hands
whilst
on
a
commute,
here
are
a
couple
more
things
to
consider

11. Accelerometer
Waving around like someone with a bee under their
jumper is not always desirable in a confined space.
While
the
accelerometer
provides
an
interesting
method
of
controlling
a
game,
the
commuter
gamer
often
struggles
with
using
it
when
the
space
around
them
is
limited
or
if
they
don't
wish
to
perform
a
‘dance’
for
the
other
passengers
to
gawp
at.
‘Edge’
offers
a
range
of
control
methods
to
play
by.

12. Precision
Being required to perform surgically precise actions
whilst on a moving vehicle can be a request too far.
When
games
require
very
accurate
and
precise
actions
/
controls
in
a
game
it
can
often
negatively
affect
the
commuter
gamer
who
is
at
the
mercy
of
whom
ever
is
driving
the
mode
of
transport
they
are
on.
Or
the
cities
maintenance
of
the
road/tracks,
a
bump
in
the
wrong
direction
and
its
game
over.

13. Findings & Insights:
Sound
There
is
no
denying
that
sound
an
essential
part
of
any
game...

14. Sound controls
Much like the environment the commuter gamer plays
in, their sound needs vary just as much.
While
a
commuter
gamer
will
often
play
as
much
and
as
often
as
they
can
during
their
journey,
they
are
not
always
able
to
be
lured
in
by
the
glowing
screen
-­‐
like
when
they
need
to
get
on
or
off
the
transport,
or
walk
to
a
connecting
part
of
their
journey.
But
while
they
cannot
always
be
looking
at
the
screen,
they
can
have
a
continues
sound
track
to
the
entire
journey
and
will
often
listen
to
a
podcast,
audiobook
or
music
for
the
length
of
the
commute
and
intersperse
the
journey
with
gaming
at
convenient
moments.

15. Sound controls
- Allow iPod music to continue to play in the background game
- Separate the games SFX & Music controls
- Have volume controls not just on / off
Let
the
commuter
continue
listening
to
their
journeys
soundtrack
whilst
dipping
in
and
out
of
your
game,
they
may
want
to
keep
the
sound
effects
but
lose
the
games
music.
Having
volume
controls
is
important
as
the
games
sound
levels
may
differ
to
the
sound
level
coming
from
the
iPod
player
and
more
control
helps
the
commuter
get
the
right
balance
of
both
‘Bejeweled
2’
has
a
good
control
of
sound

16. Findings & Insights:
Orientation
We
have
already
mentioned
about
the
space
consideration
around
the
commuter,
now
we
consider
the
device.

17. In your hands
When headphones are in, the iPhone needs a little
more consideration when gaming.
An
ergonomic
issue
of
where
the
headphone
jack
sticks
out
when
you
have
headphones
plugged
in
(to
drown
out
the
bustle
of
rush
hour),
is
relatively
easy
to
fix
by
enabling
the
game
to
work
in
either
rotation,
simple
but
sometimes
forgotten.
[‘Fragger’
main
menu
screen]

18. Messages
Don’t forget to consider the iOS messages
[‘Angry
Birds
seasons’
with
an
iOS
message]

19. Findings & Insights:
Loading
The
obvious
one,
loading
speed.

20. Speed is paramount
A dedicated commuter gamer will squeeze every opportunity out
of a journey to play - even if they can already see the bus coming.
When
isn’t
loading
speed
important,
right?
It’s
especially
vital
with
commuter
gamers,
as
they
will
often
have
short
but
frequent
gaps
between
modes
of
transports,
or
unknown
lengths
of
waiting
time
before
then
next
ride
arrives
-­‐
quickly
getting
into
a
game
is
vital.
[‘Plants
vs
Zombies’
loading
screen]

21. Findings & Insights:
Level design
Designing
levels
which
work
well
whilst
on
a
commute.

22. Short levels
Byte size levels & plenty of them.
There
where
2
types
of
level
that
seemed
to
appeal
to
most
commuters,
the
first
are
short
‘quick’
levels
and
to
have
lots
of
them
to
plough
through
during
the
journey
which
allow
for
plenty
of
instant
gratification
and
a
sense
of
accomplishment
at
the
end
of
the
journey.
It’s
worth
noting
that
with
this
model
having
a
way
of
skipping
a
tricky
level
is
a
desirable
quality
in
a
game,
most
commuters
don't
want
to
stuck
play
the
same
level
again
and
again
for
their
morning’s
game
time,
but
they
will
often
come
back
to
have
another
go
on
the
way
home
or
the
next
day.
[‘Cut
the
rope’
level
select
screen]

23. Long levels
Like reading a book, a few chapters at a time.
The
other
type
of
levels
that
where
preferred
are
long
level,
like
in
Grand
Theft
Auto
where
the
user
can
complete
a
part
of
the
‘story’
at
a
time
and
similar
to
bookmarking
come
back
to
the
point
they
left
it
in
the
morning
on
their
way
home
and
do
a
couple
more
‘chapters’.
[‘GTA
China
town
wars‘
game
screen]

24. Findings & Insights:
Pause & Continue
Returning
to
where
you
were
in
a
game,
from
load
or
from
a
pause.

25. Continue from load
Once the game has loaded, getting back to where you
were quickly is crucial for the commuter.
If
the
games
interface
makes
you
navigate
back
through
4
levels
of
menus
to
load
up
the
level
you
were
last
on
there
is
valuable
gaming
time
lost.
And
could
be
considered
that
you’re
still
in
the
games
‘loading’
phase.
‘Burnstar’
has
a
continue
option
on
the
main
menu
to
quickly
get
back
to
the
level
you
where
last
on.

26. Auto pause
Automatically pausing the game, when the commuter has to
quick put their device away or answer an incoming call / text.
A
game
that
can
pause
itself
when
the
iPhone
is
put
to
sleep
and
into
the
commuter’s
pocket,
or
when
they
need
to
answer
an
incoming
message
is
crucial.
Even
the
most
conscientious
commuter
has
the
occasional
off
day
where
they
are
so
focused
on
a
game
that
they
are
about
to
miss
their
stop
and
need
to
rapidly
get
out
of
the
vehicle.
‘Angry
Birds’
is
a
particularly
good
example
of
how
to
do
this
right.

27. Findings & Insights:
Connection
Last
but
not
least
games
that
need
to
or
want
to
go
online
whilst
on
a
commute.

28. No Signal
Don't rely on having an internet connection, with a mobile
location comes connectivity issues.
In
London
(and
presumably
a
fair
few
other
cities)
depending
on
the
route
and
length
of
the
commute,
connection
to
the
internet
will
range
from
limited,
interrupted
to
no
service,
this
is
especially
true
when
on
the
underground.
But
the
overground
can
be
just
as
patchy
when
entering
and
leaving
the
city.
Games
that
rely
on
an
internet
connection
or
spend
a
long
time
trying
to
connect
to
the
internet
when
loading
up
or
to
continually
check
scores,
awards,
share,
etc.
[‘Bejeweled
2’
Blitz
notification]

29. THANK YOU…
What are your commuting
gaming experiences?
E: hello@olishaw.com
T: @olishaw
W olishaw.com