To gain a better understanding of my users, I wanted to interview three different people. The first was Sky Anna, who regularly goes to a Gaming Cafe to play both board games and video games with her friends, she was an expert in the field of gaming. I then asked Rob, who didn’t know a great deal about gaming but did enjoy a thrill. The final one user was Max, who had a really good grasp of both. Of course all of them loved food and had that in common!
Max
Max was a really insightful interview because he had a really good understanding of all of the different concepts. And there were a couple of key things that Max highlighted for me in the interview.
- Being young is all about adventure, which we established was thrilling. Thrills are then linked to the outdoors as is childhood. It is all about learning something new, doing something new, and that is what brings thrill around. These were concepts Max brought around that really got me thinking about the way users interact with a youthful product.
- The action type of shooting is physical, the sound could be thrilling, the idea that it isn’t something you do everyday (or no one really does), a new experience is what brings that thrill around for the users of games.
- There is a frustrating aspect to monopoly, so adding the maybe unknown and the idea that you might win or lose is a really fun concept to play with for the idea of the product.
- The idea that maybe its a a win or lose, positive or negative experience that could occur is also really thrilling to people.
- The concept of there being a different result everytime you interact witht he product could be looked into. This would be fun, a swipe system that could go a certain way or could go another way.
- The idea of knowing where you are going and having that familiarity with it is really useful. The game could be exciting but the actual checkout needs to be recognisable to the user.
Rob
Rob didn’t have a great depth of knowledge regarding games, so this was a really important interview about what else brings people thrill.
- When asked about thrill, Rob mentioned silly games that were almost a fear of being hurt: How does this present anything towards the project? Throwing rocks at each other is imaginable to be sharp and painful – it is that unknown and the feeling that brings thrill. This is important to understand.
- Monopoly has no relevance to Rob, but what does show relevance is the desire for competition within the game and how it challenges people, and that tends to be what people remember about the game.
- Th ease of movement between the purchasing and the start is really important and needs to be relatively quick.
Sky
Sky enjoys video games, but doesn’t necessarily care for the idea and concept of thrill. She plays every other day, and enjoys video games as well and board games, having attended gaming conventions as well as gaming cafes.
- Th genre of a horror game is often seen as thrilling because it almost encompasses the human fear of the unexpected. You never know what is coming your way, and Sky brought this up a couple of times.
- Sky associates thrilling colours with red, yellow, and orange. These are colours most associated with flames and fire, or more importantly – heat.
- The idea of banking and trading is fun, and it adds to the thrill aspect, but the main advantage of this is the interactivity aspect, and the possibilities a game could lead to.
- Sky likes the idea of there being a challenge, soething to achieve from the service you are being offered makes it a game to remember. There is something people like about doing new things – trying new things, or even the same concept in a new light. It is what people enjoy about board games.