WSU IT7220 Week 4

1. DESIGN PROCESS
IT 7220 - February 9, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009 1

2. Agenda
Syllabus Check-in
Quinn Chap 6 “A Design Process”
Flash Lab
Action Script Basics
Continue to work in H.O.T.
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3. Syllabus Check-in
How are we feeling at this point?
Pain points
Knowledge gaps
Pace/structure to achieve objectives
Will cover Perkins Ch 13 (text) next week
Paper is due at beginning of class Feb 16 (email or dropbox)
Need to form groups tonight (between lecture and lab); begin
transition to applied skills development
Monday, February 9, 2009 3

4. Quinn - “A Design Process”
Last week, we covered strategy for 4 different levels of scenarios
(mini, linked, contingent, full-on game) in chapter 5
This helps to make high level decisions regarding ways to handle
complexity and the use of theme in order to integrate all of the
elements of engaged learning (theme, goal, challeng, action-
domain link, problem-learner link, active, direct, feedback, and
affect) in chapter 4
Now, we turn our attention to the systematic and systemic
processes for learning game design
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5. Basic Design Models
Waterfall Model (p 114)
ADDIE fits in here
Implies one pass from concept to delivery
May work for very simple projects
Design Cycle (p115)
Four stages: analysis, specification, implementation, and evaluation
Iterative in nature
Requires parameters to know when to stop iterating
Design Spiral (115)
Same stages as design cycle
Iterative and incremental
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6. Other Models...
From Software Engineering:
Agile development (rapid prototyping; iterative)
Extreme programming (object-based teams)
Bottom line - there probably is no single best model
Models generally tied to methodology and communities of
practice
Models are only as good as the teams using them (discipline,
competence, experience)
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7. A brief look at the Design Stages
Using an Iterative Approach
A very high level look at:
Analysis
Specification
Implementation
Evaluation
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8. Analysis Stage
How well do we understand the problem and solution domains?
What are the relevant parameters and sources of data?
What are the measures of success?
Ease of use
Ease of learning
Retention
Errors
User experience
Output of this phase is a set of criteria that a solution must meet
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9. Specification Stage
Creative part of the design cycle
Look at a wide range of alternatives to cover the solution space
Involves brainstorming to answer design questions
Identifies standards, guidelines, and heuristics
Output of this phase is a proposal for design implementation of a
set of questions to be answered by the implementation
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10. Implementation Stage
Begins building the solution
May involve prototyping for testing low and high fidelity
solutions with representative users
The output and goal of this stage is to produce the best product
for the lowest cost
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11. Evaluation Stage
Formative and summative evaluation should be included in an
iterative approach
Determines if implementation answers the questions raised in
specification
Repeat the process through all stages until parameters
established in analysis phase have been met
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12. Engaged Design
Synergistic framework bringing instructional design and
engagement together to put learning into context at all levels
Getting learners to make decisions is key
Require learners to apply knowledge to make a decision, not
just test their knowledge (table 6-1, p 129)
Learn by the consequence of decisions, right or wrong
Monday, February 9, 2009 12

13. Quinn’s Design Process
Analysis
Determine target performance
(what should learners be able to do?)
Determine learner characteristics
(cognitive, conative, and affective)
Determine learner interests
(analysis questionnaire on p 136)
Establish metrics
Monday, February 9, 2009 13

14. Quinn’s Design Process
Specification - Design the Experience
Situate the task in a model world
(perspective or view, interaction model, game play)
Elaborate the details
(story line, theme, tension, novelty to maintain interest)
Incorporate underlying pedagogical support
(learning support/job aids, feedback, direction)
Map learning to interface
(build the model)
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15. Quinn’s Design Process
Implementation
Prototype
•Highly dependent on the quality of the output from
specification stage
•Success tied to skills and resources available on within the
team
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16. Quinn’s Design Process
Evaluation
Test for usability
(time to complete task, retention, # errors, satisfaction)
Test for educational effectiveness
(pre-test/post-test, accomplishment of objectives)
Test for engagement
(self-report, observation, ability to meet expectations)
Monday, February 9, 2009 16

17. Team Formation!
Self select (3-5 members)
Try to get a variety of skills
Designer
Project Manager
Graphic Artist
Flash Developer
Gamer
Monday, February 9, 2009 17

18. Flash Lab
ActionScript 3.0 overview
Variables and Data Types
Functions
Controlling Movie Clips (demo example)
Work in tutorial
Monday, February 9, 2009 18

19. ActionScript 3.0
ActionScript can be placed directly into the timeline or into a
document class (i.e., separate .as file)
ActionScript allows interactivity and makes game development
possible
ActionScript is created and managed using the Actions Panel
which is an advanced editing utility
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20. ActionScript 3.0 Elements
Variables
Instances
Properties
Functions
Events, event handlers, and event listeners
Conditional statements
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21. Variables
Containers that store information
In ActionScript 3.0, variables are strongly typed
Number 4.5 Any number including floating point
int -5 Any integer or whole number
uint 1 Unsigned integer
String “hello” Text or string of characters
Boolean TRUE True or False
Array [2, 9, 17] More than one value of same type, in a single variable
Object myObject Basis structure of every ActionScript entity using ‘.’ dot syntax
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22. Instances
Created whenever we make a ‘copy’ of a symbol from the library
In ActionScript, we refer to instances individually using the
names assigned through the Properties inspector
Names used should be consistent and reference the symbol type:
contact_btn, nav_mc, body_txt
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23. Properties
Properties are variables attached to the instance of a symbol
Accessed in ActionScript via dot syntax
ex: to set x position of a movie clip instance (my_mc) to 100
would be my_mc.x = 100
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24. Functions
Re-usable blocks of code that can be executed again and again
within a project without having to be copied and pasted
There are hundreds of functions pre-defined in ActionScript
It is very easy to create new functions
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25. Events, Handlers, Listeners
Events happen whenever someone interacts with your Flash
program (mouse click, type, open a file, etc.)
Handlers are bits of code that tell Flash what to do in response to
an event such as clicking on a button
Listeners attach an event to an event handler
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26. Conditionals
Conditionals allow you to choose to execute a block of code
based on a condition being true
General form is: if (condition is true) {
Do something;
} else {
Do something else;
}
Monday, February 9, 2009 26

27. Controlling Movie Clips Demo
From Chap 12 in Perkins
Files are on Blackboard
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